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Latin America and Caribbean on the Brink of Massive Solar Power Growth
Latin America and the Caribbean could grow their installed solar capacity by a factor of 40 by 2050, a new report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) shows. Annual investmens exceeding seven billion would see the region's solar PV capacity rise from 7 gigawatts (GW) today, to more than 280 GW by mid-century. While solar energy remains the highest in Asia, North America and Europe, market growth is set to shift to other regions in the world.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Latin America
- Tags
- renewable energy, solar
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Perspective: Bridging the two fuels in an economy: energy and finance
An energy revolution is under way. Globally, renewables-based electricity capacity has seen more investments than fossil fuels in the past three years. Yet, many remain wary of investing in renewable energy particularly in developing countries, which have large untapped potential for both solar and wind energy. These are generally perceived as challenging markets in which to operate, especially by risk-averse investors. So, why do clean energy investments continue to be viewed as risky, despite evident trends pointing to the contrary?
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- South Asia
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Greenlight Planet partners with telecom operators in sub-Saharan Africa
Greenlight Planet, pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar service provider, has partnered with telecom operators in Africa to recognise the natural synergy between the telecom and pay-as-you-go solar industries. The initiative is in line with the company’s aim to pursuing a telecom-focused strategy to have a far-reaching impact on more than 600 million unelectrified consumers across the African continent.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- renewable energy
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Shell and Sumitomo Buy 15 Percent Stake in Minigrid Firm PowerGen
Shell and Sumitomo have taken a minority stake in African minigrid firm PowerGen. The pair will have a combined ownership of 15 percent after leading the most recent funding round alongside six other investors. Shell will get a seat on the board, with Sumitomo taking an observer seat. Financial details of the Series B round were not revealed.
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- off-grid energy
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What Nigeria Can Teach the U.S. About a Green New Deal
Tackling a host of huge challenges – from climate change to economic inequality – the Green New Deal has provoked passion and resistance in equal measure. But as Damilola Ogunbiyi at Sustainable Energy for All asks, what if the solution is not to think big, but to think small? Instead of a vast new energy grid, what if the U.S. created efficient, resilient and job-creating decentralized grids – along the lines of what's currently happening in countries like Nigeria?
- Categories
- Energy, Environment
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World Bank Sees ‘Transformational’ Offshore Wind Potential in Emerging Markets
A report from World Bank, Going global: expanding offshore wind to emerging markets, finds that the technical potential for offshore wind in Brazil, India, Morocco, the Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Vietnam is absolutely huge.
- Categories
- Energy
- Tags
- renewable energy
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Unite Behind the Science: When it Comes to Cooking, it’s Time for ‘Clean’ to Mean Something
Nearly 3 billion people still live in homes where someone burns sticks, charcoal or dung to cook, devastating their health, their local environments and the climate. Yet thousands of projects have failed to deliver truly clean cooking to the masses, doing a disservice to customers and damaging the sector's credibility with funders. Eric Reynolds, CEO of the cookstove company Inyenyeri, argues that there's only one way to turn this around: "deliver dramatically improved outcomes, and be able to prove it." He outlines a straightforward way the industry can make that happen.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Health Care, Social Enterprise
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Tata, Rockefeller Foundation Plan 10,000 India Microgrids
Tata Power Co. Ltd., in collaboration with the Rockefeller Foundation, plans to develop 10,000 microgrids in India to boost access to affordable and reliable electricity to homes and enterprises across the nation’s vast rural areas.
- Categories
- Energy, Technology
- Region
- South Asia