The Biden administration is pushing its Energy Earthshots Initiative that aims to accelerate innovation and bring life-changing products to market. That involves “long-term energy storage,” which could radically alter the way electricity is produced and consumed by permanently tipping the scales toward green energy. If voracious energy users such as data centers are to hit
We look into the innovations and the growing challenges of storing energy produced by renewable sources. As the energy sector moves increasingly towards green transition, new challenges are emerging. One of the main disadvantages of renewable energy sources – their dependence on potentially inconsistent weather – is thus drawing attention to energy storage systems, which
Supermarket chain Lidl GB has announced that it will be installing solar panels on all new stores as part of a new commitment to be carbon neutral by 2022. This brings it in line with wider commitments made by the Schwarz Group, and will see the discounter aim to reduce its CO2 emissions from
How an unexpected Twitter tiff with the renowned climate scientist Michael Mann helped me rethink climate activism. When I tweeted my reply, I had no idea that I would be on the receiving end of friendly fire. I was scrolling through my feed, looking for thought-provoking news and commentary (because that’s the only reason
Nearly 700 million people worldwide live in low coastal zones vulnerable to sea-level rise and coastal storms. That number could reach a billion by 2050 Afew years ago, after I gave a talk on water and climate change, I had an Arizona rancher come up and ask me if there would be enough water in
The UK has been ranked sixth in the world for solar and wind power generation, according to thinktank Ember's Global Electricity Review. Around the world, the renewable technologies produced 2,435TWh in 2020, or almost a tenth of the world’s electricity. As such they’ve doubled since 2015, when they generated 1083TWh or 5% of the
Environmental levies should be moved off of electricity bills to make sure it's always cheaper to run a heat pump than a boiler, a number of business and civil society groups have said. Led by environmental consultancy Third Generation Environmentalism (E3G), the consortium has called on the government to introduce a 'Fair Heat Deal' to
With new homes being built with eco-friendly design in mind, older properties can prove the worst offenders when it comes to their carbon footprint. But making alterations to your existing home can be costly, running into hundreds or even thousands of pounds. So, how can homeowners make their properties kinder to the environment while keeping
The UK is not keeping pace with the impact of climate change, with the risk of climate-related failure of the power system growing. In a new 1,500-page report from the Climate Change Committee (CCC), it highlights eight priority risks that need immediate attention, including that to people and the economy from failure of the power
It's becoming more likely that a key global temperature limit will be reached in one of the next five years. A major study says by 2025 there's a 40% chance of at least one year being 1.5C hotter than the pre-industrial level. That's the lower of two temperature limits set by the Paris Agreement on