Battery storage assets were called into action last week after the UK suffered country-wide power outages following a transmission system stress event. Last Friday evening (9 August 2019), two large generators were disconnected from the UK’s power system almost simultaneously, effectively taking 2GW worth of electricity generation within minutes of each other. That collapse in
Without bolder action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions the world will not meet the goals set by the Paris climate accord, according to a new report by Wood Mackenzie. Analysis in the 'Energy Transition Outlook' indicates that the world is on a trajectory for global warming above pre-industrial levels of three degrees Celsius rather than
The climate disaster isn’t coming. It’s here. July 2019 is now the hottest month in recorded history, the U.N. confirmed on Thursday. At a press conference in New York, U.N. Secretary General António Guterres announced that the month of July had reached 1.2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, a figure that “at least equaled if
The falling price of renewable energy has been dominating the headlines, but more dramatic change is happening behind the scenes, where battery storage is disrupting the way utilities provide power. The change is driven not just by cheap renewables and cheap batteries, but by the electronics that link them together, said Mark Ahlstrom, the president
The huge northern ice sheet is in the middle of its second major melt event this year, a warning sign for the planet. ON THE GREENLAND ice sheet, high at the top of the planet, things are not well. The heat wave that wreaked havoc on Europe in late July has now migrated northward, parking
Electricity grids that incorporate storage for power sourced from renewable resources could cut carbon dioxide emissions substantially more than systems that simply increase renewably sourced power, a new study has found. The study, published today in the journal Nature Communications, found that storage could help make more efficient use of power generated by sources such
If this headline looks familiar to you, that's because we wrote an almost identical one in 2016. Except back then, we were freaking out because we'd used a year's worth of Earth's resources by August 8. Now, three years later, we've accomplished this worrying milestone more than a week earlier. This year, July 29th marks
Extreme global temperatures are pushing the human body “close to thermal limits”, according to a climate scientist. Record-breaking heat has swept through Europe this week with temperatures topping 40C in a number of countries. However, in places such as South Asia and the Persian Gulf, people are already enduring temperatures reaching up to 54C. Despite
The UK recorded a temperature of 38.7C on July 25, but 2019 has been a record-breaking year when it comes to heatwaves the world over The UK has a new record for the hottest day ever. On July 25 temperatures at Cambridge University Botanic Garden reached 38.7 degrees Celsius, according to the Met Office. While
A temperature of 38.7C was recorded on Thursday, which – if confirmed – would be a new all-time high for the UK. Climate experts have warned the UK will suffer heatwaves like this week’s more regularly in future – with 40C becoming the “new normal”. They blame the continuing rise in emissions of damaging greenhouse