Page 11 - Green Builder Sept-Oct 2019 Issue

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Breaking ground on

groundbreaking communities

CREDIT: MOONJAZZ/FLICKR

Blowing in the wind. Renewable energy investors
have a long way to go to meet the Paris Agreement’s
goal of keeping global warming to less than
1.5 degrees by 2100.

Four Times is

Not Enough for

Renewable Energy

Huge growth in capacity
since 2010 is still too little

to prevent catastrophic
climate change. Break new ground with

ENEWABLE ENERGY CAPACITY quadrupled a geothermal community
worldwide over the past 10 years, with an
estimated $2.6 trillion invested in its growth, Geothermal communities are gaining popularity all around
R according to a report from the United Nations the country. In fact, several of these new communities are
Environment Programme. But the speed of that growth completely sold out and new homes are being snapped up
still falls far short of what researchers say is needed to well before construction ever begins. Geothermal is simply
keep global warming in check. the most efficient way to heat and cool a home, and economies
In 2017 the Paris Agreement set a goal of keeping of scale for all-geothermal communities make them more
global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius by century’s
end. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change economical to install. Whether potential homeowners are tech
notes that although progress has been made, but the savvy, environmentally conscious, or looking to save money,
world actually needs to invest an average of $3 trillion geothermal has something to offer. Let WaterFurnace be a
to $3.5 trillion annually through 2050. “There is certainly resource to provide best practices, help avoid mistakes others
a global shift,” says Kathy Hipple, an analyst with the have made, and help your development become successful.
Institute for Energy, Economics and Financial Analysis
(IEEFA). “The question is, ‘Is it moving fast enough from Learn more at waterfurnace.com/neighborhoods
a climate perspective?’ And arguably it’s not.”
But this finding and others outlined in the report,
Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2019,
gives some hope that the climate can be salvaged,
according to Richard Cleetus, policy director for the
climate and energy program at the Union of Concerned
Scientists. “There’s lots to be optimistic about,” he WaterFurnace is a registered trademark of WaterFurnace International, Inc.
notes. “But at the same time we need more.” ©2019 WaterFurnace International Inc.

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