Renewable energies are being used as scapegoats for dramatically increasing electricity prices. However, this blame-game is relatively easy to see through. It is an attempt to maintain the current energy production market share as serious competition arises with the expansion of the renewable energy generation industry. But, let’s have a closer look at the facts.

By Greg Austin, Head of Operations, juwi Renewable Energies (Pty) Ltd.

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I’m standing on the beach at Hvide Sande, in the northern reaches of Denmark, on a cold October morning. Strong gusts of wind pick up sand and throw it straight at my face. It’s not a good day for a picnic. But it’s a great day for the three wind turbines on the edge of this fishing village. And for their owners, the local community, who are using the income to fund a new harbour for their fishing fleet. I ask the chairman of the project whether they had had any opposition to the development. Yes, he says, one person complained. Just the one. [Read more →]

This week brings more scientific proof that the world is running out of cheap and abundant fossil and nuclear fuels. A new study from Energy Watch Group shows that fossil fuel production will peak by the end of this decade and that nuclear fuel will not have any significant influence on the subsequent energy gap. It is yet another call for a faster development of renewable energy technologies and the urgent need to soon shift to 100% renewable energies (RE) in all sectors. But how do we achieve this fossil free society? What are the rate limiting factors to disseminate the best practices that exist around the world?

An in-depth policy analysis of renewable energy frontrunner countries published by the World Future Council last week shows that of all the factors impacting the pace of large-scale RE advancement, none has proven to be more critical than national policies. [Read more →]