Aug. 28 (UPI) -- The Russian capital, Moscow, now has its first traffic signals ever to be powered by renewable energy, the nation's Center for Traffic Organization announced.
"Traffic lights of the new system have two independent sources of energy: a wind generator and a solar battery," Vadim Yuryev, the head of the Russian Center for Traffic Organization, was quoted by the Tass news agency as saying.
According to him, relying on renewable energy is a good solution for traffic management for some of the outer districts of the capital city that are harder to connect to central energy systems. The small move at the city management level comes one week after the Russian Center for Energy Efficiency said the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions abated since 1990 is the equivalent of slowing down the impacts of climate change for an entire year.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed continued support for the multilateral Paris Agreement on climate change. In July, he added his signature to a multilateral climate and energy action plan spelled out at the annual summit for the Group of 20 nations. The signature of the United States was the only one missing from the plan.
The International Energy Agency reported that renewable energy generation grew 3.8 percent last year in advanced economies to account for about a quarter of total electricity generated. In the last 15 years, the IEA estimates solar power alone grew by 43 percent.
Mikhail Yulkin, the director general at the Center for Environmental Investments, told Russian news agency Tass that investors were moving to low-carbon energy resources with such vigor that it was "needless" to call it alternative energy.
