Remarkable Breakthroughs and Developments for Global Climate/Energy/Well-Being

We live in amazing times, simultaneously ridden with breakdowns and graced by breakthroughs.  Given that we tend to hear more about the former than the latter, I thought I would pass on a number of remarkable breakthroughs that I have recently come across via Michael Zimmerman in a recent exchange about global climate/energy/well-being. The first two have to do with recent innovations in solar energy technology - namely, the potential and promise of ultra low cost, organic and hybrid solar cells, some of whom may be produced from agricultural waste:

How to create ultra-low-cost solar cells from agricultural waste

Here comes the sun - organic and hybrid solar cells

Also, check out this article detailing the astounding drop in the price of solar panels in India, and its potential to spark a global solar revolution:

"Solar power is now cheaper than diesel 'anywhere as sunny as Spain'"

Finally, I have included a link to an article regarding the new initiative, led by the United States, to cut (non-CO2) emissions that speed climate change. I find this to be very encouraging and seems to resonate with the kind of strategy that Michael Zimmerman and other Integral Ecologists have been advocating for some time: the pursuit of a multiplicity of strategies, beyond the (almost hegemonic) approach of attempting to reduce only CO2 via the negotiations of the UNFCC, as important as that it. As such, I am excited to see soot and methane being addressed, the multiple benefits (e.g., for the economy and human health) of such a strategy being highlighted, and the fact that the U.S. is finally taking on a some leadership in this domain (because it's about time!).   Check out the article here:

US pushes to cut emissions that speed climate change

Taken together, these are some very encouraging developments that hopefully will serve to help enact a more life-enhancing, secure, prosperous, and sustainable future. 

-Nick Hedlund-de Witt