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Nuclear energy firm Westinghouse files for bankruptcy

Mar 29, 2017
Westinghouse Electric Company, the nuclear energy firm based in Pittsburgh, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Wednesday. Westinghouse is owned by the Japanese company Toshiba and has been running several years late and billions of dollars over budget in its construction on several nuclear reactors in the southern United States.  Click the above audio player to […]

Portable solar units fill the electric charging void

Mar 27, 2017
It could take years to build up electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Meanwhile, options exist.
The EV Arc is a solar array that charges electric vehicles, providing as much as 220 miles' worth of electricity each day.
Jed Kim/Marketplace

Sunshine seems a better business bet to Nevada than coal

Mar 20, 2017
Despite the Trump administration’s push for coal and other fossil energy, Nevada just went dramatically in the other way. On the day after it pulled the plug on a coal-fired power plant, it cut the ribbon on a new solar energy farm. Click the audio player above to hear the full story.

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

Why two American billionaires are betting on renewable energy

Feb 8, 2017
Philip Anschutz and Warren Buffett, two of America’s richest moguls, see a greener future for the electric grid.
Philip Anschutz plans to build wind turbines in Wyoming, like these turbines near Palm Springs, California, and sell electricity to the California market.
David McNew/Getty Images

We're going to be pumping oil for a long time

Nov 16, 2016
The question isn't when we will we run out of oil, it’s "when will we stop needing more and more oil?"
Gas containers featuring the Total corporate logo at the Total Refinery in Antwerp, Belgium.  
Mark Renders/Getty Images

Renewable energy capacity tops coal

Oct 25, 2016
Renewable energy just overtook coal as the world’s largest source of electricity capacity, but the U.S. still lags. Why is that, and what will it take to bring the U.S. into line with the rest of the world? CORRECTION (Oct. 27, 2016): This story’s headline was updated to reflect that renewable energy is the largest source […]
 

 
ORLANDO SIERRA/AFP/Getty Images

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First renewable energy boat to sail around the world

Sep 12, 2016
The “Solar Impulse of the seas” starts a historic 6-year journey next year.
A man works on the hull of the Energy Observer on Sept. 6 in Saint-Malo, western France. The Energy Observer will be the first autonomous boat powered by hydrogen and renewable energy.
LOIC VENANCE/AFP/Getty Images

The cost of cleaner power

Dec 14, 2015
The climate agreement in Paris on Saturday was a sign of global solidarity, but back in the U.S., conflict over curbing pollution still remains.
A plume of exhaust extends from the Mitchell Power Station, a coal-fired power plant located 20 miles southwest of Pittsburgh in New Eagle, Pennsylvania. 
Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

Tom Steyer talks climate change and the 2016 election

Nov 20, 2015
The billionaire energy investor hasn't picked a favorite candidate yet.
Tom Steyer introduces a panel during the National Clean Energy Summit 6.0 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center on August 13, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Isaac Brekken/Getty Images for National Clean Energy Summit 6.0