5 good news stories about climate change
It’s giving optimism.
The price of solar panels has been precipitously declining in recent years, with drop-offs so steep that you’d likely be caught off guard if you haven’t been paying attention to them. That’s great news because demand is way up, too. The result is exactly what is happening in the United Kingdom right now: an unprecedented rise in solar installations.
According to the trade association Solar Energy UK, there are about 3,000 solar installations happening every single week across the country right now. That’s three times what it was just two years earlier. The reason for that is the intersection of growing demand and shrinking costs, and the benefit is significant: Homes across the U.K. are saving nearly $1,000 per year by switching, and cutting down on carbon emissions to boot.
2. A massive amount of clean energy projects are expected in the U.S.
The Inflation Reduction Act sets aside $370 billion in incentives to individuals and businesses to go green. According to the research firm Energy Innovation, those credits will double the country’s capacity for wind and solar power by the end of the decade. The analysis projects that the U.S. could see its solar and wind capacity increase to as much as 1,053 gigawatts by 2030, which could account for up to 85% of total electricity production.
