Here are some fascinating figures (from Environment America) about the growth of renewables in the United States:
Between 2011 and 2020, renewable energy production (solar, wind, and geothermal) grew at an average rate of 15% per year. Assuming this same rate of growth, the US could be on target to meet all of its electricity needs with renewables by 2035.
The US produces 23x more solar power and 3x more wind power than it did in 2011.
The median efficiency for new residential solar panels increased by 37% from 2010 to 2019. At the same time, the cost of distributed solar photovoltaic systems fell by 71% and the cost of utility-scale systems fell by about 80% between 2010 and 2018.
During this same time period (2010-2018), the cost of land-based wind power fell by 66%.
The median range of new electric vehicles increased by more than 3x between 2011 and 2020. The median range is now more than 250 miles on a single charge. By the middle of this year, cumulative plug-in EV sales surpassed 2 million units.
Texas is the US state that currently produces the most renewable energy.
To download the full report by Environment America, click here.
Photo by Nuno Marques on Unsplash
The United Nations and Bloomberg New Energy Finance recently published a report covering global trends in the renewable energy space for 2017.
Here are some of their key findings:
- 2016 was a record year in terms of renewable power capacity installed worldwide. This includes wind, solar, biomass and waste-to-energy, geothermal, small hydro, and marine sources.
- The share of global electricity generated from renewable sources rose from 10.3% (2015) to 11.3% (2016).
- However, overall investment in renewables declined in 2016 for two main reasons. Costs went down (good news). And China and Japan exhibited a dramatic slowdown in terms of investment activity (bad news).
- Acquisitions of renewal assets, such as wind farms and solar parks, hit a new peak at $72.7 billion.
- A number of promising new pricing records set in 2016: $29.10 per MWh for solar in Chile and $30 per MWh for onshore wind in Morocco.
- In one year, the cost of solar generation dropped on average about 17% and onshore wind dropped about 18%.
Sugar Beach in Toronto by christophmarten on 500px
Since we’ve been discussing waterfronts lately, I thought I would share this post from ArchDaily talking about 4 ways that cold-climate cities can make the most of their waterfronts.
They are:
Plan for winter sun
Create plazas that block wind
Break up outdoor spaces with comfort stations (not sure why they just have to be stations)
Design for active winter programming
These, of course, aren’t new design strategies. Cities have been built around their climates since, probably, the beginning of cities. It wasn’t until more recently that we started basically ignoring local climates and focusing more on what mechanical systems can do to make us feel comfortable.
But I think that was a mistake. I don’t think that mechanical systems are bad though. I just think that there’s a lot that we can do first – without mechanical systems – to address local climates.
If you’ve ever sat on a patio during a swing season (i.e. right now) where the wind was blocked and you were in the direct sun, you already know that there’s a lot that can be done without relying on active systems.
But the other thing I like about this post is that it acknowledges the fact that winter waterfronts require just as much, if not more, design attention than a warm-climate waterfront.
Saying that we’ll (insert cold-climate city name here) never be Miami or Barcelona or Sydney is just giving up.