The Halligen Islands in the North Sea are one of many low-lying and island regions that are very concerned about climate change.

Not protected by dikes, the Halligens are a set of small islands (some as small as 17 acres) that have separated from the mainland after centuries of flooding and erosion. Because of the periodic storm flooding, homes on the Halligens are built atop small, artificial hills (Warften) that keep them above sea level. 

Like large areas of the Netherlands, northeastern Germany, and Denmark, the Halligen Islands are keenly aware of the risk of sea level rise due to global warming and are investing in climate adaptation strategies. 

New breakthrough in technology to store renewable energy: Curtis Berlinguette, a professor of Chemistry at the University of Calgary and his research team have found a lower-cost way to conduct hydrolysis to store the energy produced from wind and solar technologies.

Berlinguette’s team has experimented with cheaper metal compounds to use in electrolyzers that convert water to hydrogen, which can store energy to use later. This has huge potential for renewable energies: it would make it affordable to take the energy produced from the wind blowing at 2am and store it until the morning, when you wake up and actually need to use it. 

Berlin at night: still a divided city. Notice how the eastern half of the city glows orange, while the western half glows silver-green? That’s due to the different street lights that still run through former East and West Berlin, even 14 years after the Berlin Wall was torn down. 

The West uses white flourescent lights and mercury vapor lamps, which cast a greeny-silver glow, while the East uses sodium vapor lamps, which give off a warm, yellow light. 

Cool new technology from Worcester Polytechnic Institute to use heat from asphalt roads to power cities. 

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The black asphalt roads of urban centres are notorious for soaking up the sun, often helping make cities uncomfortably hot during the summer. However, special piping technology is offering a way to trap this heat and use it elsewhere, potentially transforming urban streets into giant solar collectors. More here. 

What do these things have in common? They are all powered by algae.

Solazyme, a San Francisco-based company, is on the forefront of innovative technologies to produce fuel and oil from algae. United Airlines flew one of their jets with the company’s algae-based fuel in 2011 and signed up for a contract of 20 million gallons per year. The U.S. Navy also used algae-based diesel fuel from Solazyme to power one of their destroyers.

Apart from fuels, Solazyme recently founded a beauty products company, Algenist, that uses an anti-aging compound derived from algae oils. And Unilever has made a deal to use the company’s algae oils in their food and soap products.

Is algae the face of the next energy revolution? It certainly has huge potential as a carbon-negative fuel, even if it is not yet price competitive with traditional fossil fuels.

This is a great piece from Craig Morris of Petite Planète debunking some of the myths circulating about Germany’s renewable energy situation. For example:

Myth: Even though it decided to phase out nuclear power, Germany is just importing nuclear energy from other countries. 

Fact: Actually, Germany is a net energy exporter, including to France, its nuclear powerhouse neighbor. 

Myth: Germany won’t be able to reach its goal of 80% renewable energy by 2050.

Fact: Actually, Germany is well on its way to reaching the 80% goal, and there are many studies showing how Germany could even achieve 100% renewable energy. Additionally, the “small town energy revolution” means renewable energy is boosting the economy and creating jobs. 

Roughly three quarters of renewable power investments have been made by individuals, communities, farmers, and small and midsize enterprises.

Read more about the myths and facts in the full article.