How bitcoin drives cheap green energy production in Kenya

Alberta, Canada is a place that historically has had a close relationship with oil and gas. But as renewable energy surges into the market, these industries become more and more precarious. This article talks to a range of young men—a key demographic in these industries—about why they made the decision to leave oil and gas for solar energy and what helped them make that transition. Many said, among other things, that their motivations lay in wanting to leave a better world for their children to grow up in.

Solshare, a fast-growing startup in Bangladesh, created a system in which “neighbors can sell extra electricity to each other.” The number of home solar panels has been increasing since a 2014 government program put solar power as a priority on its agenda. Even though more and more people have power, up to 30% is estimated to be wasted. Solshare created a microgrid in which cabling connects people who want to buy and sell power.

One of the greatest challenges to integrating renewable energy sources into the power grid has been the issue of storage - where and how to keep power generated during off-hours (such as overnight) when demand is low. While batteries are on the rise as one solution, an Alabama power plant has discovered a natural way of storing energy until it is needed: pumping air into salt caverns.

A team of engineers at IIT Madras, a public university in India, has partnered with local utilities and the national Ministry of Power to bring sustainable, low-cost electricity to off-grid rural villages in the northwestern state of Rajasthan. With solar power supplied by DC microgrids, these poor rural communities are experiencing transformations to increase quality-of-life: affordable fridges that aid in food preservation, fans which mitigate heat and repel mosquitoes, and battery-powered phones connecting them to public emergency services.

New York is determined to become a national leader in the renewable energy sector, and they are leveraging numerous approaches to help integrate better and more environmentally conscious technologies into the grid. The multi-faceted approach includes updating laws and regulations to be more renewables-friendly, hosting competitions to foster entrepreneurship and creative solutions in the field, piloting new technologies, and creating better incentives for utility companies.

The United Kingdom is finding creative ways to simultaneously address renewable energy needs and waste disposal. Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plants are utilizing chicken manure from farms and coffee grounds to create electricity. The initiatives have the added benefit of improving standards for the treatment of poultry, as well as reducing the distribution of harmful toxins from the waste.

An economic shift to renewable energy could take decades, but thanks to rapidly evolving disruptive technologies, dropping prices of solar and wind power sources, and increasing market demand for green business, the new age of renewable energy could encompass the world economy much more quickly.

A new solar array called North Star in the Twin Cities will soon produce enough energy to power more than 20,000 homes. The project allows landowners to evolve beyond a deteriorating farming industry while maintaining native prairie plants under and around the panels for bees and other pollinators. The project is part of the state's 15-year energy plan to reduce carbon emissions by 60 percent and generate a third of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

Rahr Malting, a brewery in Shakopee, MN, has found a creative way to sustainably address their energy needs. The company partners with the Mdewakanton Sioux Community to use waste barley hulls from the malting factory to generate electricity for their facilities, selling excess power to the public grid while the waste heat sprouts the malt to make beer.

The government wants more farmers turning waste methane into biogas to help combat the negative effects of global climate change. California is leading the initiative, largely through a cap-and-trade program.