The latest renewable energy news from The Guardian
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Electrifying your home will lower energy bills and emissions – and it pays to get ahead of the curve
- Change by Degrees offers life hacks and sustainable living tips each Saturday to help reduce your household’s carbon footprint
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The glory days of gas are over. As the cost of renewable energy comes down, many Australian households are making the shift away from the fossil fuel. But not everyone has got the memo, with about 5m Australian residences still relying on gas for heating and cooking.
Those gas connections might have been a good idea at the time, but in the current (and foreseeable) energy market, getting off gas will lower a household’s energy bills – not to mention their emissions. It’s not always a DIY job – and it takes some planning – but electrifying your house is the inevitable way forward, so the sooner the better.
Continue reading...Andy McCarthy went from town pariah – being spat on and having his shop vandalised – to employing hundreds of people
When Andy McCarthy moved to the heart of Victoria’s coal country in 2010 to start selling rooftop solar panels he was greeted with “open ridicule”.
But as his Gippsland Solar firm began “having a few wins and making a bit of a splash”, the response on the streets in the Latrobe Valley towns of Morwell and Traralgon, and especially the local footy field, took on a more menacing tone.
Continue reading...Communities affected by construction of renewable energy infrastructure ‘have the right to see the benefits’
Labour will seek to persuade people living near proposed pylon routes and other renewable energy infrastructure that the developments are critical to bring down bills and tackle carbon emissions, the energy secretary said.
Ed Miliband promised to consider new benefits for communities affected by the construction of renewable energy infrastructure, and community ownership of the assets, which could include onshore windfarms and solar farms.
Continue reading...Policymakers and funders are being urged to invest in training a workforce to serve the industries of the future
A greener economy could bring millions of jobs to some of the largest countries in Africa, according to a new report.
Research by the development agency FSD Africa and the impact advisory firm Shortlist predicts that 3.3 million jobs could be generated across the continent by 2030.
Continue reading...At formal launch of state-run GB Energy, PM sets out plan to build enough offshore wind facilities to power 20m homes
Keir Starmer has pledged to take on Labour MPs and councils that try to block pylon networks delivering a planned new generation of clean electricity, as he promised the government’s plans would lower people’s bills in this parliament.
Formally launching GB Energy, the state-run green energy generation company, one of his flagship policies, the prime minister said there was a need to move rapidly on new onshore and offshore wind because of what he called the last government’s inaction and short-termism.
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