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.
Seasonal window glass directs light and heat
Swiss researchers have developed seasonal window glass that could make certain soft furnishings redundant. Office workers and homeowners no longer have to block their own view in order to keep indoor space cool. Now, during the summer months, treated windows covered in a film containing micro Read More...
We need better energy storage. These billionaires are paying to develop it
The world’s richest people are pouring money into two startups that have developed different techniques for storing energy—one of the biggest bottlenecks in the widespread adoption of renewable-energy. The investors, which include Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg, have all invested Read More...
China’s ambition to power the world’s electric cars took a huge leap forward
China’s grand designs to dominate the future of clean energy paid off spectacularly this week. In a public offering on June 11 in Shenzhen, battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd. (CATL) raised nearly $1 billion to fund ambitious expansion plans, and its stock has been shooting up Read More...
Liquid-air energy storage: The latest new “battery” on the UK grid
A first-of-its-kind energy-storage system has been added to the grid in the UK. The 5MW/15MWh system stores energy in an unusual way: it uses excess electricity to cool ambient air down to -196°C (-320°F), where the gases in the air become liquid. That liquid is stored in an insulated, Read More...
China is paving their freeways with solar panels
China is the world leader of solar power, producing three-quarters of solar panels sold globally. But China isn’t stopping at solar panels. Now the country is producing solar roads—modified solar panels that are installed in place of asphalt. Generating electricity from highways and streets Read More...
How AI can make data centers more energy efficient
The cloud, the digital destination for all the files you need to store, can have many drawbacks for the environment. Cloud storage centres come with big energy demands due to the massive cooling systems needed to keep them cooled down. Thanks to artificial intelligence, Microsoft’s cloud services Read More...
Solar surpasses wind, natural gas as leading source of new energy
Americans installed 2.5 gigawatts of solar panels in the first quarter of the year—a 13 percent increase from a year earlier, according to a report by the Solar Energy Industries Association. That made solar the leading source of new energy generation at 55 percent, dominating over wind and Read More...
Study shows plastic waste can be converted into energy and fuels
Plastic waste is flooding our landfills and leaking into the oceans, with potentially disastrous effects. In fact, the World Economic Forum predicts that if current production and waste management trends continue, by 2050 there could be more plastic than fishes in the Read More...
Tokyo to build eco-friendly 'solar roads' ahead of 2020 Olympics
The Tokyo metropolitan government plans to introduce "solar roads" that collect energy from the sun via solar panels installed beneath the surface of the roads. The effort is aimed at promoting Tokyo as an eco-friendly city, both domestically and abroad, ahead of the 2020 Olympics and Read More...
Placing data centers below the sea can save energy and money
Microsoft has drowned one of its data centers 100 ft below the surface of the North Sea. Why? To save energy. Oceans are uniformly cool below a certain depth, so keeping servers under the sea helps cut down the cooling costs that make up a large chunk of the operating budget of data centers. Plus, Read More...