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.
As electricity demand continues to drop, utilities are being forced to adapt
Despite population growth, electricity consumption in the US has been on the decline since 2007. There are a number of reasons for the decline, including more efficient heating and air condition systems, the switch to more efficient lights such as LEDs, and the offshoring of power-intensive Read More...
Covering 1.2% of the Sahara with solar panels would supply the world’s yearly energy needs
In just six hours, the world’s deserts receive more solar energy than the entire human race consumes in a year. By covering just 1.2 percent of the Sahara desert in solar panels, the energy needs of the world could be met. Knowing that, wouldn’t it make sense to blanket part of the Sahara with Read More...
Life after nuclear: First solar project of Chernobyl to be finished next month
In July of last year, Ukraine announced a plan to build solar farms in the 1,000-mile swath of land encircling the site of the nuclear 1986 meltdown. Now those plans are coming to fruition as the first solar project is expected to be commissioned in Chernobyl next month. This solar project will be Read More...
Google now powers all operations with nothing but 100 percent renewable energy
Just one year after setting a goal to fulfill all its energy needs from renewables, Google has announced that it has already fulfilled that goal. The tech-giant recently signed contracts for three wind power plants, which put their total energy infrastructure investment at over $3.5 billion. Google Read More...
Clean energy could save women hours of time each day in rural India
In rural India, women spend more than a quarter of their waking hours on cooking-related tasks. Much of this time is not actually spent on the cooking process itself, however, but on gathering free biomass fuels such as firewood, dung cakes, and agricultural waste. By utilizing clean energy Read More...
How Elon Musk built the world’s biggest battery in 60 days
When an apocalyptic storm hit South Australia in September of 2016, the regional electricity grid failed and left 1.7 million residents in the darkness. Then the Australian Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull tried to blame the state’s recent turn toward renewable energy, prompting Elon Musk to make Read More...
Afghanistan to build its first solar plant
The rapidly declining cost of solar equipment has opened new markets in developing countries for the technology. Even in Afghanistan, one of the world’s most underdeveloped countries, plans to build its first solar plant are being made. Considering that the sun shines 300 days a year, solar power Read More...
This Swedish power plant generates energy by burning clothing from H&M
A heat and power station northwest of Stockholm is using an unusual source of fuel to power its operations: Unwanted clothing from the retail chain H&M. The power station was once fueled by oil and coal, but has now been converted to burn materials such as recycled wood and trash, including Read More...
MIT researchers develop a new heat storage battery in the laboratory
Sunlight can be used to generate electricity using solar panels but it also can add heat to storage media like water, liquid metals, and molten salts. The problem for scientists is that those phase Read More...
When it comes to price, nuclear power cannot compete with wind farms
Wind farms will be generating electricity at a far cheaper price by the time Hinkley Point C, a nuclear power station currently under construction in the UK, comes online. According to a Germany energy boss, not only does it cost less to construct the wind farms, the cost of producing electricity Read More...