Since 2019, Lebennon has been facing an economic crisis. Following decades of corrupt government financial mismanagement, banks started to impose restrictions on withdrawals. They stopped giving short-term loans to businesses and no longer provided them with US dollars for imports. As a result, this reduced the country’s ability to pay for imports, including essentials such as wheat and oil.
Moreover, many of Lebannon’s bakeries rely on expensive diesel generators for electricity because the ongoing economic crisis has devastated its power grid. In 2021, the country’s two main power plants ran out of fuel and shut down. Most households only receive about one hour of electricity per day, and the cost of food increased by 350 percent in April 2023. Many people in the country cannot even afford basic foods like bread. In some cases, the cost of a loaf has increased seven times in the space of a month.
To help feed the country’s population, an inventor, Toufic Hamdan, created a commercial bakery to bake bread in solar ovens. The startup “Partners With Sun” has installed a solar convection oven on the bakery’s roof. The Solar Oven uses large silver mirrors to capture and magnify the sun’s rays to build heat.
The heat is transported by a transfer fluid which is then used to help operate a convection oven, allowing it to reach a baking temperature of between 300 and 400 Celsius. The heat is used directly in food and beverage production. They have successfully made milk loaf, French bread and anything that can be cooked at this temperature. The Solar Oven is designed for industrial use in the baking industry.
The Solar Oven is able to cut up to 80% of the bakery’s fuel bill and improve its production efficiency. As a result, it also reduces the amount of diesel the country would have to import. As a result, it will reduce the price of the bread bundle that reaches the customer. Moreover, each bakery would save at least around 10 tonnes of diesel a month. By 2030, Toufic hopes to completely eliminate the use of diesel ovens in bakeries and rely only on solar ovens.
Lebanon is also increasing the use of solar energy for individuals and businesses. The country went from generating zero solar power in 2010 to having 90 megawatts of solar capacity in 2020. An additional 100 megawatts were added in 2021 and 500 megawatts in 2022. This is a sustainable way for people to move away from diesel and has become a stand-in for both grid-supplied electricity and private diesel generators.
Although the switch towards relying on solar power in Lebanon is now a response to the economic crisis than a reaction to climate change and air pollution, it is an inspiring way to show how we can use the earth’s resources to help our societies in times of crisis. The country now has a target to source 30% of its electricity from renewables by 2030. This switch will help provide electricity and food at reduced costs to the people of Lebanon during this economic crisis.
Living green in the suburbs is gaining interest from all over the US. Today, 8 of every 10 Americans live in the suburbs. Suburbs are areas within a metropolitan area that are primarily residential. They are not as densely populated as the inner city and are generally a separate political entity of the city. In many suburban areas, a car is required to get around the area and enter the main city or downtown core. In America, the suburbs are responsible for 50% of carbon emissions due to car dependence.
Moreover, these homes conserve less energy as they are required to heat and cool larger houses. Many suburban homes have lawns which require water and maintenance. Over 3 trillion gallons of water a year across 40 million acres of lawn is used in the US. Lawns are also one of the nation’s largest sources of pollution due to the chemical runoff from pesticides and fertilizers that make their way into waterways. Suburban lawns have been known to contaminate swimming and drinking water and harm local fish.
Living Green in the suburbs is simple (and fun).
But it doesn’t all have to be bad. Many environmentally friendly solutions exist to help make living green in the suburbs easier. Front or backyards could be transformed into wildflower meadows or rain gardens. Wildflower meadows mainly contain native plants and are a perfect habitat for pollinators like bees, butterflies and birds. Rain gardens are filled with plants and native grasses that collect storm water runoff from roofs, driveways and streets and are ways to protect the aquatic ecosystem.
Another lawn alternative is planting ground coversthat require no mowing and little fertilizer and water. Food scaping is also growing in popularity as a lawn replacement as it enables sustainable edible landscapes. The plants can be edible, which will help contribute to food security, or ornamental, providing an aesthetically pleasing landscape with little planning.
Another way for suburbanites to reduce their environmental impact is by harvesting rainwater from runoff surfaces. The water can be used for irrigation and toilet flushing. It also reduces energy use and carbon emissions from water treatment industries that treat and transfer water.
Reducing energy consumption while living green in the suburbs includes buying more energy-efficient light bulbs, installing insulation and storm windows, purchasing Energy Star Label appliances and choosing renewable energy. Within these suburban communities, a community solar project may allow homeowners to buy into a collectively owned energy project.
Here is an easy-to-follow checklist for living green in the suburbs.
1. Reduce, reuse, and recycle: Practice the three R’s of sustainability by reducing your disposable consumption, reusing items as much as possible, and recycling materials such as paper, plastics, and glass.
2. Compost: Start a compost pile to reduce organic waste and produce nutrient-rich soil for gardening.
3. Install energy-efficient appliances: Replace old appliances with energy-efficient models to reduce energy consumption and save money on utility bills.
4. Use public transportation or carpool: Use public transportation whenever possible or carpool with others to reduce carbon emissions from vehicles.
5. Plant native species in your yard: Planting native species can help support biodiversity and provide habitats for local wildlife.
6. Conserve water: Install low-flow showerheads and toilets, and limit outdoor watering to reduce water usage.
7. Use eco-friendly cleaning products: Switch to environmentally friendly cleaning products that use natural ingredients instead of harsh chemicals.
8. Support local farmers and businesses: Buy produce and products from local farmers and businesses to reduce the carbon footprint associated with shipping and distribution.
9. Use solar power: Install solar panels on your property to produce clean energy and reduce reliance on non-renewable energy sources.
10. Participate in community-wide sustainability initiatives: Join community groups or organizations that promote green living and participate in local sustainability programs or events.
Just because you live in the suburbs, it doesn’t mean you get a free pass to environmental damage. Suburban living can be environmentally damaging, but many opportunities exist to reduce your impact. By simply converting your lawn, you can protect local wildlife and ecosystems. Finding ways to reduce your energy consumption, installing compost bins and piles, and even choosing to eat locally and seasonally will all positively impact how you live, no matter where you live and soon you will find your own family living green in the suburbs.
Renewable energy met all of Greece’s electricity needs for the first time ever last week, the country’s independent power transmission operator IPTO announced.
For at least five hours on Friday, renewables accounted for 100 per cent of Greece’s power generation, reaching a record high of 3,106 megawatt hours.
Solar, wind and hydro represented 46 per cent of the nation’s power mix in the eight months to August this year, up from 42 per cent in the same period in 2021, according to Greece-based environmental think-tank The Green Tank.
Green Tank called it, a “record of optimism for the country’s transition to clean energy, weaning off fossil fuels and ensuring our energy sufficiency.”
“European countries like Greece are rapidly accelerating away from fossil fuels and towards cheap renewable electricity. The milestone reached by Greece proves that a renewables-dominated electricity grid is within sight,” Elisabeth Cremona, an analyst at energy think tank Ember, told Euronews Green.
“This also clearly demonstrates that the electricity system can be powered by renewables without compromising reliability. But there remains more to do to ensure that renewables overtake fossil fuels in Greece’s power sector across the whole year.”
What’s the big picture for Greece’s energy transition?
It’s a significant milestone in the history of the country’s electricity system, and follows the bright news that renewables fully met the rise in global electricity demand in the first half of 2022.But Greece’s transition to clean energy hasn’t been entirely straightforward.
Solar panels soak up the sun’s rays at a new photovoltaic park near Kozani, Greece, pictured in August this year.
Like other European countries, Greece has cut its reliance on Russian gas following the war in Ukraine by increasing liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports to meet its needs. It has also boosted coal mining, pushing back its decarbonisation plan.
Using IPTO data, The Green Tank finds that renewables – excluding large hydro sources – surpassed all other energy sources, leaving fossil gas in second place as it decreased slightly for the first time since 2018.
Greece aims to more than double its green energy capacity to account for at least 70 per cent of its energy mix by 2030. To help hit that target, the government is seeking to attract around €30 billion in European funds and private investments to upgrade its electricity grid.
It plans to have 25 gigawatt of installed renewable energy capacity from about 10 gigawatt now but analysts say Athens might reach that target sooner.
IPTO has been investing in expanding the country’s power grid to boost power capacity and facilitate the penetration of solar, wind and hydro energy.
Going to the bank in his home village in western India used to be a slow, frustrating process for Kiran Patil, as frequent power cuts – sometimes lasting for days – turned what should have been a quick errand into a lengthy ordeal.
The 59-year-old farmer often had to wait for hours in line at RBL Bank, his local branch in the village of Aitawade Budruk, or abandon his transaction and return the next day, wasting time he should have been spending cultivating his crops.
All that changed after the building was fitted with a set of solar panels and backup storage batteries in 2018, breaking the bank’s reliance on the power grid and giving it a steady supply of clean electricity.
“The transactions now are so smooth and fast,” Patil told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “These days we even find time for a quick chat with the branch manager over a cup of tea, to learn of the latest services and facilities.”
A more reliable banking experience is also bringing in new customers who previously didn’t have the time for long waits or who worried about never knowing when they would be able to access their money.
Workers clean solar panels in Yamunanagar, Haryana state, India. Image: IWMI Flickr Photos, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Flickr.
Since the solar power system was installed at RBL in Aitawade Budruk, the bank has been opening 25 to 30 new accounts every month – 10 times more than before, said branch manager Sandeep Banne.
As India boosts its use of renewable energy in an effort to wean itself off climate-heating coal, the country is leaning heavily on solar energy to cut carbon emissions and help stabilise a grid squeezed by coal shortages and surging demand from a population trying to keep cool during hotter summers.
Citizens in rural areas were walking or spending their precious money to transport themselves from their villages to the nearest bank branch, then waiting there for hours. Simply because the bank did not have electricity all day and the computers could not work. – Raghuraman Chandrasekaran, founder, E-Hands Energy
But some communities have discovered another benefit to the solar power push: greater financial system access for millions of the country’s unbanked, including the estimated 20 per cent of Indian adults who have no access to a bank account or formal line of credit.
Raghuraman Chandrasekaran, founder and CEO of E-Hands Energy, the Chennai-based firm that set up the solar unit in Aitawade Budruk, said his company has installed such systems at more than 920 rural banks across India, helping bring more than 6 million people into the formal banking system.
The company plans to install units at up to 100 more rural branches before the end of the year, he said.
“Citizens in rural areas were walking or spending their precious money to transport themselves from their villages to the nearest bank branch, then waiting (there) for hours … simply because the bank did not have electricity all day and the computers could not work,” said Chandrasekaran.
“It was all misery.”
Modern banking
The three-kilowatt solar power system at the Aitawade Budruk branch – which runs everything from the fans and lights to computers and alarm systems – means the bank now has reliable power about 95 per cent of the time, said Banne, the branch manager.
On cloudy days, backup storage batteries take over, he said.
Firms like E-Hands Energy, Tata Power Solar and Husk Power Systems have so far outfitted more than 2,000 banks in rural India with solar power, estimates Shyam Kumar Garg, who retired as deputy general manager at the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development last October.
The systems feed into India’s efforts to install 500 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity by 2030, up from about 115 GW now, more than half of which is solar.
E-Hands Energy’s manager of operations Kakumanu Prathap Sagar said the solar systems the company has installed at banks around India is helping cut about 3,000 tons of carbon emissions every year.
Going solar can cut costs, too, said Banne at RBL in Aitawade Budruk, noting that the branch now spends a fraction of what it used to for grid electricity and diesel for its backup generators.
The solar systems cost between 130,000 and 150,000 Indian rupees ($1,650 to $1,900) for installation and maintenance for four years, and pay for themselves in about four years, he added.
For villagers, the biggest benefit is finally being able to use government services they never had access to before, said Pratibha Budruk, head of the Aitawade Budruk’s village council.
When the bank suffered power cuts and frequent loss of internet connectivity, payments of pensions, students’ scholarships, loans and insurance were often delayed, putting a strain on people who relied on the money, Budruk said.
“The changeover of rural banks to solar power … has opened the doors of modern banking facilities for our local villagers,” she said.
Solar power challenges
In a country where 65 per cent of the population lives in rural areas, according to the World Bank, switching rural banks to solar power might even slow the migration of young people from villages to cities as more economic opportunities at home arise, said energy management expert Binoy Krishna Choudhury.
“Solarising banks is a good step to developing the rural economy,” said Choudhury, who teaches at the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management in Kolkata.
But projects to bring solar panels to rural banks face a raft of obstacles, said Russell deLucia, director and founder of the Small-Scale Sustainable Infrastructure Development Fund, a U.S.-based nonprofit.
Potential hurdles include finding ways to transport and install the equipment in far flung, often off-road locations, said deLucia, whose company helps E-Hands raise funding for its solar power projects.
Once the systems are up and running, finding skilled technicians nearby to fix anything that goes wrong is another issue, he said.
Despite those challenges, Budruk, the village council head, wants to see more banks tap into solar power as a way to both improve the lives of rural communities and limit worsening climate change impacts such as extreme heat.
“Installing solar systems in the banks is like planting trees throughout the year for purifying the air we breathe,” she said.
“When the whole world is trying hard to slow global warming and the impacts of climate change, this is a small contribution from our village.”
This story was published with permission from Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, resilience, women’s rights, trafficking and property rights. Visit http://news.trust.org/climate.
Winding past the ochre-coloured plateaux of the Bardenas Reales natural park in northern Spain, Roel Grooten nudged me to take my foot off the accelerator.
The car continued to barrel down the open stretch of road, its speed dipping only slightly. “It keeps on going,” said Grooten, the lead engineer for the Dutch car company Lightyear, as we whizzed through the lunar-like landscape. “What you feel is nothing holding you back. You feel the aerodynamics, you feel the low-rolling resistance of the tyres, of the bearings and the motor.”
It is this streamlined design that the company credits for allowing it to muscle its way into a space long overlooked by most car manufacturers. As early as November, the company will start delivery of what it describes as the “world’s first production-ready solar car” – the Lightyear 0, a €250,000 (£215,000) sedan draped in 5 sq metres of curved solar panels that top up the electric battery while the car is driving or parked outdoors.
“If we would have the same amount of energy that we harvest on these panels on any other car that uses three times the amount of energy to drive, it becomes useless. It becomes a very expensive gimmick,” said Grooten. “You have to build this car from the ground up, to make it as efficient as possible, to make it this feasible.”
In optimal conditions, the solar panels can add up to 44 miles a day to the 388-mile range the car gets between charges, according to the company. Tests carried out by Lightyear suggest people with a daily commute of less than 22 miles could drive for two months in the Netherlands without needing to plug in, while those in sunnier climes such as Portugal or Spain could go as long as seven months.
In optimal conditions, the solar panels can add up to 44 miles a day to the 388-mile range the car gets between charges. Photograph: Nacho Bueno Gil/The Guardian
But whether the company’s gamble on solar will pay off remains to be seen, said Jim Saker, professor emeritus at Loughborough University and president of the Institute of the Motor Industry.
“You’re having to pay an awful lot of money and have solar panels stuck on the car for just 44 additional miles. The question mark at the moment is the fact that, in reality, is that actually worth it? The actual concept isn’t bad. It’s just whether the technology is actually viable to make it economically sustainable for anybody wanting to do this.”
Sales of the Lightyear 0 would probably be limited to a handful of early adopters, he added. “But in reality, it’s not a commercial proposition at the moment.”
Others questioned the idea of a car being touted as a salve to the ever deepening climate crisis. “The most sustainable way to approach car ownership is actually to avoid it entirely, if you can at all,” said Vera O’Riordan, a PhD student focusing on low-carbon pathways and policies for passenger transport at University College Cork in Ireland.
While electric vehicles may have a limited role to play in rural areas that lack public transport, she cited research suggesting these vehicles are often sold to high-income households in urban areas. “So you have to ask yourself the question: are you serving this individualised, very inefficient, very harmful and traffic-inducing transport in urban areas where it could otherwise be perfectly met by public transport and walking and cycling?”
The need to move away from cars to tackle the climate emergency is – perhaps surprisingly – echoed by Lex Hoefsloot, the 31-year-old chief executive of Lightyear, who has raised about €150m in investment to get it running.
“It would be great, I fully agree,” he said. “But I think we’re not going to change our lives too much. Perhaps, when we’re really panicking in 20 years, we might. But in the meantime, we have to work around that.”
Since 2016 the company has championed solar energy as a key part of this work-around, envisioning solar cars capable of running on clean energy and accelerating the transition away from polluting fossil fuels. “People were saying it wasn’t possible, mostly because of the limited amount of solar power you could get on a car,” said Hoefsloot.
Roel Grooten, the lead engineer, explains the car’s controls. Photograph: Nacho Bueno Gil/The Guardian
His own experience, however, suggested otherwise. The Lightyear 0 – a sleek four-wheel drive – traces its roots to a squat box-on-wheels that ferried four helmet-clad university students across the Australian outback to win in its class in the 2013 world solar challenge.
“If it works in Australia, then it works everywhere. That was the thinking,” said Hoefsloot, who founded Lightyear with four other members of the solar challenge team. “Early days, I must admit there was a hesitation whether we should go full car manufacturing, because we all know it’s not the easiest thing. But there was nobody else out there that was really willing to or doing something similar.”
In recent years there has been an upswell of interest in integrating solar panels into cars: Mercedes-Benz recently revealed plans to outfit an upcoming electric car with rooftop solar panels, while Toyota has at times offered limited-capacity solar panels as an add-on to its Prius hybrid.
Next year, Munich-based Sono Motors plans to roll out a €28,500 solar-assisted family car, while the California-based startup Aptera Motors said in 2020 that preorders for its futuristic three-wheeled solar electric vehicle sold out in less than 24 hours.
With months left before the Lightyear 0’s production run, there are still kinks to be worked out, from a stiff steering wheel to the buzz that at times fills the car when the air conditioning kicks in.
Once you are in the car, there is little about the driving experience that feels different from other electric cars – “That’s a huge compliment, that’s what we’re aiming for,” one staff member tells me – save for a smattering of reminders about the constant drip feed of solar energy. One screen shows exactly what cells are feeding off the sun at any given moment, while another quantifies how much solar energy is being absorbed.
The car’s body panels are made from reclaimed carbon fibre. Photograph: Nacho Bueno Gil/The Guardian
In an effort to use as much of this solar energy as possible, the windswept design eschews side-view mirrors for cameras and runs off lightweight electric motors tucked into its wheels. The body panels are crafted from reclaimed carbon fibre and the interiors are fashioned from vegan, plant-based leather with fabrics made from recycled polyethylene terephthalate bottles.
The 20-minute test run is probably the only time I will sit at the wheel of the Lightyear 0. With its hefty price tag – ideally paid by those who have an outdoor parking space to maximise the car’s gain from the sun – it is not a car for the masses.
Instead, the company envisions the production run, which will offer up to 946 vehicles for delivery across Europe and the UK, as a beginning of sorts. “This is a small scale to validate to the world that we can produce a car,” said Telian Franken, the prototype team lead.
From there, the company will shift its focus to a second solar-assisted electric car it is aiming to sell for about €30,000 as early as 2025. “We’re trying to make the difference, not for the millionaire who can afford a €250,000 car, but to get us to the point where the average person can get off grid – get a reliable sustainable vehicle that beats toe-for-toe any econo-box you can get at the time,” said Franken, citing the Toyota Corolla or Honda Accord as examples. “That’s what we’re trying to beat – and replace – because it’s not sustainable.”
Singapore on Thursday (Jun 9) published the governance framework for sovereign green bonds, ahead of the first such issuance expected in the next few months.
This comes as Singapore moves to develop the green finance market and make green finance a driving force for sustainability.
The Singapore Green Bond Framework sets out guidelines for public sector green bond issuances under the Significant Infrastructure Government Loan Act 2021 (SINGA), said the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in a media release.
It covers the Government’s intended use of green bond proceeds, governance structure to evaluate and select eligible projects, operational approach to manage green bond proceeds, and commitment to post-issuance allocation and impact reporting.
In addition to providing the foundation for green bonds issued by the Government, the framework will also serve as a reference for statutory boards that issue their own green bonds.
The key principles considered in the development of the framework were alignment with internationally recognised market principles and standards; stringent governance and oversight of project selection and allocation of proceeds; and technical screening to evaluate and identify green projects, MOF and MAS said.
Eligible expenditures
At Budget 2022, Finance Minister Lawrence Wong announced that the Government would issue S$35 billion of green bonds by 2030 to fund public sector green infrastructure projects.
Proceeds from these bonds, which will be issued under the new framework, will be used to finance costs associated with the Singapore Green Plan 2030, MOF and MAS said.
In turn, the eligible green projects are expected to facilitate the transition to a low-carbon economy in Singapore and contribute to the climate-related and environmental goals set out by the Singapore Government.
The categories of “eligible green expenditures” are:
Renewable energy
Energy efficiency
Green building
Clean transportation
Sustainable water and wastewater management
Pollution prevention, control and circular economy
Climate change adaptation
Biodiversity conservation and sustainable management of natural resources and land use
The world is one step closer to nighttime solar power after a breakthrough discovery by Australian scientists.
University of New South Wales (UNSW) scientists have found a way to ‘catch’ energy that flows out of the earth at night.
“This could mean being able to achieve the ultimate dream of renewable energy: power generation uninterrupted by the setting of the sun,” the researchers claim.
So how does this sci-fi technology work – and when will it hit the market?
How does nighttime solar power work?
Nighttime solar taps into a “large and unused spectrum of potential power,” the research team says.
Heat – which is a form of energy – flows from hot areas to cold areas.
Every day, the earth absorbs heat from the sun. At night, this heat escapes the earth in the form of infrared light, and is sucked out into the icy vacuum of space.
If it didn’t, the planet would quickly become far too hot to sustain life.
The UNSW ‘nighttime solar’ team was captured via infrared camera. Source: University of New South Wales
UNSW scientists use the catchily-named ‘thermoradiative diode’ – a type of semiconductor also used in night vision goggles – to capture the infrared radiation as it escapes earth.
They then convert the ‘captured’ power into electricity.
Both normal and nighttime solar depends on the flow of energy from hot to cold areas, explains Ned Ekins-Daukes, the teams’ lead researcher..
“[With normal solar power], the sun provides the hot source and a relatively cool solar panel on the Earth’s surface provides a cold absorber. This allows electricity to be produced,” he adds.
“[At night] it is now the Earth that is the comparatively warm body, with the vast void of space being extremely cold.
“By the same principles of thermodynamics, it is possible to generate electricity from this temperature difference too: the emission of infrared light into space.”
When will nighttime solar be widely available?
‘Nighttime solar’ power is still in the early stages of development.
The amount of energy produced by UNSW researchers was very small, roughly equivalent to 0.001 percent of a normal solar powered cell.
But given the right investment, the technology could one day generate around 10 percent of the power produced by a solar powered cell.
Other teams around the globe are also working hard to develop night solar. Stanford scientists are developing a different technique to ‘catch’ the earth’s radiant heat.
The concept has huge potential, claims Dr Michael Nielsen, co-author of the UNSW study.
“Even if the commercialisation of these technologies is still away down the road, being at the very beginning of an evolving idea is such an exciting place to be as a researcher,” he says.
“By leveraging our knowledge of how to design and optimise solar cells, and borrowing materials from the existing mid-infrared photodetector community, we hope for rapid progress towards delivering the dream of solar power at night.”
Energy experts say the Victorian government’s expanded solar rebates scheme will help drive the state’s transition away from gas as it aims to halve its emissions by the end of the decade.
Victorian households will be able to access rebates for both solar panels and a solar hot water system under the widening of the program announced on Tuesday. Households can now only take part in the solar panels program or the hot water rebate, but not both.
Meanwhile, an additional 50,000 businesses across the state will become eligible for solar panel rebates and an interest-free loan to slash up-front installation costs.
When the household changes come into effect in mid-May, almost 190,000 Victorians who previously accessed a $1,400 rebate to install solar panels will be able to access an additional 50% rebate – of up to $1,000 – to have solar hot water or a high-efficiency electric heat pump system installed.
When the 10-year scheme was announced, the government said the policy aimed to cut the state’s carbon emissions by almost 4m tonnes and would result in household solar generating 12.5% of the state’s 40% target for renewable energy by 2025.
Alison Reeve, the deputy program director for energy and climate change at the Grattan Institute, said a large part of the state’s transition to a low-emissions future required a phasing out of its reliance on gas.
“Switching people from gas water heating to solar heating is a positive step on that journey,” she told Guardian Australia.
“In Victoria you’ve got a lot of houses with gas heaters installed and it takes time for that change to kick through.”
The discovery of natural gas in the 1960s in Bass Strait has caused it to become the state’s dominant residential fuel source, particularly for heating homes in winter.
The department of industry and science’s latest energy statistics, released last year, show Victoria’s gas use from the residential sector is 14.8% – almost double the nationwide figure of 7.9%.
When the solar homes scheme launched in 2018, the Andrews government estimated a solar hot water system could save a household up to $400 each year.
The world’s first completely solar-powered beverage micro-factory started its journey in the spring of 2020, when Swedish startup Wayout International waved its container-sized machine goodbye from the port of Norrköping, south of Stockholm.
With shipping options already radically reduced by Covid-19, the micro-factory set out across the Baltic, Atlantic and Mediterranean seas, via the Suez Canal, stopping by Saudi Arabia, India and Sri Lanka, landing at last in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. From there, it went by truck through the developing rural landscape, over the Ngorongoro crater wall at 2,640 metres above sea level, across the great Namiri plains and up to the Mara river. It’s a big change of scene from a noisy industrial site in Sweden to a peaceful eco-tourism camp in northern Serengeti.
It had taken Wayout 18 months to go from idea to complete product. The result is a module that converts sunshine and local groundwater into pristine, potable water – and which can also produce premium craft beer and soft drinks. A single module puts out 150,000 litres of clean, remineralised water per month and lets whoever operates it serve up to eight different types of drinks through the integrated tap station. The micro-famicro-factoryctory is offered for lease and the fully automated beverage production is done via a desktop app letting the local operator – and Wayout, in Stockholm – monitor and control the process remotely. The system in the Serengeti is powered through a 110 kWp solar field with the energy stored in 2,000Ah OPzS batteries.
In the Serengeti, water is abundant, but not fit for drinking. The natural mineral content is extreme, making it corrosive to teeth and internal organs, and the unique ecosystem – including the famous “great migration” of wildebeest – makes the living soil busy with bacterial processes. That is why the micro-factory takes its source water from a local groundwater bore hole and filters it through an advanced integrated treatment system that removes all impurities before remineralising it for optimal taste and quality.
“It started out as a fun project between friends, at a moment when craft beer and micro-brewing was a thing,” says Martin Renck, one of Wayout’s three founders. The first system was developed to be used in the hospitality industry and by major breweries and beverage brands that seek to produce locally and sustainably. As the trio started pitching the concept to prospective clients, they hadn’t realised how urgent the issue of water purification was. “When we listened to the feedback we got – not just in Africa but from all around the warm regions of the planet – it became clear that it was the mineral water that was the really remarkable thing. We realised we not only had a commercial opportunity, but also a greater mission to take on,” Renck says.
Martin Renck, co-founder of Wayout. Originally conceived as a way to easily create craft beer, the technology’s ability to produce clean drinking water from virtually any source has proved to be its greatest and most impactful innovation PHOTOGRAPHY CHRISTOPHER HUNT
Touching down on the red dirt track at the Kogatende Airstrip in Northern Serengeti, the infrastructural challenges of the region become instantly clear. Here, the dynamics of the natural world still rule; scorching days followed by chilly nights, dry seasons followed by torrential rains, wildebeest and zebras followed by big cats and hyenas, with termites, boomslangs, hyraxes, aardvarks and pangolins filling the gaps. Roads and rivers meander with the seasons. Man-made structures morph and merge with biomass. Good quality drinking water may be as far away as a few days by four-wheel drive, and the distribution logistics leave scars in the sensitive biotope. The effects of the Wayout micro-factory in this location have been profound.
In situ, at the safari operator Asilia’s Sayari Camp, this circular system has eliminated single-use plastic bottles by nearly 18,000 units per year, not only for the camp guests but also for the operating staff and the park rangers in the region. Together with the safari camp operators, the rangers are what protects the national park by maintaining fire breaks, educating locals on the economic upsides of a healthy ecosystem, deterring and removing poachers, and protecting wildlife and people from each other when needed. Easy access to eco-friendly safe drinking water lets the rangers focus on their mission and ultimately improve the experience for the close to 150,000 yearly eco-tourists to the region.
Through the localised production of beverages, Sayari Camp further reduces their environmental impact by avoiding unnecessary waste management and routine long-distance trips. In addition to obvious health benefits, the unlimited supply of safe drinking water also frees up time and resources for families, advancing educational and economic prospects that support long-term development. And the effects have exceeded expectations. “In this location, the transition to a circular and eco-friendly economy in and around the Sayari Camp was more or less instant, which really should make us all think: if this can be done in the far-out region of Northern Serengeti, couldn’t it then be done anywhere?” Renck asks.
Renck says that the pandemic has boosted the interest in their innovation. The company is currently busy finalising its second concept: a “water-as-a-service” offer aimed at regions and nations with greater need for desalination and safe drinking water. One such project is slated for roll-out in early 2022 in a large island nation. By producing drinking water through distributed desalination, the cascade effects of the infrastructure system could help replenish the island’s water table, restore local farming and revitalise important parts of the island’s economy.
“One of the things we as humanity learned from this pandemic is that we can no longer rely on global value chains,” Renck says. “A transition to local and sustainable production of food and beverages [could help] humanity greenwash – in the genuine, positive sense of the word – civilisation.”
The UK government is reportedly considering a £16 billion proposal to build a solar power station in space.
Yes, you read that right. Space-based solar power is one of the technologies to feature in the government’s Net Zero Innovation Portfolio. It has been identified as a potential solution, alongside others, to enable the UK to achieve net zero by 2050.
But how would a solar power station in space work? What are the advantages and drawbacks to this technology?
Space-based solar power involves collecting solar energy in space and transferring it to Earth. While the idea itself is not new, recent technological advances have made this prospect more achievable.
The space-based solar power system involves a solar power satellite – an enormous spacecraft equipped with solar panels. These panels generate electricity, which is then wirelessly transmitted to Earth through high-frequency radio waves. A ground antenna, called a rectenna, is used to convert the radio waves into electricity, which is then delivered to the power grid.
A space-based solar power station in orbit is illuminated by the Sun 24 hours a day and could therefore generate electricity continuously. This represents an advantage over terrestrial solar power systems (systems on Earth), which can produce electricity only during the day and depend on the weather.
With global energy demand projected to increase by nearly 50% by 2050, space-based solar power could be key to helping meet the growing demand on the world’s energy sector and tackling global temperature rise.
Some challenges
A space-based solar power station is based on a modular design, where a large number of solar modules are assembled by robots in orbit. Transporting all these elements into space is difficult, costly, and will take a toll on the environment.
The weight of solar panels was identified as an early challenge. But this has been addressed through the development of ultra-light solar cells (a solar panel comprises smaller solar cells).
Space-based solar power is deemed to be technically feasible primarily because of advances in key technologies, including lightweight solar cells, wireless power transmission and space robotics.
Importantly, assembling even just one space-based solar power station will require many space shuttle launches. Although space-based solar power is designed to reduce carbon emissions in the long run, there are significant emissions associated with space launches, as well as costs.
Space shuttles are not currently reusable, though companies like Space X are working on changing this. Being able to reuse launch systems would significantly reduce the overall cost of space-based solar power.
Solar power systems on Earth can only produce energy during the daytime. Diyana Dimitrova/Shutterstock
If we manage to successfully build a space-based solar power station, its operation faces several practical challenges, too. Solar panels could be damaged by space debris. Further, panels in space are not shielded by Earth’s atmosphere. Being exposed to more intense solar radiation means they will degrade faster than those on Earth, which will reduce the power they are able to generate.
The efficiency of wireless power transmission is another issue. Transmitting energy across large distances – in this case from a solar satellite in space to the ground – is difficult. Based on the current technology, only a small fraction of collected solar energy would reach the Earth.
Pilot projects are already underway
The Space Solar Power Project in the US is developing high-efficiency solar cells as well as a conversion and transmission system optimised for use in space. The US Naval Research Laboratory tested a solar module and power conversion system in space in 2020. Meanwhile, China has announced progress on their Bishan space solar energy station, with the aim to have a functioning system by 2035.
In the UK, a £17 billion space-based solar power development is deemed to be a viable concept based on the recent Frazer-Nash Consultancy report. The project is expected to start with small trials, leading to an operational solar power station in 2040.
The solar power satellite would be 1.7km in diameter, weighing around 2,000 tonnes. The terrestrial antenna takes up a lot of space – roughly 6.7km by 13km. Given the use of land across the UK, it’s more likely to be placed offshore.
This satellite would deliver 2GW of power to the UK. While this is a substantial amount of power, it is a small contribution to the UK’s generation capacity, which is around 76GW.
With extremely high initial costs and slow return on investment, the project would need substantial governmental resources as well as investments from private companies.
But as technology advances, the cost of space launch and manufacturing will steadily decrease. And the scale of the project will allow for mass manufacturing, which should drive the cost down somewhat.
Whether space-based solar power can help us meet net zero by 2050 remains to be seen. Other technologies, like diverse and flexible energy storage, hydrogen and growth in renewable energy systems are better understood and can be more readily applied.
Despite the challenges, space-based solar power is a precursor for exciting research and development opportunities. In the future, the technology is likely to play an important role in the global energy supply.
