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Renewable energy

Could the sand battery make renewable energy more dependable?

by Stephen Beard
Jul 29, 2022
A start-up in Finland unveils the world’s first commercial heat storage system using sand to solve the problem of the variability of solar and wind power.
The sand battery at Kankaanpaa in southwest Finland.
Courtesy Polar Night Energy
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Filling jobs in the new U.S. offshore wind industry is a "huge challenge"

by Samantha Fields
Jul 25, 2022
Good-paying jobs are a selling point with renewable energy projects. In Massachusetts, training programs are popping up to get people ready.
Massachusetts Maritime Academy on Cape Cod offers a safety training class that is required to work in offshore wind jobs.
Samantha Fields/Marketplace
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Texas has more sources of renewable power, but needs to update infrastructure to get it to homes

by Andy Uhler
Jun 17, 2022
The answer is to build more transmission lines, so that customers can see the benefit, in the form of cheaper utility bills.
Blades from a wind turbine rotate in a field, April 16, 2021 near Eldorado, Texas.
SERGIO FLORES/AFP via Getty Images
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Renewable energy is contributing a lot of power to the Texas grid

by Andy Uhler
May 23, 2022
Despite being doubted for intermittency, wind and solar are delivering a lot of the state's electricity supply.
Renewable energy is becoming increasingly viable in Texas.
SERGIO FLORES/AFP via Getty Images
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Should utilities rethink the power transmission model?

by Andy Uhler
May 9, 2022
Some say lawmakers are trying to solve 21st century problems with 20th century solutions.
Electricity providers in some parts of the country with hot weather are warning consumers that demand may outpace supply.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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A Warmer World

What does the current energy crisis mean for the clean energy transition?

by Kai Ryssdal and Richard Cunningham
Apr 28, 2022
The war in Ukraine is forcing the U.S. to reconsider its dependence on oil.
"We have seen this scenario time and time again, where oil is proving to be an unstable factor in our economy," said Mark Brownstein at the Environmental Defense Fund. "And now we have the opportunity to move to a different future."
David McNew/Getty Images
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A Warmer World

It should be a golden moment for renewable energy. It's not.

by Matt Levin
Apr 22, 2022
Solar, wind and nuclear energy confront old and new obstacles to competing with fossil fuels.
The trade war between the U.S. and China is causing solar projects to get delayed or canceled. 
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
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As electric pickup trucks come to market — slowly — lots of interest and long waits

by Samantha Fields
Feb 9, 2022
“On the supply side, it's very clear that they were not planning for such a high demand,” one expert told us.
Demand for electric trucks, like Ford's F-150 Lightning, is far outpacing supply. Some 200,000 people have already put down deposits for the vehicle.
Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images
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A Warmer World

Grid operators struggle with volume of connection requests from renewables

by Sabri Ben-Achour
Feb 7, 2022
The number of proposed solar projects has spiked as costs have declined, but the transmission system can't accommodate them.
Energy experts say grids are not prepared for the tidal wave of renewable energy coming their way.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
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Could nuclear fusion solve the climate crisis?

by Stephen Beard
Jan 10, 2022
A small British company says it is on track to decarbonize the economy with an abundant, safe and cheap source of energy — eventually.
Tokamak's latest nuclear fusion reactor, the ST40, which emulates the way stars generate energy, CEO Chris Kelsall says.
Photo courtesy Tokamak Energy
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