Orkney – Island of the Future | Fully Charged

In the latest episode of Fully Charged, Robert Llewellyn presents Orkney, an archipelago in northern Scotland.

Orkney is full of renewable energy sources that not only cover all the needs of over 20,000 residents, but also enables it to export energy.

In many cases, Orkney reminds us Norway, which has almost 100% renewable electricity and exports it too.

Orkney has a tremendous number of wind turbines, suplemented by energy storage systems, heat pumps, some hydropower concepts and even solar.

It would be smart to use EVs in such an environment, of course. The number of electric cars in the area increased from around 9 in 2013 to 60 in May 2015, which means that there is still a lot to do.

One of the presented wind turbine generates 11 MWh a day, which would be enough for hundreds of full charges for cars.

St. Augustine is one of many chronically flooded communities along Florida's 1,200-mile coastline, and officials in these diverse places share a common concern: They're afraid their buildings and economies will be further inundated by rising seas in just a couple of decades. The effects are a daily reality in much of Florida. Drinking water wells are fouled by seawater. Higher tides and storm surges make for more frequent road flooding from Jacksonville to Key West, and they're overburdening aging flood-control systems.

But the state has yet to offer a clear plan or coordination to address what local officials across Florida's coast see as a slow-moving emergency. Republican Gov. Rick Scott is skeptical of man-made climate change and has put aside the task of preparing for sea level rise, an Associated Press review of thousands of emails and documents pertaining to the state's preparations for rising seas found.

Despite warnings from water experts and climate scientists about risks to cities and drinking water, skepticism over sea level projections and climate change science has hampered planning efforts at all levels of government, the records showed. Florida's environmental agencies under Scott have been downsized and retooled, making them less effective at coordinating sea level rise planning in the state, the documents showed.

"If I were governor, I'd be out there talking about it (sea level rise) every day," said Eric Buermann, the former general counsel to the Republican Party of Florida who also served as a water district governing board member. "I think he's really got to grab ahold of this, set a vision, a long-term vision, and rally the people behind it. Unless you're going to build a sea wall around South Florida, what's the plan?"