90% of All Power Grid Additions in American During 2024 Were Renewable–Solar Alone Made up 80%

– credit, energy.gov, released.In a staggering statistic, where it took a whole year to add one gigawatt of solar power in 2004, it now takes one single day.A gigawatt can power around 200,000 homes in the US, and in another staggering statistic, American businesses and governments funded the installation of 30 in 2024 alone.Indeed, 90% of all grid additions in 2024 were renewable energy sources, including solar, wind, biomass, hydro, and geothermal.Solar accounted for 80% of all these additions alone, providing 30 gigawatts of electricity, or around 75% of the total renewable energy supply California has installed in the state’s history.New solar capacity added in 2024 is almost nine times that added by natural gas and nuclear power combined.There was also a respectable amount of capacity added by new wind power installations, which added 3 gigawatts to state grids. Additionally, 213 megawatts of hydropower, 51 MW of biomass, and 29 MW of geothermal steam were added, taking the total renewable energy footprint in 2024 to 90.5% of all new power sources.Part of this can be explained...

Read More........ → February 27, 2025

The LA fires have prompted a reckoning for the insurance industry – Australian premiums could soar as a result

Paula Jarzabkowski, The University of Queensland; Katie Meissner, The University of Queensland; Rosie Gallagher, The University of Queensland, and Tyler Riordan, The University of QueenslandA series of wildfires in Los Angeles County have caused widespread devastation in California, including at least 24 deaths and the destruction of more than 12,000 homes and structures. Thousands of residents have been evacuated, and the danger isn’t over yet. Some estimates have put the cost of the damage and economic loss at between A$400 billion and A$450 billion, of which only A$32 billion is insured. This is a stark illustration of the insurance protection gap – the difference between insured and uninsured losses. As California rebuilds, it means the bill for uninsured losses will fall on the property owners themselves and public funds. These catastrophic fires should ring alarm bells in Australia, where global ripple effects are likely to force up our own insurance premiums. Most importantly, we must grapple with and prepare for the grim prospect of our own similar disaster. Uninsurable...

Read More........ → January 20, 2025

USA to end restrictions on India's nuclear entities

(Image: IIT Delhi)The USA is finalising the necessary steps to remove long-standing regulations that have prevented civil nuclear cooperation between India's leading nuclear entities and US companies, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has said.India and the USA signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement (also known as a 123 Agreement) in 2008, after India - which is not a signatory of the international Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) - reached a safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Kovvada, in Andhra Pradesh, was earmarked for the construction of six AP1000 pressurised water reactors as long ago as 2016, but contractual arrangements have yet to be finalised."Although former President Bush and former Prime Minister Singh laid out a vision of civil nuclear cooperation 20 years ago, we have yet to fully realise it," Sullivan said during a speech at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. "But as we work to build clean energy technologies, to enable growth in artificial intelligence, and to help US and Indian energy companies unlock their innovation...

Read More........ → January 16, 2025