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The federal government is investing in solar. Chinese companies are getting a share of it.

Feb 7, 2024
Chinese manufacturers are building solar panel factories on U.S. soil to avoid tariffs and garner subsidies, reports WSJ's Phred Dvorak.
Subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act are meant to offset some of the costs of manufacturing solar panels in the United States.
Rodrigo Arangua/AFP via Getty Images

Copper’s soaring price points to recovery, green-economy demand

May 10, 2021
Copper, especially, is a key ingredient in electric cars, wind turbines and batteries. Suppliers are not ready to meet the demand.
A new copper mine can take five to 10 years to come online. Above, copper rods used in machine parts.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Critical minerals for green energy may become scarce, new report warns

May 5, 2021
It's not just a mining issue. China leads in processing and purifying the minerals, but the United States lags in that industrial sector.
The world’s need for lithium for batteries may surge 75-fold in the next three decades.
David McNew/AFP via Getty Images

Next on Democrats' agenda, a "holistic" infrastructure bill

Mar 15, 2021
Green energy, internet connectivity and new school buildings are likely to be on the agenda for the White House and Democrats.
Climate change and green solutions, like wind and solar power, will be a likely focus of the Biden administration's infrastructure plan. Above, a worker installs solar panels.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images

French oil giant Total going big on solar energy

Jan 19, 2021
It's one of a number of growing examples of oil companies adjusting to changing energy needs.
Above, photovoltaic solar panels at the power plant in La Colle des Mees, Alpes de Haute Provence, in southeastern France in 2019.
Gerard Julien/AFP via Getty Images

It's not easy being green when you're poor

Mar 21, 2018
Pittsburgh's plan to green up the city may be leaving low-income residents behind.
Andres Hernandez, from the Goldin Solar company, installs a solar panel system on the roof of a home a day after the Trump administration announced it will impose duties of as much as 30 percent on solar equipment made abroad on January 23, 2018 in Palmetto Bay, Florida.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The emerging demand for "greener" aluminum

Oct 20, 2017
Can U.S. aluminum producers that use hydroelectricity distinguish their products from many Chinese producers, by touting their lower carbon footprint?
The Alcoa Barra Grande hydroelectric power dam in southern Brazil. 
Photo courtesy of Alcoa

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Market forces help stabilize CO2 emissions for third year

Mar 17, 2017
The plateau in emissions comes amid global economic growth.
"The switch from coal to gas really happened because of the shale gas revolution and because of markets,” said Laura Cozzi of the International Energy Agency. Above, a coal power plant from American Electric Power in New Haven, West Virginia.
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

Cloud computing brings big data centers, but few jobs

Sep 23, 2016
Plus, these developments could be a boon for the green energy sector.
Google's two new computing centers are seen June 15, 2006 in The Dalles, Oregon. The centers, each the size of a football field, are located in the small Oregon town of 12,000, 80 miles east of Portland.
Craig Mitchelldyer/Getty Images

Living "off the grid" in rural Wales

Dec 9, 2015
The Roe family gets its power from alternative source, like wind and hydro.