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  • 'We Need To Act Now': This Small Wisconsin City Is Boosting Its Use Of Renewable Energy To Fight Climate Change

    April 22, 2021 |

    Wisconsin Public Radio |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, River Falls, Wisconsin

    The city of River Falls in Wisconsin built the state’s first city-owned solar garden, taking steps to reduce their use of fossil fuels and encourage community members to go green. Now, all city buildings are 100 percent run on renewable energy and residents can sign up for a program allowing them to buy renewable energy. Getting people to take action can be difficult, but city officials say they found the right message to get its residents on board.

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  • Crypto power: Can solar boost cheap, green homes in S.Africa?

    April 22, 2021 |

    Thomson Reuters Foundation |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: South Africa, Cape Town

    Watergate Estate is working on two issues in South Africa: affordable housing and renewable energy. The housing development is installing solar panels for its residents that are being bought by people all over the world using cash or bitcoin as a way to offset their own carbon costs. Not everyone agrees that gated communities like this are helping to fight social inequalities, crime, and unemployment, but about 470 people bought solar cells for the apartment complex and some residents say they feel safer in their community.

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  • Energiesprong wants every home to be net-zero

    April 20, 2021 |

    Hothouse Solutions |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: France, Hem

    Inspired by the Dutch concept of “Energiesprong,” or “energy jump,” a developer in France retrofitted a group of townhouses for social housing to be more environmentally friendly. They installed polyurethane facades to avoid heat loss and solar panels on the roof. Upgrading the units to be more green cost more than a conventional retrofit, but over time, energy bills were cut in half. These green retrofits are being implemented in towns around the world and could be a model for developers that want to reduce their carbon footprints.

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  • Embracing the light: Churches tap solar power

    April 11, 2021 |

    Philippine Daily Inquirer |

    Multi-Media |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: Philippines, Leyte

    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

    April 09, 2021 |

    Grady Newsource |

    Multi-Media |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Colbert, Georgia

    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

    April 01, 2021 |

    Next City |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Lindstrom, Minnesota

    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

    March 30, 2021 |

    Grist |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: France, Paris

    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

    March 27, 2021 |

    ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) |

    Broadcast TV News |

    3-5 Minutes

    Response Location: Australia, Cockburn

    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

    March 26, 2021 |

    Architectural Digest |

    Text |

    Under 800 Words

    Response Location: Netherlands, Rotterdam

    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

    March 23, 2021 |

    BBC |

    Podcast |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: Switzerland, Winterthur

    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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