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World's Largest Offshore Wind Developer to Invest $30 Billion in Green Energy
To save the world from climate catastrophe, the world needs to urgently phase out the use of fossil fuels.
On Wednesday, Danish energy company Orsted announced a major investment program as it seeks to become one of the "renewable majors" leading a global shift away from planet-warming fuels, Reuters reported.
Orsted, which built the largest offshore wind farm on Earth, plans to invest 200 billion Danish crowns ($30.26 billion) in green energy between 2019 and 2025, the firm said.
Offshore wind projects will receive 75-85 percent of the total investment, while onshore investments will receive the remaining 15-20 percent. Bioenergy and customer solutions will constitute 0 to 5 percent of the spending.
Overall, Orsted (formerly Dong Energy) seeks to bump its share of green energy production to 99 percent by 2025, up from 64 percent in 2017.
"Today, our portfolio consists of 11.9 GW (gigawatts) of offshore and onshore wind farms and biomass-fired combined heat and power plants that are either in production, under construction or have been given final investment decision," Henrik Poulsen, Orsted's CEO and president, said in a press release. "Towards 2030, it's our strategic ambition to reach an installed capacity of more than 30GW, provided that the build-out creates value for our shareholders," he added. "As an important step, we're raising our 2025 ambition for offshore wind from 11-12 GW to 15 GW."
Poulsen said the global market for renewable energy is expected to more than triple towards 2030.
In September, Orsted officially opened the world's largest offshore wind farm in the Irish Sea. The 659-megawatt Walney Extension, located approximately 19 kilometers (12 miles) off the coast of Cumbria, England, consists of 87 turbines and is capable of generating enough renewable energy to power almost 600,000 UK homes.
Offshore wind technology is rapidly advancing, and the Walney Extension is expected to lose its "world's largest" title to Orsted's Hornsea Project One off the UK's Yorkshire coast. The under-construction wind farm is expected to be fully operational by 2020 and will have a capacity of 1,200 megawatts, or enough power for more than one million UK homes.
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More than 1,000 miles of shoreline in Brazil are now contaminated by a mysterious oil spill. that has lasted for weeks as the country struggles to clean what may be its largest oil spill in history.
Youth activists rallying in front of Miami Beach's City Hall successfully campaigned for the coastal city to declare a climate emergency, the Miami Herald reported.
More Heart Attacks and Strokes on High Pollution Days in England, Research Finds
On days where air pollution is higher, hundreds of people across nine major cities in England are suffering from more potentially fatal cardiac arrests or heading to the hospital for strokes or severe asthma attacks, according to new research from King's College in London.
By Heather Cruickshank
Trillions of bacteria and other microbes live in the human digestive system. Together, they form a community that's known as the gut microbiota.
Many bacteria in the microbiota play important roles in human health, helping to metabolize food, strengthen intestinal integrity and protect against disease.
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Macy's announced Monday that it will stop selling fur by 2021, The New York Times reported.
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Trump Admin Moves to End Protections for Endangered Fish Threatened by California’s Water Wars
The Trump administration is rolling back protections for endangered California fish species, a move long sought by a group of wealthy farmers that Interior Secretary David Bernhardt continued to lobby for months before he began working for the administration, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
Disbanded Air Pollution Panel Finds EPA Standards Don’t Protect Public Health
By Gretchen Goldman
The Independent Particulate Matter Review Panel has released their consensus recommendations to the EPA administrator on the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter. The group of 20 independent experts, that were disbanded by Administrator Wheeler last October and reconvened last week, hosted by the Union of Concerned Scientists, has now made clear that the current particulate pollution standards don't protect public health and welfare.