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Newsletter (copy 20)
Commercial property and community solar join forces
Happy Tuesday, dear reader.
Some good news to get things started:
The UK’s net zero economy grew 9% in 2023, significantly outpacing the broader economy, according to a report by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit and the Confederation of British Industry.
In advanced economies, energy-sector emissions are now back to their level of 50 years ago, and coal demand is back at 1900 levels, according to the International Energy Agency.
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For decades, the roofs of America’s malls, office blocks and warehouses have idly reflected the sun’s rays back into space. Now, the community energy movement has found a way to put them to better use.
“Putting community solar on commercial rooftops reduces burdens on the grid, accelerates the installation time, and preserves open space,” says Brendon Shank, executive vice president for engagement at Solar Landscape, an organisation that partners with real estate companies to develop energy projects on their rooftops.
Households and businesses in the surrounding communities can subscribe to those projects and receive low-cost electricity in return. Solar Landscape has installed more than 400 megawatts of solar systems to date.
- Read the full story here.
This free-to-attend online conference, a collaboration with the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership’s (CISL’s) South African arm, will look at the policies and projects that are leading the way to a better, more sustainable world.
We have a great line-up of speakers, including Ramón Méndez Galain, architect of Uruguay’s transition to circa 100% renewable electricity.
- Find out more and register here.
The surge in electric vehicle (EV) sales in recent years — driven largely by China — is now meaningfully curbing oil demand, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The world would be consuming an extra 1 million barrels of oil a day if it weren’t for the rapid increase in the deployment of clean energy technologies, the agency says. That’s equivalent to about 1% of current daily oil demand.
“Most of this comes from the growing sales of electric cars,” the IEA says in a new report, adding that EVs account for 550,000 barrels a day in “avoided” oil use.
- Read the full story here.
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The European Union’s (EU’s) new nature restoration law requires the bloc to rehabilitate at least 20% of its land and sea areas by 2030 — and all degraded ecosystems by the middle of the century.
The legislation will help the EU to achieve its climate and biodiversity objectives while also enhancing food security, the region’s parliament said in a statement after voting to approve it.
“Today is an important day for Europe, as we move from protecting and conserving nature to restoring it,” said Spanish politician and EU parliamentarian César Luena.
How it works: Member states will be required to restore at least 30% of the habitats covered by the regulation — including forests, grasslands, wetlands, rivers, lakes and coral beds — from a “poor” to a “good” condition by 2030, before reaching the 60% mark by 2040, and 90% by 2050.
- Read the full story here.
It’s a cruel irony that low-income earners tend to pay more for their groceries than their wealthier peers — they generally have to buy things in small quantities, meaning they lose out on bulk discounts.
Miles Kubheka, a South African entrepreneur, has set out to flip the script.
In April 2022, one of his businesses, Gcwalisa, opened its first shipping container-based retail outlet in a sprawling Johannesburg township.
Kitted out with bulk dispensers, the shop operates entirely on a “weigh and pay” model. Gcwalisa buys goods directly from food manufacturers and then sells it on to local residents, who can choose how much of each product they want, based on how much cash they have at the time.
- Read the full story here.
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