Stronger policies and raised climate goals leading into COP26 are driving renewables to new records, but faster deployment across all key sectors is needed to reach net zero. Key Words: Renewable, Climate Change, generate electricity
Remote work is more environmentally friendly than working in an office. Benefits include greenhouse gas reductions particularly in relation to commuter transport. Additionally, when employers offer remote work options, they experience a better reputation, boosted customer loyalty, and have happier, healthier employees. Key Word: work from home, greenhouse gas, ghg
This report was written in a collaboration between the Government of St. Lucia, the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and the University of Oxford-led Infrastructure Transitions Research Consortium (ITRC). The report examines the possible vision for the island’s future infrastructure aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on climate change. this report equips Saint Lucia with a robust approach to infrastructure planning that can ensure that social, economic, and environmental needs are met in a range of future scenarios. Through extensive data collection and cross-sectoral analysis, this report estimates Saint Lucia’s future infrastructure needs for...
The Caribbean Forum on Energy, Transport, and Resilience was held at the Bay Gardens Hotel, Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia, from June 26 to 27, 2019. It was hosted by the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Government of Saint Lucia, with support from the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission. With the objective of exploring new technologies and combining them with existing regional experiences in sustainable urban development, the event had an overall goal to design a roadmap for the Caribbean smart cities of the future. The forum sought to further public-private exchanges among governments, energy and transportation...
Floating solar photovoltaic installations open new opportunities for scaling up solar generating capacity, especially in countries with high population density and competing uses for available land. Advantages of floating solar over land-based systems include higher energy yield, reduced evaporation, and improved water quality, among others. Combining floating solar with hydropower plants is of particular interest. Flexible hydropower output can be used to smooth the variability of the solar generation, while making better use of existing transmission assets, particularly beneficial in countries with weak grids. With a global estimated potential of 400 gigawatts, under conservative assumptions, floating solar could double the...
The electrification of health centers, schools, and other public institutions has been limited by the slow expansion of national grids, which has staggering consequences for economic growth, poverty reduction, and the accumulation of human capital. Off-grid solar solutions have enormous potential to address the problem, both in Sub-Saharan Africa and across the world, but simply purchasing and installing the units without providing for adequate maintenance is not effective. Installing stand-alone solar units and servicing them through long-term performance-based contracts can give public institutions the electricity service they need at a cost governments can afford.
A significant benefit of floating solar is that it doesn’t take up valuable space on land - meaning that it can be used for other purposes, such as farming or construction. Installing floating solar farms on bodies of water, such as reservoirs, avoids this issue. Hydropower reservoirs alone cover a surface of more than 250 thousand square kilometers worldwide - enough to host enough floating solar capacity to produce 2.5 times the electricity produced by all the underlying hydropower capacity. As the technology develops, the costs and technical challenges are expected to fall. Demand for floating solar power will also...
Solar radiation is essentially a free resource available anywhere on Earth, to a greater or lesser extent. Solar PV power plants convert solar radiation into electricity. In the current era of global climate change, PV technology becomes an opportunity for countries and communities to transform or develop their energy infrastructure and step up their low-carbon energy transition. Until now, a global and harmonized assessment of country-level PV potential has not existed. This report aims to provide an aggregated and harmonized view on solar resource and PV power potential from the perspective of countries and regions, assuming a utility-scale installation of...
Although geothermal energy is globally recognized as a clean and reliable source of heat and electric power its development can inadvertently lead to adverse outcomes that disproportionately disadvantage women. Based on good practices and lessons learned, this report introduces ways that geothermal projects can mitigate risks and pursue opportunities to address gender gaps within the project cycle. It outlines the risks and opportunities associated with (i) changes in land and natural resource use, (ii) changes to employment and economic patterns, and (iii) changes to environment and health. Beyond mapping risks and opportunities, the report makes the case for focusing on...