Posts on Solutions

For most of the 2010s, "grid-scale battery storage" meant one thing: rows of lithium-ion racks, stacked in shipping-container-sized enclosures, doing their job quietly behind chain-link fences. Then came Moss Landing — and the industry's relationship with that assumption changed for good. What's followed since has been one of the more interesting sprints in energy technology: a scramble to build storage …

More and more cities are running out of water. In coastal areas, people often say, "There's a whole ocean right there — why not just take the salt out and drink it?" It sounds like a simple fix. But desalination plants (the places that do this) actually cause some real problems. In addition, they don't produce nearly as much clean …

China keeps breaking records when it comes to renewable power. China's renewable energy boom continued in the first two months of 2026, when the country added about 45 gigawatts of new green energy. That's enough electricity to supply millions of households. Out of all the new power plants built in those two months, more than two out of every three …

Strawberries may be sweet and juicy, but they made third place in this year's "Dirty Dozen" list from the Environmental Working Group (EWG). The Dirty Dozen is an annual report that looks at which fruits and vegetables have the highest levels of pesticide residue based on testing by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Other foods on the list include spinach, …

Imagine if thousands of homes, businesses, and electric cars could work together like one giant power plant—without building a single smokestack or power station. That may sound like science fiction, but it's already happening. It's called a Virtual Power Plant, or VPP. What Is a Virtual Power Plant? A virtual power plant isn't a real building. Instead, it's a network …

By Holly Shaftel, contributing writer I’ve been a proud of solar panels since 2021. They significantly decreased my electricity bills to $11 per month, and it feels good to do my small part to help combat climate change. Then one day our bills started climbing again. I began wondering if something fishy was happening behind the scenes and to consider …

I know it's hard to ignore the bad news right now. We're seeing stronger heat waves, bigger wildfires, and oceans under stress. And on top of that, some political decisions feel like they're pushing us backward instead of forward. But here's something amazing: in 2025, something shifted—and you're here to see it. The part that doesn't always make the headlines? …

Japanese and German scientists have made a big breakthrough in solar energy—and it could change how much power we get from the sun. Normally, solar panels follow a basic rule: one particle of light (called a photon) creates one unit of energy. Because of this, there’s been a “limit” on how efficient solar panels can be. In fact, they usually …

By Holly Shaftel, contributing writer Did you know that every time you Google something or give ChatGPT a command, it creates greenhouse (heat-trapping) emissions and uses a lot of water? The internet uses a lot of energy globally. If you look at the rapid growth of artificial intelligence* (AI) in particular, its data centers ("servers") use about 1.5% of the …

An exciting new study led by Mark Jacobson at Stanford University found that using geothermal energy—which is power from heat deep inside the Earth—could be a big help in moving the world toward clean, renewable energy. Geothermal energy works kind of like this: deep underground the rock is super hot, and we can turn that heat into electricity that doesn’t …

It's time for some good news! Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) is a new way for electric cars to not just charge from the grid, but also send electricity back when it’s needed. It’s like using your car’s battery as a giant shared battery that helps keep power flowing in your town. Electricity goes both ways — into the car and back out …

By Holly Shaftel, contributing writer When I became a vegan, I started searching for an ingredient that would give my morning protein shakes the essential amino acids (vital building blocks for your body) I needed to live. The typical pea protein powders out there were highly processed and, in my mind, gross. Then I discovered hemp. I knew it could …

You know me: I’m always trying to understand the latest “big climate solutions” people are talking about. And lately, I keep hearing about carbon capture — a super-fancy idea that sounds like a giant vacuum cleaning up the sky. ExxonMobil loves to tout it as a "real solution" to address climate change. But does it really work? And can it …

What if we could keep all the things we love about plastic — strength, flexibility, convenience — without the pollution? Scientists in China just created a new kind of bioplastic made from bamboo that’s strong, safe, and breaks down naturally in less than two months. That’s right. No more waiting forever for plastic bottles and bags to disappear (they never really …

Imagine you’re walking through a field close to home. Except, here’s the twist: above parts of the crops are solar panels. These solar panels are quietly making clean electricity while lettuce, beans, or even sheep thrive underneath. That’s agrovoltaics — combining farming and solar power on the same land. And guess what? It’s not just theory — there are real …

Taking care of the planet really matters to me, so I’ve been trying to make small changes in my life over time. I first drove hybrid cars, like the Honda Insight and later the Prius Prime, which worked great for everyday driving. A few years ago, I made the jump to a fully electric car—and honestly, I love it! At …

Part One I've been lucky enough to travel to the Peruvian Amazon. Many families there live without electricity, refrigerators, and wash their clothes in nearby rivers. Something as simple as flipping on a light switch or keeping food is a daily struggle. For many Indigenous communities in the Amazon, this is just everyday life. But even with all these challenges, …

A team of researchers at Southwest University in China created a special kind of smart concrete that can make and store electricity. They mixed regular cement with a material called PVA hydrogel, making a new type of concrete that stays strong like regular concrete. Bonus: your walls could power themselves while building a greener future! How Smart Concrete Works Inside …

Part One When I retired from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in early 2024 and moved to California’s Central Coast in 2022, I had big plans for my next chapter—spending more time with my grandkids, and finally taking those classes I’d been dreaming about: geology, astronomy, maybe even jewelry making and flower arranging. But those plans took a turn when I …

Scientists at MIT have recently come up with a cool way to brew clean energy fuel using ingredients like seawater, caffeine, and even aluminum from empty soda cans. This fuel doesn’t release carbon dioxide, which makes it much better for our planet. Here's How It Works: Image: AI generated cup of coffee in a ceramic mug with a soda can …