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.
Three solar thermal plants in Chile could generate electricity 24 hours a day
The Chilean government recently gave the go-ahead on a massive solar thermal plant that is expected to produce electricity 24 hours a day, seven days a week—a considerable feat for a plant that depends solely on solar energy. The plant, proposed for a site in Chile’s Tamarugal province, Read More...
What rural Alaska can teach the world about renewable energy
I flew into Unalakleet, Alaska, on a late fall day. With about 700 people, Unalakleet is large by rural Alaska standards and serves as a regional hub. The village is on a sandy spit of land where a clear river meets the turbid water of the Bering Sea. Out the plane window the sun shone bright, Read More...
Scientists harness solar power to produce clean hydrogen from biomass
A team of scientists at the University of Cambridge has developed a way of using solar power to generate a fuel that is both sustainable and relatively cheap to produce. It's using natural light to generate hydrogen from biomass. One of the challenges facing modern society is what it does with its Read More...
How Morocco tapped into Africa's renewable energy potential
Providing reliable, affordable and sustainable access to energy has become a core focus of the international development community and is the seventh goal of the 2015 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Roughly 1.2 billion people, or 17 percent of the global population, are energy poor, Read More...
Elon Musk offers to fix Australia's energy problems in 100 days—or its free
Following a string of electricity blackouts in the Australian state of South Australia, Elon Musk has offered a solution that seems to good to be true. On Twitter, the head of Tesla said he can fix the state’s energy problems by installing a network of Tesla’s Powerwall 2 batteries, all in 100 Read More...
Tesla powers the island of Kauai with solar panels and batteries
Yes, Tesla is a car manufacturer. However, electric cars need batteries. That's why Tesla's CEO Elon Musk is also in the business of generating and storing solar electricity for entire islands as he continues on his mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. This week Read More...
Pssst…wanna get a cheap solar energy loan?
If the US Department of Energy goes down, it will go down swinging. The agency is facing massive budget cuts but this week it still managed to push out funding for a seed grant that will enable the San Francisco-based solar organization RE-volv to bring its unique crowdfunded solar financing Read More...
California generated nearly half of its energy needs from solar last week
California just hit a new solar power milestone. Last week, the Golden state briefly generated enough solar power to meet nearly half of the state’s electricity needs. What’s remarkable is that rooftop systems were responsible for over a third of that power. It's an incredible feat, but Read More...
Solar power growth leaps by 50 percent worldwide thanks to U.S. and China
The amount of solar power added worldwide soared by some 50% last year because of a sun rush in the US and China, new figures show. New solar photovoltaic capacity installed in 2016 reached more than 76 gigawatts, a dramatic increase on the 50GW installed the year before. China and the US led the Read More...
In major switch, there’s a new leading renewable energy source in the U.S.
Long before wind and solar became viable sources of renewable energy, water was flowing through dams and creating power. Now, after decades of hydropower leading the country in electricity generating capacity among renewable sources, wind energy blew past it last year after several years of Read More...