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.
It may seem odd, but big oil companies are fueling the transition to renewables
Far from being a villain, big oil is perhaps one of the most important allies for renewable energy. The world's oil supermajors generate significant levels of cash flow, boost infrastructure networks that span the globe and have the most to lose from falling behind the technology curve. It's still Read More...
A new startup is showing how to make batteries cheaper—and safer
Christina Lampe-Önnerud has been called the “Queen of Batteries.” She’s a Swedish chemist and entrepreneur who built one battery company (called Boston Power), sold it, and then founded another, Cadenza Innovation. She is now focused on making batteries cheaper and Read More...
Tesla has installed a truly huge amount of energy storage
Tesla, it’s been said, is less a car company than a battery company that sells cars. Today, the company is announcing a new milestone: Since 2015, it has installed a worldwide total of a gigawatt-hour of energy storage–technology that is critical for using renewable energy at scale. For Read More...
California and New York to invest over $1 billion towards EV charging stations
Energy regulators in California have just approved a portfolio of EV charging projects worth a whopping $738 million that will multiply the number of charging stations across the state. The program, which will build chargers for both passenger and commercial vehicles, is one of the largest uses of Read More...
This power plant produces energy without emissions. Here’s why that’s a big deal
In 2016, we caught wind of a natural gas power plant being constructed in Texas that claimed it would produce energy without emissions. It promised to capture its own carbon dioxide emissions, not in a separate, expensive, power-intensive process like conventional carbon-capture facilities, but as Read More...
Cutting your home’s energy bills by digging a deep hole in the backyard
On the Earth’s surface, temperatures can swing from blistering hot to freezing cold. But dig a few hundred feet below ground, and the temperature is stable at between 10°C and 16°C (50°F and 60°F). The technology to tap that energy to heat or cool homes has been around for 70 years, but Read More...
Solar is starting to replace the largest coal plant in the western U.S.
On Navajo land in Arizona, a coal plant and coal mine that have devastated the environment are being replaced by solar–with both enormous benefits and local drawbacks that can serve as a lesson for how the rest of the country will need to manage the transition to Read More...
Buffett utility to be first in U.S. to reach 100 percent renewables
MidAmerican Energy Co will become the first U.S. investor-owned utility to source 100 percent of its customers’ electricity needs from renewable energy when it completes a $922 million wind farm in 2020, the company said on Read More...
A game-changing carbon-capture power plant just passed its first big test
Net Power announced today that it successfully fired up a pilot plant near Houston that takes an entirely new approach to capturing carbon dioxide. The news marks a critical first test for a system that promises an economical path to cutting greenhouse-gas Read More...
Offshore wind power is finally becoming a reality on the US east coast
Despite there being massive potential for offshore wind power on the east coast of the US, there has been little to no development of wind farms in the region. That is set to change as three northeastern US states have finally overcome the opposition to sign up for a cumulative 1,200 megawatts of Read More...