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Monthly Progress Summary – April 2016

 

The Monthly Progress Summary is a special section of Stable Global Progress to summarize several issues and challenges to progress and development. This month too, we have some really interesting topics compiled from the internet for all our readers.

 

Solar energy costs already cheaper than coal in India

In what could be considered a significant victory for renewable Energy enthusiasts, Indian energy minister Piyush Goyal declared that the net cost of energy produced by the use of Solar Panels had come below that produced using coal plants. Even more surprising was his declaration that the costs hadn’t even included any kind of subsidies. The Indian Government initially had planned to put the total installed capacity of solar energy to 100GW by 2022, which could be reached as soon as 2020.

 

Netherlands wants to ban sales of all fossil fuel running cars by 2025

The government of the Netherlands has proposed its lawmakers to pass a bill that will put an outright ban on the sale of private cars using petrol or diesel by 2025. If successful, Netherlands will be only the second country in the world after Sweden to implement such a ban. With the view to promote electric cars as well as other sustainable fuel alternatives, as a means of tackling with the effects of Climate Change, the government of the Netherlands is considered to have backed the plans. Netherlands is believed to be one of the countries at the biggest risk due to the effects of climate change, with rising sea levels believed to be a genuine threat to the existence of most of its land area lying below sea level.

 

San Francisco makes solar panels on buildings compulsory

San Franciso became the first major city in the US to make it mandatory for buildings lower than 10 stories to install solar panels on their building for either electricity or heating. As per the law, homeowners will be required to designate a minimum of 15% of their rooftop area for installing solar panels. The move is expected to reduce the city’s consumption of energy produced by the use of fossil fuel. Although San Francisco certainly isn’t the first city in the US (or California for that matter) to implement the ruling, the fact that it’s the first major metropolitan city to do so makes it a significant development.

 

Brain implant enables paralyzed man to make use of limbs again

Last month, a major breakthrough in the field of paralysis research was reported in the US, as scientists managed to restore the movement capabilities of a 24-year old paralyzed Ian Burkhart to a significant level by implanting a chip inside the brain. The chip works by reading brain signals, which is then interpreted by the computer and then stimulates the muscles with electricity to restore movement. This was the first time Ian could use his limbs after being paralyzed from a diving accident six years ago. The innovation could help millions of patients suffering from some degree of paralysis. It’s estimated that the US alone has around 500,000 patients with serious paralysis injuries.

 

Climate change could make the Middle East and North Africa uninhabitable by the middle of the century

The Middle East and North Africa could be rendered uninhabitable by as early as 2050, with climate change and increased occurrences of drought projected to make conditions, warned researchers in a Report Released in April. The report, released following research by the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and the Cyprus Institute in Nicosia warned that temperatures could get so hot that conditions would be unfit for human habitation in the region. The research further projected that heat waves could become at least 10 times more common that it is today, further contributing to the already worsening droughts around the region.

 

Research on mobile phone users in Australi finds no significant link between use of the device and cancer

Mobile phones have become an important part of the current human civilization. However, voices had been raised for a long while about the potential side-effects of the use of the device over decades, contributing to a lot of concerned customers. Yet, a report released in April determined that the possibility of mobile phones contributing to brain cancer was insignificant. The study by the University of Sydney analyzed over 35,000 people using the devices for up to 29 years to come to the conclusion.

 



This post first appeared on Stable Global Progress, please read the originial post: here

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Monthly Progress Summary – April 2016

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