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.
Self-cooling solar cells increase efficiency and lifespan
The biggest hurdle solar cells have to overcome is overheating because converting sunrays to electricity—unsurprisingly—is a very hot process. When solar panels get hot their efficiency dramatically decreases. Engineers from Stanford University have found a solution to this problem by adding a Read More...
New GE startup shows that the time of clean energy fuel cells has come
Fuel cells where invented over a century ago. But apart from the use in space shuttles and space labs, the clean energy technology still awaits a real breakthrough. But the age of the fuel cell may finally be dawning. On Tuesday General Electric launched a startup to bring clean, reliable, Read More...
American cars are finally becoming more fuel-efficient
American cars guzzle some 9 million barrels of oil per day. And the American car industry has been notoriously late with implementing fuel-efficiency standards. But faced with a US EPA and Department of Transportation mandate that cars must have an average fuel–efficiency of 54.5 MPG by 2025 the Read More...
Clean energy investments up 33% in second quarter
This line we want to see go up and up. And it has been doing exactly that even during the financial crisis showing that clean, renewable energy is the way of the future. Total clean energy investment in the second quarter topped at $63 billion, which makes it the strongest quarter in the past two Read More...
‘Energy Duck’ could provide solar and hydro power to Copenhagen
Contestants in the 2014 Land Art Generator Initiative in Copenhagen, Denmark have submitted a mock up of a giant duck that could power the European city with hydro and solar power. The giant duck would be fitted with solar panels to provide power during the daytime, and hydroelectric turbines on Read More...
Clay fridges can slash global food waste substantially
Annual global food waste weighs in at over 1 billion tons. In developing countries food is often thrown away because of inadequate refrigeration. The Mitticool fridge is made from clay and might be the answer to the food storage problem. The Mitticool doesn’t require electricity, can keep Read More...
Solar energy for the entire world requires only small plot of land
How many solar panels are needed to power the whole world? A new graphic shows the exact plot of land that needs to be covered with solar panels to provide electricity to the entire world. And the surprising part– it’s not that large, just 158 square Read More...
Get used to this: Sustainable energy keeps setting new records
From Germany to the golden coasts of California, renewable energy records are being broken left and right. Global wind energy production has doubled 6 times in the past 9 years and solar power is up more than 50% in less than a decade. Fossil fuels still rule, but their future is rapidly changing. Read More...
Renewable power output has almost doubled in last decade
Global renewable power production has grown from providing 800 gigawatts in energy in 2004, to 1,560 gigawatts in 2014, according to a new Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century report. Good news, but there’s still a way to go. The output of renewable energy stands at about 10% of Read More...
Economics for a blue planet
Gunter Pauli, author of The Blue Economy, on why blue is the new green. By Jurriaan Kamp and Marco Visscher Armed with an MBA from the French business school INSEAD, Gunter Pauli was in his mid-30s when he took the reins at Ecover, the Belgian cleaning products manufacturer that ran into Read More...