2018's largest green energy projects

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A damning report by the United Nations has revealed that the human race only has 12 years to limit the catastrophic effects of climate change.It’s a grim prediction but one which has to be acknowledged and acted upon.Despite the fact that the Paris Agreement was signed by over 170 nations, it seems the UN is still not confident that the effects of climate change will be stopped in just over a decade. That is unless something drastic is done.The biggest difficulty isn’t that carbon emissions need to be reduced and global warming slowed down. The difficulty is rather that it has to be stopped dead and reversed altogether. Since records began, each new year represents the hottest ever recorded average global temperature. This highlights that something needs to be done quickly.Green energy initiatives are therefore being developed in an effort to reduce our reliance on greenhouse gas-producing fossil fuels. Here are three of the biggest energy initiatives to have launched in 2018.

Words first tidal turbines connect to the power grid

At the start of October, a three-turbine array of turbines in the far north of Scotland went live. They then began generating energy from the surrounding tidal power. To maintain a consistent flow of energy, the turbines also harness wind power. This means that they have the capacity to provide reliable, constant power to 200 homes.The combined input of tidal power and wind power is a vital step forward. Compare this to solar power which can only be generated when the sun is actually out. This prevents power generation during the night or during bad weather.To learn more about how the turbines work, visit the Nova Innovation website here.

Australia opens its first large-scale solar farm

If all of the sunlight energy striking the surface of the earth in Texas was converted to electricity, it would be over 300 times more than the total energy output of all of the power plants in the world.Considering that Australia alone is 11 times bigger than Texas and has some of the hottest, and most unpopulated, areas on the planet, it’s a surprise that the folks down under have only just launched a large-scale solar farm.Lakeland, as the farm is known, has over 40,000 panels and stretches over 45 hectares. It will supposedly provide over 3,000 homes with green energy.

China connects the ‘Panda Power Plant’

Over half of the world's solar energy is generated in China so it is no surprise that their latest green energy initiative is one of the biggest ever constructed.The ‘Panda Power Plant’ in Shanxi, will be able to produce 3.2 billion kilowatt-hours of green power over the next 25 years, according to developers.That equates to the same amount of power generated by burning 1.56 million tons of coal.

A brighter future?

Only time will tell whether projects like this will have enough of an impact on the environment and whether technology can help speed up the process of reducing global warming.Unfortunately, figuring out how to reduce carbon emissions and increase green energy production is only one part of saving the planet.Finding solutions to feeding a growing population, reducing the amount of plastic being dumped into the oceans, and restoring the forests and jungles in high-risk areas is also paramount.To discover more on these very issues read more of our in-depth articles here.Recent Developments in Sustainable ConstructionSustainable Projects That Are Shaping The Real Estate SectorHow To Grow A Business Through Sustainability

Written by:
Jack Duddridge
2
minutes read
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