I’m a big fan of #sandbattery thermal #renewable #energy storage technology. One of the first players in this market is the Finnish startup Polar Night Energy: https://polarnightenergy.com If you do not know what sand batteries are, this article explains them quite well: https://natnavi.com/science-behind-sand-batteries/ #Renewables
renewables
Coal power is finally retreating in the world’s two largest markets. For the first time since 1973, both China and India saw coal generation drop in 2025 thanks to a relentless clean energy boom. We are witnessing the beginning of the end for the coal era.
#climateaction #renewables #coaldecline #cleanenergy #coal #fossilfuels
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/13/coal-power-generation-falls-china-india-since-1970s
"In Guyang-ri, a farming village of 70 households about 90 minutes south-east of Seoul, people gather for communal free lunches six days a week. The meals are funded by the village’s one-megawatt solar installation, which generates roughly 10m won ($6,800) in net profit each month.
“Residents eat lunch together every day, so we see each other’s faces, talk together,” says Jeon Joo-young, the village chief. “Bonds and solidarity between residents become much stronger. Life becomes more enjoyable.”
The shift has been dramatic. Before the solar project launched in 2022, the village of about 130 people had no restaurant, no easy way to move around, and little communal infrastructure. Now solar revenue pays for meals, a village “happiness bus” for elderly people, a table-tennis facility and cultural activities.
The village deliberately chose to spend solar income on welfare rather than individual dividends, a decision Jeon says residents made themselves rather than being persuaded."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/16/south-korea-solar-power-renewables-revolution
My latest paper: "An Analysis of Market Subsidy Costs for Utility-Scale Renewable Energy Generation in the UK" has just been published #OpenAccess in Energies https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/19/12/2916
This work shows the costs of subsidising utility-scale renewable electricity generation in the UK, focusing on wind, solar and tidal stream technologies in the Renewables Obligation (#RO) and Contracts for Difference (#CfD) schemes.
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#Renewables #OffshoreWind #OnshoreWind #SolarPV #TidalPower #MarketSubsidy
Edited 85d ago
"Forty percent of America's corn crop — 36 million acres — goes to producing ethanol, a fuel that barely breaks even on energy and may be worse for the climate than gasoline. Billions in subsidies keep the machine running."
The chart I'm including here is really the take home.
At this time, with current tech, 👉️ #Ethanol from #Corn is NOT economically viable. 👈️
So all that Federal money is just more special interests at the public teat. Just a way to let big businesses in non-oil producing states get in on the #FossilFuel gravy train.
Ethanol from Sugarcane does make sense, which is why most of the flex-fuel innovations are found in Brazil.
