Category: Policy

The Azraq Refugee Camp and Renewable Energy

The Azraq Refugee Camp and Renewable Energy

11/03/18

“How does the world’s first renewable powered refugee camp work?”

The Azraq Refugee Camp is Jordan is not like any other. Built to accommodate 20,000 Syrian Refugees, the site is completely powered by a nearby solar energy farm. Currently at 2 MW of capacity, The farm provides enough energy for the residents to meet their daily needs and carry on their lives. The success of the Azraq refugee camp can serve as a template for other such sites around the world.

Image credit: http://www.unhcr.org

Why Installing Solar Energy Would be Greatly Beneficial for the Navajo Nation

Why Installing Solar Energy Would be Greatly Beneficial for the Navajo Nation

11/02/18

“How would the Navajo Nation benefit from the addition of solar energy?”

The Navajo is an indigenous tribe located roughly in Northeastern Arizona and Northwestern New Mexico, right on top of some of the greatest solar resources in the world. If the Navajo were to install utility-scale solar energy and send it to nearby communities for profit, they would reap great benefits.

Image credit https://www.indianz.com

A Few Energy Saving Tips for a Super Scary Halloween

A Few Energy Saving Tips for a Super Scary Halloween

10/31/18

“How can we be both green and scary on Halloween?”

Today in the United States and across the world is Halloween. Here stateside, people dress up in silly costumes, decorate their house, and trick-or-treat for candy. But even though this is a special night, it is still time to be thinking about how we can do our part to climate change. So here are A Few Energy Saving Tips for a Super Scary Halloween.

Use LED lights for Halloween decorations.
Use solar panels to capture energy during the day and unload it at night
Give out low-carbon intensity candies.

Have a great night full of scary sugary goodness Y’all!!!

Image credit media.treehugger.com

Why Brazil Should Develop Offshore Wind Energy Infrastructure in its South

Why Brazil Should Develop Offshore Wind Energy Infrastructure in its South

10/28/18

“Why should Brazil develop off-shore wind energy in its southern states?”

The nation of Brazil is a behemoth. Taking up half of the land and population of South America, it needs a vast amount of energy. And to make it sustainable, it should seek to maximize all of the resources available to it. One promising technology is off-shore wind. Since the Southern states by Porto Alegre have some of the highest offshore wind speeds, it would only make sense for Brazil to Develop Offshore Wind Energy Infrastructure there.

Image credit http://latinamericanscience.org

How More Extreme Coldwaves will Harm Transportation Infrastructure

How More Extreme Coldwaves will Harm Transportation Infrastructure

10/25/18

“How will Transportation Infrastructure be harmed by more extreme coldwaves?”

Transportation infrastructure will definitely be impacted by the changing weather. But climate change is doing much more than rising temperatures. More extreme coldwaves in certain parts of the earth are resulting from changing polar vortex. The behemoth damage brought onto transportation systems includes more delays in train/plane schedules, heavier icing of streets, and more stress on structures. This is How More Extreme Coldwaves will Harm Transportation Infrastructure.

How More Extreme Heatwaves will Harm Transportation Infrastructure

How More Extreme Heatwaves will Harm Transportation Infrastructure

10/24/18

“How will transportation infrastructure be harmed by more extreme heat waves?”

With the ascent of more extreme temperatures, heatwaves will more frequent and more deadly. This will affect all sectors of critical infrastructure systems, transportation being one of them. With these new temperatures, railroads will buckle, cement will be deformed, and transit schedules will be vastly transformed. This is How More Extreme Heatwaves will Harm Transportation Infrastructure.

Image credit https://www.ucsusa.org

Why The Grid Needs to be Repaired to Ensure Climate Change Resilience

Why The Grid Needs to be Repaired to Ensure Climate Change Resilience

10/23/18

“Why can’t we truly have a resilient grid until repairs are made?”

With the ascent of global temperature change, the grid will need to adapt to ensure proper resilience. However, to building against higher temperatures and more extreme weather events will require much more than putting more batteries on the main grid. The current components of the grid will also need to be repaired since much of it has already run its life cycle. As a result, The Grid Needs to be Repaired to Ensure Climate Change Resilience.

Image credit spectrum.ieee.org

How Extreme Weather Events Can Cause Energy Prices to Skyrocket

How Extreme Weather Events Can Cause Energy Prices to Skyrocket

10/22/18

“How can extreme weather events cause energy prices to go out of whack?”

When the weather gets too hot or too cold, people will turn on HVAC systems to compensate. This will cause greater demand on the electricity system, which in turn will lead to more constraints and therefore higher costs for everyone. This is How Extreme Weather Events Can Cause Energy Prices to Skyrocket. The advent of climate change will only exacerbate this, as extreme weather events will become far more frequent. So in the end, it will pay in the long term to upgrade critical infrastructure systems to more resilient standards.

Image credit Bigerna, S. (2018). Estimating temperature effects on the Italian electricity market. Energy Policy, 118, 257-269.

Why We Need to Expand Coastal Barriers for Climate Change Resilience

Why We Need to Expand Coastal Barriers for Climate Change Resilience

10/21/18

“Why should we expand coastal barriers to withstand against climate change?”

As the global average temperatures and sea levels continue to rise, the world will need to adapt in response. Part of this will include expanding coastal barriers to prevent against widespread destruction as seen in New Orleans and Houston.

Image credit images.arcadis.com