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An environmentalist-sponsored report claims that by 2050, the United States could sever ties with coal and nuclear power, draw nearly all its electricity from renewable sources and cut its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80% -- all with existing technology and with a net gain of 14 million jobs to the domestic economy. The report, commissioned by Greenpeace and the European Renewable Energy Council and conducted by Germany's equivalent of NASA, was released this morning at a press briefing in Washington. It is heavy on charts and supporting data and transparent on some key assumptions. And its sponsors call its findings "conservative." At its core, the report envisions a steep drop in the United States' energy use, both in absolute terms and compared with International Energy Agency predictions -- driven by strict efficiency standards. It also projects dramatic changes in the nation's electricity mix, with wind and solar power mushrooming to replace coal, oil and nuclear sources that would gradually go offline.

New Study: 10 billion tonne saving in CO2 possible with wind energy by 2020: Wind power is key technology to prevent dangerous climate change. Wind power could produce 12% of the world's energy needs and save 10 billion tones of CO2 within 12 years, according to a new report published today. The 'Global Wind Energy Outlook 2008', published by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and Greenpeace International, looks at the global potential of wind power up to 2050 and found that it could play a key part in achieving a decline in emissions by 2020, which the IPCC indicates is necessary to avoid the worst consequences of climate change.7By 2020, wind power could save as much as 1.5 billion tonnes of CO2 every year, which would add up to over 10 billion tonnes in this timeframe. The report also explains how wind energy can provide up to 30% of the world's electricity by the middle of the century.

The Guardian has an article on a report from Greenpeace, the European Solar Thermal Electricity Association and the International Energy Agency's SolarPACES group on the potential for solar thermal power to supply a large proportion of our energy needs (why they limit it to 25% is a mystery to me) - Concentrated solar power could generate 'quarter of world's energy'. Solar power stations that concentrate sunlight could generate up to one-quarter of the world's electricity needs by 2050, according to a study by environmental and solar industry groups. The technology, best suited to the desert regions of the world, could also create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and save millions of tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. Concentrating solar power (CSP) uses mirrors to focus sunlight onto water. This produces steam that can then turn turbines and generate electricity. It differs from photovoltaics, which use solar panels to turn sunlight directly into electricity and can operate even on overcast days. CSP only works in places where there are many days with clear skies and is a proven, reliable technology. At the end of 2008 CSP capacity was around 430MW, and worldwide investment in the technology will reach