QUICK NEWS, November 27: The Climate Change-Child Bride Linkage; Smart Home Mrkt To Boom 10X In 10 Years; Pace Of EV Boom Steps Up

The Climate Change-Child Bride Linkage Why climate change is creating a new generation of child brides; As global warming exacerbates drought and floods, farmers’ incomes plunge – and girls as young as 13 are given away to stave off poverty

Gethin Chambelain, 26 November 2017 (UK Guardian)

Editor’s note: This lengthy and detailed piece of superb reporting deserves more space than the NewEnergyNews format can give it. Click through and read it.

“It was the flood that ensured that Ntonya Sande’s first year as a teenager would also be the first year of her married life. Up to the moment the water swept away her parents’ field in Kachaso in the Nsanje district of Malawi, they had been scraping a living…Afterwards they were reduced to scavenging for bits of firewood to sell…So when a young man came to their door and asked for the 13-year old’s hand in marriage, the couple didn’t think about it for too long, lest he look elsewhere. Ntonya begged them to change their minds. She was too young, she pleaded. She didn’t want to leave. But it was to no avail. Her parents sat her down and spelled it out for her: the weather had changed and taken everything from them. There was not enough food to go around. They couldn’t afford another mouth at the table…That night she lay down in bed for the first time with the man she had never seen before and followed the instructions of her aunt, who had coached her on the important matter of sex. Ten months later, she gave birth to their first daughter…Everyone has their own idea of what climate change looks like…But for more and more girls across Africa, the most palpable manifestation of climate change is the baby in their arms as they sit watching their friends walk to school…” click here for more

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Smart Home Mrkt To Boom 10X In 10 Years The Smart Home; Integrated Hardware, Software, and Service Platforms for the Smart Home: Global Market Analysis and Forecasts

4Q 2017 (Navigant Research)

“…Homes that act intuitively and intelligently through an ecosystem of communicating devices, software, and services can enrich consumers’ lives by fostering increased comfort, awareness, convenience, and cost and energy savings…The automation and data stemming from smart technologies [into the cloud] can enable the home to become a dynamic grid asset that helps shift and shed load, generate clean energy, and contribute to grid reliability…[M]any challenges must be overcome…[because fragmented standards and protocols create] interoperability issues…[But the smart home concept] is gaining traction, and smart home solutions likely represent the future of the residential Internet of Things (IoT) and a vital component of the digital grid. According to Navigant Research, global smart home platform revenue is expected to increase from $4.2 billion in 2017 to $39.5 billion in 2026…” click here for more

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Pace Of EV Boom Steps Up Global Electric Car Sales Jump 63 Percent

Anna Hirtenstein, November 20, 2017 (Bloomberg News)

“…Sales of battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids exceeded 287,000 units in the three months ended in September, 63 percent higher than the same quarter a year ago and up 23 percent from the second quarter…China accounted for more than half of global sales as its market for electric cars doubled amid government efforts to curb pollution…[Bloomberg New Energy Finance] expects global EV sales to surpass 1 million units this year for the first time. The market for electrified transport is starting to pick up speed as charging infrastructure becomes more accessible and manufacturers roll out models with longer driving ranges. In 2017, many established carmakers from Jaguar Land Rover to Volvo Cars announced plans to bring electric versions of their vehicles to market in the next few years…Several governments have also announced targets for cleaner transport…France and the U.K. said they will ban sales of new gasoline and diesel-burning cars by 2040, while the Netherlands is targeting that all new cars sold by 2030 will be emissions-free. China -- the world’s largest auto market -- is mulling its own ban, and even California is considering following suit…” click here for more

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