Solar energy is crucial for achieving an emissions-free future. But where's best to put photovoltaic panels when they take up so much space?

Extreme weather events are occurring more frequently amid rising sea-levels and increasing temperatures.

Climate Crisis

Finding the best locations for solar farms

We need less of this and more of this to stay below 1.5 degrees. But time is running out. Solar still only accounts for 3.7% of worldwide energy production. We desperately need more. But where can we put the solar panels? They need space on precious land. Land we need for towns, houses and streets. Intact ecosystems and food. Here we have a serious space issue. We're already using a lot of our soil to grow food. But what if we grew crops and generated energy at the same time? It's time for... Agrivoltaics. The idea behind it? Double the harvest. To do this, modules are built in such a way that the soil beneath them can still be used for growing plants. What potential types are there? One is solar fences. The space in between the fences can be used to grow crops, for livestock or for flower strips. Or the modules could be built in a way that gives the panels enough space to rotate towards the sun. But how do plants fare growing under or near the panels? We've been growing lots of different kinds of crops, things that you would see at your local farmer's market. So tomatoes, peppers, squash, aubergine. All of these different types of crops have seemed to do really well. In a world that is getting hotter and hotter, the modules ensure that less water is needed for irrigation. Just think if you spilled your coffee or your water or your tea in the shade versus the full sun, where will it stay wet longer? In the shade. We're finding that every time we irrigate it, it would stay wet for two days instead of two hours. But, yes there are a few buts. Not everything can be grown under the panels. Crops like wheat or millet require full sun to grow well. Researchers are looking into which panels and setups would be best for which crop. Some plants need bigger gaps between the panels. Corn and wheat would need taller ones, while shrubby soybeans would be fine with a more squat variety. Floating photovoltaics or floatavoltaics might just be the next big thing. The idea? Solar panels are mounted on raft-like structures which float on a body of water. Only a 10% coverage of all the reservoirs which are available in the world would give about 23 terawatt peak of installed capacity. This is Thomas Reinde. He evaluates the economic and technological feasibility of large-scale floating PV systems. To put this into perspective, these 23 terawatts would generate as much electricity as the whole world needs today in a year. You can already see what that could look like at one of the biggest floating solar farms in Singapore. Here, the solar plant floats on a surface of a reservoir and produces enough energy to power about 16,000 4-room flats in the city-state. The biggest floating farm in China even produces five times as much energy. The water also cools down the floating panels, making them more efficient. The panels and structures have to withstand wind, waves and corrosion. So far, though, multiple studies have not found any severe impact on either water quality or ecosystems. Experts expect floatavoltaics to expand by up to 30% annually over the next five years, with markets mainly in Asia. But Europe, Africa and the US are starting to invest as well. So, any other places left to put solar panels? Up in space. Yep, getting as close to the sun as possible. Here, the sun shines 24 hours a day and you need zero land on Earth. So why don't we put solar panels in the Earth's orbit? The UK-led Space Energy Initiative, with around 50 partners from industry, government and science, is planning to install a solar power satellite in space by 2035. The US, China and Japan are also taking part in the Solar Space Power Quest. And this is how it might work. Satellites in the Earth's geostationary orbit, which is around 35,000 km from Earth, collect solar energy using huge solar panels. They convert the energy into microwave radiation and beam it down to Earth. On the ground, a net of receiving antennas, or rectennas, collect the microwaves and convert them to electricity for the grid. Each satellite might produce 2 gigawatts of continuous power, as much as around 700 utility-scale wind turbines. They'd be huge, around 1.7 km in diameter, and will weigh several thousand tons. The satellites would start to beam energy to Earth 24 hours a day. The beam is considered to be harmless for animals and humans. It's about a quarter the strength of the midday sun. But energy is lost during the transmission and the conversion process. And the cost of getting the modules into space is, well, sky high. Even if we manage to build and finance solar power satellites in the next decades, we need more solar power to combat climate change now. And there are already far more realistic ways of generating solar energy quickly without losing urgently needed land. And all of them are cheaper, faster, and much more promising.

Authorities in Russia are warning people to evacuate affected areas as Russia’s Kurgan and Tyumen regions and swaths of northern Kazakhstan are flooded. Tens of thousands have already abandoned their homes. Kurgan Governor Vadim Shumkov said there was almost a “sea” of water approaching the area and fresh rainfall was making the situation worse.

Kurgan

Mass evacuations as floods in Russia’s Kurgan region set to peak

Australian police said a knife attack on an Assyrian church bishop and some followers in Sydney was a terrorist act motivated by suspected religious extremism, as the country reeled from a second stabbing incident in three days.

Council of the City of Sydney

Australia says church stabbing was terrorist act

Tributes are continuing to pour in for the victims of the stabbing attack by Joel Cauchi, at Westfield in Bondi, Sydney over the weekend. People have been visiting a makeshift shrine outside the shopping mall to pay their respects to the six victims.

Bondi

Floral tributes grow outside Westfield Bondi Junction

Sydney is reeling this morning after an orthodox bishop was attacked with a knife during a church service last night in what police have declared, a terrorist act. A 16-year-old boy has been arrested and is in police custody.

Wakeley

Sydney church stabbing declared a terrorist act

Dozens of prospective jurors were dismissed promptly on the first day of Donald Trump's hush money trial. Lawyers have begun the difficult process of selecting 12 jurors and six alternates who can be fair and impartial in this historic case.

New York

Trump hush money trial picks zero jurors on first day

A former volunteer firefighter who deliberately lit several bushfires in the Adelaide Hills has been sentenced to more than a decade in jail. 64-year-old Gregory John McGannon lit fires on a day of "extreme heat" three years ago destroying multiple homes.

Volunteer firefighter sentenced to prison for lighting fires

Israel faced pressure from allies on Monday to show restraint and avoid an escalation of conflict in the Middle East as it considered how to respond to Iran's weekend missile and drone attack.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

Israel-Gaza War

Allies urge Israel to show restraint after Iranian attack

More than 2 million of the 8.6 million displaced people in Sudan have crossed to neighboring countries since fighting started a year ago. Following the influx of Sudanese, the U.N. Refugee Agency has sounded the alarm, calling for more humanitarian assistance to address the needs of people fleeing the war.

Khartoum

U.N. sounds alarm over exodus of Sudan refugees

Two of Tesla Inc.'s top executives have left the carmaker in the midst of its latest round of job cuts, according to people familiar with the matter. Tesla will cut over 10% of its workforce, translating to about 14,000 staff globally.

Austin

Musk's Tesla to cut workforce as two key executives leave

After multiple delays, former U.S. President Donald Trump's first criminal trial is underway with jury selection as he faces 34 felony counts in a New York court for falsifying business records. The hush money case will be the first of four potential criminal trials for Trump.

Manhattan

U.S. Presidential Election

Trump's N.Y. criminal trial begins in historic first for ex-president

The director of Beijing's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Xia Baolong, said Hong Kong should "tightly hold" onto the bottom line of national security to safeguard development, in a speech coming weeks after the enactment of sweeping new security laws.

Hong Kong Island

China says Hong Kong must hold national security line

The UN Security Council has held an emergency meeting following Iran’s retaliatory attack on Israel. Iran accuses Israel of violating international law by striking its diplomatic mission in Damascus two weeks ago. The UN Secretary-General has called for de-escalation ans said the World cannot afford another war in the Middle East.

U.N. chief urges restraint after Iran attacks Israel

Israel was quick to pledge retaliation against Iran’s unprecedented missile and drone attack over the weekend, but it didn’t say when or what the response would be. The threat had many Western nations saying it would not support Israel in a wider war.

Jerusalem

Israel vows retaliation after Iran attack

Six people were killed and 12 others injured in a mass stabbing at a mall in Sydney, Australia, before a police officer fatally shot the attacker. The officer, a security guard and other shoppers are being hailed as heroes for stopping the rampage.

Police identify man who fatally stabbed six in Sydney mall

All six people who died in Saturday's attack in Bondi, NSW were much-loved members of the community. Among them were a young mother, a security guard working his first shift, and a local surf lifesaver.

Victims of Bondi stabbing attack remembered

Joe Biden has reaffirmed what he calls America's 'ironclad' commitment to Israel's security. Iran is warning that any American threat that harms its interests will be met with a reciprocal response.

Washington

Ukraine Invasion

'We do not seek war with Iran' says U.S

Israel’s war cabinet met to discuss possible responses to a massive overnight Iranian drone and missile attack, with US President Joe Biden urging restraint as the Middle East edged closer to full-blown regional war.

Israel weighs response to attack by Iran

Iranian officials have claimed 'successful hits' on Israeli military targets in an operation dubbed by Tehran as 'True Promise'. Iranians celebrated in the streets as images of the attack ran across state TV. It remains unclear whether Israel will return fire.

Tehran

Iranians celebrate in the streets after Israel attack

The United Nations Security Council is holding an emergency meeting on April 14, after Israel requested that the council condemn Iran’s attack on Israel and designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a “terrorist” organisation.

United Nations holds emergency meeting after Iran attacks

Iran has launched hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel in its first direct attack on Israeli territory, in a retaliatory strike that wounded a seven-year-old girl and caused minor damage at an Israeli military facility.

Iran launches direct attack on Israel in major escalation

Police have confirmed 40-year-old Joel Cauchi as the man behind a deadly stabbing spree at a Sydney shopping centre that claimed six lives and injured a dozen more. Authorities confirming the incident was mental health related.

Attacker identified in Bondi stabbing spree

NSW detectives are investigating the life, background and associates of a man who killed six people during a stabbing attack at a busy Sydney shopping centre. The 40-year-old was shot dead by a senior police officer inside Westfield Bondi Junction.

Police say Bondi stabbing spree 'not terrorism'

One person was killed and 10 others were injured in the southern Turkish province of Antalya after a cable car cabin collided with a broken pole, the interior ministry has confirmed.

Antalya

One dead, dozens stranded in Turkey cable car collision

Iran's Revolutionary Guards seized a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, after Tehran said it could close the crucial shipping route and warned it would retaliate for a suspected Israeli strike on its Syria consulate.

Iran threatens to close Strait of Hormuz, seizes vessel

Japanese baseball great Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter was released on bond after appearing in court on a bank fraud charge accusing him of stealing $16 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers star.

Los Angeles

Ohtani's ex-interpreter released on $25,000 bond

Stunning artworks have been uncovered in a new excavation at Pompeii, the ancient Roman city buried in an eruption in AD79. Experts say the frescos are among the finest to be found in the ruins of the ancient site.

Breathtaking new paintings uncovered in Pompeii

Six people have been killed and several are in a critical condition, including a baby, after stabbings at a shopping centre near Bondi Beach in Sydney. Police said the attacker, believed to be a 40-year-old man, acted alone and was shot dead by an officer who confronted him on her own.

At least six killed after Sydney stabbing spree

A new study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows there is no evidence to suggest COVID vaccines cause sudden cardiac death or other fatal heart problems in young people.

Study finds no link between COVID vaccines and heart issues

The U.S. believes major missile or drone strikes by Iran or its proxies against military and government targets in Israel are 'imminent' in what would mark a significant widening of the six-month-old conflict in Gaza.

U.S. warns of 'imminent' attack by Iran

As Russia has intensified its air campaign against Ukraine in the last month, hammering its energy infrastructure and urban areas, no major city has been harder hit than Kharkiv. But the drying up of Western military support in recent months has left the city dangerously unprotected.

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Climate Crisis