Energy
Transitioning to a world powered by renewable energy is key to tackling climate change. Here you can find the latest good news related to our clean energy transition, covering wind, solar, green hydrogen, hydropower, and more.
‘Tornado man’ wants to power the world with clean energy through vortexes
There was a time, just over a century ago, that horses and their manure were a big problem for the fast-growing cities. Governments and universities struggled to find a solution. Ultimately, out of their sight, that solution came from the man who introduced the mass-produced car: Henry Ford. The Read More...
A coal museum in Kentucky looks to an unlikely power source: solar energy
The tiny town of Benham, Kentucky, was originally built to serve the coal mining industry. Now it's embracing solar energy. Benham, population 500, will soon get an array of solar panels atop the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum. The decision to go solar is packed with symbolism, but mostly it Read More...
California gets so much solar power that electricity prices are turning negative
Last month California showed that the state is capable of producing more than half of its power needs with solar energy. As a result, wholesale energy price of solar temporarily dipped into negative territory on March 11. Such a drastic drop in prices isn’t common, but it does display how Read More...
Climate change action is good for the economy – and Britain is the proof
Just before the Rio Earth summit 25 years ago, John Major, in whose cabinet I then served as environment secretary, made a bold prediction: reducing Britain’s carbon emissions in line with recommendations of climate science would not, he said, harm our economy: “Our initial measures ... Read More...
Solar textiles project wins global change award
A proposed process to create a precursor for nylon using solar power, water and plant waste has won a 2017 Global Change Award from the H&M Foundation. Nylon was created accidentally in 1930 and is everywhere today. The thermoplastic material is used primarily for flooring, molded car parts, Read More...
Electric utilities ignore politics and keep moving away from coal
When it comes to the future of clean energy, economics is more important than politics. That’s the clear message from electric utilities in the U.S. Despite a new administration keen on restoring the coal industry, operators around the country are closing coal-fired power plants. In the next four Read More...
The end of coal: EU energy companies pledge no new plants from 2020
Europe’s energy utilities have rung a death knell for coal, with a historic pledge that no new coal-fired plants will be built in the EU after 2020. The surprise announcement was made at a press conference in Brussels on Wednesday, 442 years after the continent’s first pit was sunk by Read More...
Tidal wave energy is finally taking off
Tidal wave power has enormous potential. Experts estimate that movement in the planet’s waters could generate 300 gigawatts of electricity by 2050 if harnessed properly. That’s the equivalent of 250 nuclear reactors. A big new project off the coast of Scotland is aiming to prove that the Read More...
So you want to revive rural America. Try wind turbines, not coal mines
For half a century, Tim Hemphill grew corn and soybeans on his 720-acre farm in northern Iowa. Then five years ago, as he readied his son to take over the business so he could retire, catastrophe struck: Local corn prices plummeted. “It was about the worst thing that ever happened to Read More...
Most energy experts say 100 percent renewables is feasible, realistic
Most energy experts surveyed for a study on the future of the world’s energy supply consider a global transition to 100 per cent renewable energy to be both feasible and realistic. “There is an overwhelming consensus among the experts we interviewed that Read More...