Environment

Think about where our energy comes from: drilling rigs and smokestacks, windmills and solar panels. Lithium-ion battery packs might even come to mind.  We probably don’t think about the farms that comprise over one-third of Earth’s total land area. But farms can also be an energy source. Barcelona-based battery company Bioo is generating electricity from

Not including rooftop solar power, solar PV accounted for 36.5% of new US electricity generation capacity in the first quarter of 2021. (Note that we are talking about new power capacity in this article, not electricity generation itself.) Another 63.2% of new US electricity generation capacity came from new wind power plants. Those two combine

Originally published on NRDC Expert Blog.By Ariana Gonzalez, Director, Colorado Policy, Climate & Clean Energy Program After months of drafting, negotiating, and rallying around legislation in the Colorado State Capitol, the General Assembly has adjourned. Looking back over the past six months, it’s clear that achieving enforceable and equitable climate action was a top priority not

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the White House have made offshore wind a centerpiece of plans to strengthen the nation’s energy infrastructure, announcing a goal to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030 — a huge leap from the 42 megawatts (MW) currently in operation. Not only could this provide enough electricity

Puzzling out and testing new ways to improve the efficiency of cadmium telluride (CdTe) polycrystalline thin-film photovoltaic materials is a typical day in the life of National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) research scientists Matthew Reese and Craig Perkins. Like any good puzzlers, they bring curiosity and keen observation to the task. These skills led them,

Electric grids do not change overnight. Power plants and other infrastructure are multi-decade investments, and it’s rare to retire them early. So, it’s a bit painful to watch how slowly they have been getting cleaned up. Even with the majority of new power plants being renewable energy power plants, the percentage of electricity coming from

Courtesy of Union Of Concerned ScientistsBy Rachel Cleetus The G-7 Leaders’ Summit is underway, from June 11–13, in Cornwall, UK. As host nation for this summit, and the annual climate talks later this year (also known as COP26), the UK will clearly be elevating the need for climate action, alongside dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and trade

Originally published on RMI.org.By John Matson As the world warms and the demand for cooling increases, many homes will require an “all of the above” approach to keep cool without further contributing to global warming. That can include high-performance cooling systems that use climate-friendly coolants and consume relatively little energy, as well as building design approaches that offset the

CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Wednesday that trading meme stocks is more gambling than investing. “It’s exciting. It’s fun, and it’s real,” Cramer said on “Squawk Box.” However, he added, “If you’re going to play it, I think that you can, I don’t know, go to the casino. These should be offered at the casino.” He

In this article SPOT Northvolt’s battery factory in the north of Sweden in June. Northvolt Northvolt, a Swedish battery maker, has raised $2.75 billion from a host of big names to help fuel its global expansion and increase production. The Stockholm-headquartered company makes the lithium-ion batteries that are used to power electric cars and it

In this article SGRE-ES Wind turbines in Brandenburg, Germany. Patrick Pleul | picture alliance | Getty Images So-called “green” hydrogen production using onshore wind turbines could achieve price parity with fossil-based hydrogen by the year 2030, according to a white paper from Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy. In a statement on Wednesday the firm — a

Originally published on Transport & Environment.By Eoin Bannon More than 90 environmental and consumer groups have today appealed to the European Parliament not to accept sustainable finance rules that would allow logging and the burning of trees to be counted as green investments. In a public letter, groups such as Transport & Environment (T&E), WWF, Greenpeace, and

In physics, a flywheel is a rotating disk that stores kinetic energy in its momentum and then spins that energy out to a nearby engine. In the context of business, as the flywheel rotates, it increases output or revenue without increasing input or cost. Tesla, best known for being an all-electric car company, is, well,

Courtesy of U.S. Department of the Interior WASHINGTON — The Department of the Interior today announced its intent to assess potential opportunities to advance clean energy development on the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). This significant milestone is part of the Biden-Harris administration’s goal to create thousands of jobs through the deployment of 30 gigawatts (GW)

It seems like only yesterday that a mysterious new program called Energy Earthshots was in the works for the US Department of Energy, and everybody was wondering what that could possibly be. The curtain has now lifted and the answer is clean hydrogen. If you’re thinking why clean hydrogen and not green hydrogen, that’s a

Alan Graf | Cultura | Getty Images Denmark’s Orsted said Thursday it would “reuse, recycle, or recover” all turbine blades in its worldwide portfolio of wind farms once they’re decommissioned.   The world’s largest offshore wind farm developer said it had “a clear responsibility to help find solutions to the challenge of recycling blades.” The issue

Official cars are seen outside Grand Hotel Wien after a session of meeting of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on “Iran nuclear deal talks” in Vienna, Austria on May 01, 2021. Askin Kiyagan | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images A nuclear deal between the U.S. and Iran could send energy prices higher —

Alexander Novak, Russia’s energy minister, pauses during a panel session on day two of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Thursday, June 3, 2021. Andrey Rudakov | Bloomberg | Getty Images Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak on Thursday said the oil and gas-rich country may soon be tempted

BlocPower founder & CEO Donnel Baird BlocPower “Turning buildings into Teslas.” That’s the name Donnel Baird has chosen to go by on his Twitter account — it’s also become the tagline for his company, BlocPower, ranked No. 47 on this year’s CNBC Disruptor 50 list. Since 2014, the company has been retrofitting buildings in New

Russia’s Deputy Prime Minster Alexander Novak (L) and Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud attend a session as part of the 24th St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2021) at the ExpoForum Convention and Exhibition Center. Donat Sorokin | TASS | Getty Images LONDON — Two of the world’s largest oil-producing countries