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.
Renewables overtake coal in the UK, wind and solar power capacity surge
There's something big happening in the UK. Al Gore and several business leaders grilled the country this week for cutting subsidies to solar and wind energy, but new government statistics show that Britain is already changing the way it produces electricity. For the first time in history, Read More...
What clean-energy innovators can learn from Apple
We noted in an earlier piece that Bill Gates’s “moonshot” investments to stop climate change, while well intentioned, are misdirected. We do need an Apollo Project for clean energy but it should be an effort that focuses on global deployment of technologies we already Read More...
Stanford researchers cool sunlight to improve solar cell efficiency
Solar panels must face the sun to function. Yet, ironically, they lose efficiency as they heat up. That's why researchers from Stanford University have developed a translucent overlay made of patterned silica that "cools" incoming light for solar panels, effectively dropping the temperature on the Read More...
Switching to 100% renewable energy by 2050 will save $1.1 trillion annually, Greenpeace says
Technically, it's possible to achieve 100% renewable energy around the world by 2050. It's economically viable, too. The Energy [R]evolution report, presented today by Greenpeace, provides a pathway for the energy transition by phasing out coal, oil, gas and nuclear within one generation. Read More...
Blankets convert solar energy to hydrogen fuel
Imagine if the pool in your backyard could become an energy harvester, with a floating blanket on its surface converting solar energy to hydrogen fuel. This is a long-term goal of an interdisciplinary research team led by Pelagia Gouma, a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Read More...
More and more cities are replacing fossil fuels with renewables
In recent years, nations have been promising to cut back on fossil fuel use. Cities are doing so, too. And as cities consume around 78% of global energy, that's a good thing for reducing the world's carbon footprint. Latin America leads with the highest number of renewably-powered cities. Brazil Read More...
Australian homes among first to get Tesla's Powerwall solar-energy battery
Company says 7kWH energy storage unit, which uses lithium-ion battery to store energy from rooftop solar panels, will be available by end of year Australia will be one of the first countries in the world to get Tesla’s vaunted Powerwall battery storage system, as several other companies Read More...
Japan wants to make the 2020 Olympics hydrogen powered
Recharge Wrap-up: Lyft partners with Didi Kuaidi, Cadillac uses ultracapacitorsWatch Video Exotic cars caught on video racing on neighborhood streets in Beverly HillsWatch Video Motorcycles and cars star in strangest drift battle everWatch Video And the first Bentley Bentayga goes to... Queen Read More...
Why storing solar energy and using it at night is closer than you think
In May, when Tesla Motors announced its new battery product to vast media buzz, the talk was all about people putting batteries in their solar-powered homes, and thereby becoming that much less reliant on the grid. But there was always another and perhaps even bigger side of the story Read More...
Tokyo aims to make hydrogen power the star of the 2020 Olympics
Like Olympic villages of past years, Tokyo’s version in 2020 will feature new buildings to house athletes and buses to ferry people to competition venues. But if Tokyo’s governor has his way, it will all be powered by a new energy source: hydrogen. “The first Tokyo Olympics, 50 Read More...