Field: Clean Energy

By converting some of its abandoned oil and gas wells into geothermal power stations, the US could secure its clean energy future.

California startup HyPoint plans to make a hydrogen-powered aircraft with nearly three times the range of a turboprop commuter jet. 

French commune Rambouillet is serving as a testing ground for the soft glow of bioluminescent bacteria on the street.

The pledge is an advance market commitment — an economic strategy that's been used to increase vaccine coverage across the planet.

A new highly efficient heat engine with no moving parts could allow us to generate electricity from renewables year round.

A surprise discovery by Drexel University scientists could unlock an elusive technology: lithium-sulfur batteries.

Engineers at Stanford University have created a solar cell that generates electricity at night by exploiting the process of radiative cooling.

A low-cost molten salt battery that can store energy for months could allow us to tap into renewables year round.

A team of scientists have shattered the record for the amount of energy produced during a controlled, sustained fusion reaction.

Austin’s Whisper Valley housing development uses geothermal heat pumps and solar panels to slash residents’ energy bills.

Wind turbine blades are notoriously difficult to recycle, but researchers and industry players hope a new material design may change that.

For the first time, an Airbus A380 superjumbo jet flew with 100% sustainable aviation fuel powering an engine.

Want to help protect the environment, save money on gasoline, or try out the latest technology? Try powering your house with your car.

The panels are mounted high enough for crops to be grown underneath, sheltering them from the sun and allowing rainwater harvesting.

The Flying-V airplane doesn’t look like anything you’ll find at today’s airports, but it could be the future of aviation.

A team of scientists plans to map out deep-earth lithium to see if it can sustainably supply America's urgent needs.

Climate change and a lack of access to clean energy intensify the difficulties faced by minorities. Fortunately, leaders with strong roots in their communities have devised unique strategies for long-term change.

Starbucks is aiming to capitalize on the demand for electric vehicle infrastructure by installing chargers at up to 15 locations in the U.S.

Volkswagen will begin selling its all-electric ID. Buzz — a modern take on the iconic Microbus — in the U.S. in 2024.

The Ukraine crisis has highlighted Europe's dependence on Russia for fossil fuels. Is more nuclear energy the solution?

California’s aging power infrastructure has contributed to catastrophic wildfires and multiday outages. Solar canals can help.

We know that fusion works – it is the process that powers the Sun, providing heat and light to the Earth. But can we do it ourselves?

DeepMind has co-developed an AI capable of controlling the super-hot plasma inside a tokamak fusion reactor.

Two college grads earned four million dollars by mining the cryptocurrency with specialized shipping containers that use flare gas.

MIT spinoff Quaise Energy is building a drill that vaporizes rock so that we can tap into the geothermal energy miles below our feet.

A new record set by the world’s largest nuclear fusion reactor is giving researchers confidence we’re on the path to usable fusion energy.

The U.S. has thousands of reservoirs that could be paired for pumped hydro storage without the need for rivers.

Shipping giant Maersk is building custom charging buoys that provide electricity to ships moored overnight. The first is set to launch this year at an offshore wind farm.

Toyota's pressurized moon rover, the “Lunar Cruiser,” could help astronauts live on the moon — and help us combat climate change on Earth.

Stanford University researchers announced they had achieved record efficiencies in a promising class of new materials for solar cells — which can be thinner than a piece of paper.

Interest in Earthships, a type of off-the-grid home built from old tires, is picking up as people look for ways to live more sustainably.

Flow batteries are a type of liquid battery that has the potential for large-scale, long-term energy storage. Researchers have found a new material for flow batteries and it looks a lot like molasses.

To improve battery life and safety, while maintaining ionic conductivity, researchers aim to replace the liquids commonly used in batteries with a solid material made from trees.

Scientists have invented an all-season smart-roof covering that keeps homes warm in the winter and cool in the summer. It uses a phase-shifting material that doesn’t require additional electricity.

Europe is creating a supergrid across regions, countries, and oceans to smooth out the fluctuations in energy suppliers — and hopefully build more resilient power systems.

The most powerful winds can be found over the deep, open ocean. Floating wind turbines could tap into this and 100x our wind energy.

NASA and the Department of Energy are asking U.S. companies for help putting a nuclear reactor on the moon by 2031.

California startup Monarch Tractor has raised $61 million to increase production of its self-driving electric tractor.

Here's what the science says about climate change — and a few reasons to be optimistic.

The growing usage of lithium-ion batteries, particularly in vehicles, is outpacing the technology to recycle them. But researchers and innovators are scrambling to find an effective and eco-friendly battery recycling technique.

A unique metal-chomping microorganism ate through a nail in just three days. Now they might be tasked with an enormous mission: cleaning up mining waste.

Agrivoltaics combines farming with renewable energy, using the shade of solar panels to help plants thrive in a changing climate.

Electric cars could power millions of households by plugging their battery power back into the grid instead of being stored.

The U.K is giving Rolls-Royce nearly $300 million to develop small modular reactors (SMRs) to increase its supply of clean energy.

Energy startup Helion claims it will generate electricity from a nuclear fusion device by 2024 — a milestone that could transform the world.

Net Power has designed a new kind of natural gas power plant that can efficiently capture almost all of the carbon dioxide it generates.

It’s estimated that 65% of emissions reductions can be achieved by existing technologies. The other 35% will need to come from tech breakthroughs.

Bottlenecks in the production of silicon thwart solar panel manufacturing. Some companies are turning to perovskite instead.

Non-Tesla EVs can now use a select number of Tesla Superchargers — and the goal is to expand that access to the entire Supercharger network.

More than 150 companies are developing flying cars. Here's why they're aren't yet off the ground and darting across city skies.

Attacking climate change requires reimagining our buildings and vehicles as intelligent systems. And it all starts with a smart motor.

Inspired by Mars colonization, engineers aim to replace diesel generators with nuclear microreactors

Dimensional Energy, a startup based in New York, plans to use this new environmentally friendly jet fuel to conduct flight tests by 2022.

Three of Japan’s nuclear reactors closed after the Fukushima disaster are restarting, a controversial move designed to reduce CO2 emissions.

Swiss tech company ABB has unveiled a new EV charging station that can quickly power four vehicles at once.

By recovering the high-value materials, solar panel recycling could become an economically viable option for aging panels.

The future of the nuclear industry lies in developing cheaper and more nimble reactors.

An experimental thorium reactor in China could greatly expand the number of people who can benefit from clean nuclear energy.

A 3D-printing startup has created a solid state battery that "equals or betters" the performance of current lithium-ion batteries.

Concentrated solar power plants could help us achieve our clean energy goals, but it won't come cheap.

Physicists optimized a nuclear fusion reactor to overcome a problem that causes heat loss and prevents the device from sustaining fusion.

German startup Dance's e-bike subscription service gives people a chance to enjoy the benefits of the bikes without the hassles.

Scientists appear on the brink of achieving nuclear fusion ignition, bringing the dream of near-limitless clean energy closer to fruition.

An Alabama power plant is now using 3D-printed nuclear reactor parts, a milestone that could shape the future of nuclear energy.

The world’s biggest battery maker for EVs is now manufacturing a sodium-ion battery that could help end the industry’s dependence on lithium.

A scientist has invented “cooling paper” — a material that reflects the sun's rays off rooftops and even absorbs heat from homes and buildings. And it is made from recyclable paper.

TerraPower, a nuclear power startup founded by Bill Gates, has announced plans to build a new kind of nuclear reactor at a retiring coal plant.

If adopted globally, concentrated solar power could make major waves in manufacturing, not to mention prevent wars over oil and mitigate climate change.

China’s nuclear fusion reactor, the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), has set a new world record for temperature.

Denver plans to tap into the heat in sewer lines to generate clean energy.

U.K. startup Page-Roberts proposes using a vertical EV battery to improve a car’s efficiency and cut manufacturing costs.

The UK’s MAST Upgrade nuclear fusion experiment appears to have solved the “exhaust problem,” a major hurdle to harnessing fusion power on Earth.

Ford’s first electric truck, the F-150 Lightning, has the potential to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles in the U.S.

Harvard University researchers have developed a solid-state lithium battery they believe could allow electric vehicles to last 10 to 15 years.

Orbital Marine Power successfully launched a tidal turbine that will soon become one of the world's most powerful tidal energy sources.

Perovskite solar cells featuring a layer of carbon nanodots made from human hair were more efficient and stable than those without the dots.

An artificial photosynthesis device that gets more efficient with time could finally allow us to harness solar energy for uses beyond electricity.

Lake Kivu in central Africa is on the verge of exploding. To prevent disaster, Rwanda is using the lake as a source of energy.

We'll need a new type of battery to make electric cars cheaper and convenient.

Capturing the sun's boundless light in space could revolutionize how we distribute energy around the world.

The Aptera solar car is expected to hit roads in 2021, but even if it's not the next big thing in transportation, its design elements could be.

Researchers have developed a low-cost wearable device that can turn body heat into energy — improving battery life for your essential devices.

At the JET nuclear fusion reactor, scientists are testing a fuel that could power a $25 billion nuclear fusion device.

Large-scale ventures are a big step toward testing whether we can create a marketplace for green hydrogen in a way that makes economic sense.

Scientists found an easier way to produce a chemical reaction important in making biofuels, possibly lowering the cost of biofuel production.

Startup bluShift has successfully launched a biofuel rocket, proving that biofuels could be the future of more sustainable spaceflight.

StoreDot's battery fully charges in just five minutes, and it can be manufactured on the same production lines as today's EV batteries.

Using decommissioned wind turbine blades to build bridges, buildings, and more could eliminate one of the biggest disadvantages of wind energy.

Geothermal energy may be the key to bringing reliable, clean energy to the world.

Solar power is abundant, but the dark panels pose a design problem. A new generation of transparent solar panels could make house-powering windows and phone screens a reality.

A Dutch brewery is using iron powder to generate clean energy, marking the first industrial use of iron fuel.

The Department of Energy is putting millions behind two new nuclear plant prototypes.

These nuclear diamond batteries could provide an endless source of energy.

A new spherical tokamak in the U.K. could overcome one of the biggest hurdles to nuclear fusion power: the “exhaust problem”

Nuclear power could become more accessible thanks to a new nuclear fuel called ANEEL that combines thorium with uranium.

California’s ZeroAvia has flown the first “commercial-grade” plane powered by hydrogen fuel, potentially foreshadowing the sustainable future of air travel.

Nuclear fusion just took a step forward thanks to a new, compact reactor from MIT.

NuScale Power’s small modular reactors generate less energy than full-sized nuclear reactors, but they might also be cheaper and safer.

Better solar cells are an objectively good thing. Two new breakthroughs may help us harness more light, more cost effectively.

A startup described as the “IKEA of houses” is determined to make beautifully-designed, energy efficient homes affordable for everyone.