Ripple is a new energy start-up that is inviting customers to buy shares in a wind farm, making it the first to be owned by its customers. There are community energy groups that might argue that’s only true as a technicality, but it’s still a good idea that supports energy democracy.
Canada has set out proposals for a net zero by 2050 climate target. Yes. Do it Canada.
“As anti-racists, we cannot be against ‘racial’ inequality at home, while at the same time perpetuate ‘racial’ inequality abroad through exploitative consumption habits” argues Samir Sweida-Metwally in this Bristol University Press article on ethical consumerism and racism.
Solar Oysters is a company that plans to use solar power to automate floating oyster farms in the Chesapeake Bay, producing food while cleaning the water – a potentially regenerative form of ocean farming.
Onshore wind and solar are back in the picture in Britain, as the government allows them to be included in next year’s Contracts for Difference auction (a form of subsidy). They have been excluded since 2015 for no good reason, so this is good to see.
This week’s posts:
What we learned this week
With the arrival of smaller and cheaper options on the market, the average price paid for a new electric car is now cheaper than petrol cars in the UK, according to Autotrader. The total cost of ownership was already lower, and now the sticker price shouldn’t be a sticking point either. Beyond private cars and…
Orienting building for energy savings
I’ve been doing quite a lot of work around summer overheating recently, looking at how we adapt buildings for a warmer climate. For the day job that’s with schools, and I have a personal interest in it in homes as well. Our own house has a tendency to get too hot in the summer, and…
Trump’s accidental boost to the energy transition
One of the greatest spurs to environmental action was the series of oil shocks in the 1970s. As the Rapid Transition Alliance describe in a history of the era, it transformed the environmental movement from a focus on conservation to a focus on energy. Governments responded in all sorts of ways to the wake up…
Book review: Two Wheels Good, by Jody Rosen
There’s no shortage of histories of the bicycle out there, but this is a fun one. Published in 2023, Two Wheels Good brings the story of the bike right up to the modern day, with elements of travelogue and personal memoir, and a curiosity about the eccentric corners of the cycling world. The book covers…
The Earthbound Report 
Do the Canadians plan to shut down the tar sands mines? It’s my understanding that their laws are so restrictive that they cannot refine that gunk in Canada, so the pipelines send it to the US.