5 Top Clean Energy Stories of 2014

The steady march of renewable energy, primarily wind and solar, toward mainstream usage continued apace in 2014. Read more >>>
alternet.org

Clean Affordable Energy for All in the 21st century

Meeting the energy needs of all countries while staying within environmental limits requires goals and indicators that adhere to the climate science. The post-2015 development framework must catalyse major emissions reductions through energy demand reduction (efficiency and behavior change) and increasing renewable energy generation.Read more >>>
Sudan Vision

IPCC chief: Rich nations must fund stabilization of climate

The chairman of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) R K Pachauri remains hopeful that the developed world would be more forthcoming once all countries provide their 'Intended Nationally Determined Contributions' (INDCs) or in other words a clear roadmap of their voluntary actions to fight the threat of climate change. Pachauri, who is also member of India's Prime Minister Council on Climate Change spoke on the course of action India should adopt to move to a low-carbon growth path, and the future of Green Climate Fund--meant to help developing countries in their mitigation and adaptation goals. Read more >>>
The Economic Times

The Eight Best Things To Happen To Renewable Energy In 2014

Here are eight news stories from 2014 about amazing technological advancements around the world to remind you that, at least for the renewable energy sector, this past year wasn’t so bad. Read more >>>
thinkprogress.org

Why Climate Change Is Not Inevitable

...  physics is inevitable: if you put more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the planet warms, and as the planet warms, various kinds of chaos and ruin are let loose. Politics, on the other hand, is not inevitable. For example, not so many years ago it would have seemed inevitable that Chevron, currently the third biggest corporation in the country, would run the refinery town of Richmond, California, as its own private fiefdom. You could say that the divine right of Chevron seemed like a given. Except that people in Richmond refused to accept it and so this town of 107,000 mostly poor nonwhites pushed back. Read more >>>
The Nation

NREL Demonstrates 45.7% Efficiency for Concentrator Solar Cell

The Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory has announced the demonstration of a 45.7 percent conversion efficiency for a four-junction solar cell at 234 suns concentration. This achievement represents one of the highest photovoltaic research cell efficiencies achieved across all types of solar cells.
NREL's new solar cell, which is designed for operation in a concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) system where it can receive more than 1,000 suns of concentrated sunlight, greatly improves earlier designs by incorporating an additional high quality absorber layer to achieve an ultra-high efficiency. Read more >>>
thomasnet.com

No definitive deal in Lima climate change talks

The 20th session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference mainly had a two-point agenda: to come up with a blueprint for a hopeful Paris Agreement next year and finalise the form and content of INDCs, or Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, to be submitted by early 2015. Put simply, on how much each country, rich or poor, is willing to reduce carbon emissions.
No definitive deal was clinched at the global climate change talks that concluded in Peru recently. There wasn’t supposed to be one. The Lima Call for Climate Action can at the very best be seen as a “statement of good intentions”.  Read more >>>
The Tribune

India Plans 100 MW Solar Power Capacity To Cover Canals

The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued guidelines to set up 100 MW solar power capacity over and along the canals in the country. The total cost of the program will be around $160 million, out of which about $38 million will be provided as financial assistance by the central government. All of the projects will be required to be commissioned within a span of three years. Read more>>>
CleanTechnica

$10 billion Green Climate Fund wants immunity from prosecution

UN-linked climate change fund intended to finance climate change projects around the world, is determined to win sweeping U.N.-style immunities from prosecutions for its global operations. If the GCF succeeds in its broader negotiations, not only billions but eventually trillions of dollars in climate funding activities could fall outside the scope of criminal and civilian legal actions, as well as outside examination, as the Fund, which currently holds $10 billion in funding and pledges, expands its ambitions. Read more >>>
Foxnews

Lima Call for Climate Action Puts World on Track to Paris 2015

UNFCCC in its press release says that a new 2015 agreement on climate change, that will harness action by all nations, took a further important step forward in Lima following two weeks of negotiations by over 190 countries. The Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) will form the foundation for climate action post 2020 when the new agreement is set to come into effect. Countries also made significant progress in elevating adaptation onto the same level as action to cut and curb emissions. Read more >>>
UNFCCC