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  • Embracing the light: Churches tap solar power

    Over 70 Catholic dioceses in the Philippines have entered into an agreement with energy resource company WeGen Laudato Si to install solar panels on their parishes, schools, and other buildings. The Diocese of Maasin on Leyte Island became the first in the world to completely shift to renewable energy. Installing the panels can be expensive, but shifting to solar has saved one diocese at least 100,000 pesos a month in energy bills.

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  • How Madison County Residents Successfully Lobbied Legislators Over Pollution Concerns

    After Georgian residents raised concerns about a pollutant that was being emitted by a nearby biomass plant, they banded together to pass legislation that effectively put an end to the practice. These concerned residents founded the Madison County Clean Power Coalition to raise awareness of the effects of creosote burning, which, when breathed in, has shown to increase the risk of lung and heart disease. Their lobbying efforts resulted in the governor signing into law a ban on burning creosote-treated wood.

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  • The Schools at the Front Lines of Solar

    After talking about solar panels with his students, a teacher at a middle school in Minnesota worked with the school board to raise funds to install a rooftop solar panels for the entire district. All five of the school district’s buildings have a 40 kilowatt hour display that could end up saving them up to $6 million over 30 years. The cost of installing these systems can be expensive, but this effort can save money and reduce a school’s carbon footprint in the long run and even be an educational opportunity for students.

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  • The secret ingredient in Paris' green public housing

    Paris Habitat, the city’s main social housing agency, used hempcrete — a concrete-like mixture of hemp, lime, and water — as insulation in one of its apartment complexes. This material helps maintain temperature and reduces a building’s energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. The cost of using hempcrete can be expensive but making the material is more environmentally friendly, and has shown that it can be implemented for affordable housing and not just for those who already have the means to pay for it.

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  • The mechanical stomach powering homes by digesting old food scraps

    The electricity powering 3,000 Perth homes might have started out as moldy bread and rotting lettuce. The city of Cockburn collects food waste from supermarkets and restaurants to be fed into a mechanical "stomach" that converts the waste to energy. Methane is trapped and used to power electric generators. The remainder of the "digested" food is turned into compost and liquid fertilizer. The operation has recycled 43 tons so far, removing 81,000 kilograms of gases that otherwise would escape landfills and warm the atmosphere.

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  • What Went Into Building Europe's Largest Floating Solar Park

    Evides Waterbedrijf, a drinking water company, created Europe’s largest floating solar park. They installed almost 3,000 solar panels on an island in the middle of a reservoir that allows it to move with the sun to maximize its energy. This setup generates about 15 percent of the electricity the company uses at the site.

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  • How to reuse a demolished building

    A warehouse in Switzerland is being transformed into new creative workspaces. The catch: It’s being constructed out of reused building materials. About 70 percent of it is being made from old materials like wood floorboards, steel beams, and windows. A network of treasure hunters are on the lookout for used materials that can be used in constructing these buildings. The workspace is nearly complete and it already has tenants for all of the spaces. They were also able to cut the building’s carbon emissions in half.

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  • Solar lights help Kenyan women escape sex-for-fish trap

    A renewable energy project in Kenya is empowering women to catch their own fish instead of relying on “sex-for-fish” deals. Previously, men used to control the mechanisms for catching fish and would only sell to women who would have sex with them. About 400 women have received free solar lights, which allows them to fish at night. The batteries are lightweight and can run up to 120 hours on a single charge. For one woman, using the light also enables her to keep her fish stall open longer, earning her 10 times more than what she used to.

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  • How Giant Batteries Are Protecting The Most Vulnerable In Blackouts

    States are creating microgrids with the use of large batteries and solar panels in an effort to fortify their utilities infrastructure against extreme weather. Such investments enable communities to prevent prolonged blackouts and therefore stay safe during storms, wildfires, extreme cold, and whatever else climate change might cause in the future.

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  • The Hottest Amenity From Developers? A Power Plant Made of Batteries.

    An apartment complex in Utah includes a solar battery in every apartment allowing the resident, power utility, and building developer to save costs for generating electricity. Through a unique partnership, the power systems can provide 12.6 megawatts of power for the building, which translates into residents saving up to 40 percent on the energy bills. This setup might not be easy to scale, but the developer plans to expand the model in other states.

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