SpaceX, Blue Origin, and a host of other private companies helped to make 2021 the year with the most space launches in history, but scientists say this mad dash to space could be causing further damage to our atmosphere. The number of launch attempts has lined in the last decade. And after counting all of … Read more
An aerial view of the Tesla Fremont Factory on May 13, 2020 in Fremont, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images The S&P 500 booted electric vehicle maker Tesla from its ESG Index in an annual rebalancing. Meanwhile, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and even oil and gas multinational Exxon Mobil were included on the list. The S&P … Read more
Attendees look at the all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning pickup truck at the Washington Auto Show in Washington on Tuesday, January 25, 2022. Bill Clark | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images The cost to produce electric vehicles is primed to surge over the next four years, according to a new report, the result of scarcity … Read more
NASA officials announced in a press conference today that the InSight lander on Mars will likely stop operating at the end of 2022, following three years of scientific work on the surface of the Red Planet. InSight arrived on Mars in November 2018, and during its time on the Martian surface it has collected remarkable … Read more
Brad Moline, a fourth-generation Iowa turkey farmer, saw this happen before. In 2015, a virulent avian flu outbreak nearly wiped out his flock. Barns once filled with chattering birds were suddenly silent. Employees were anguished by having to kill sickened animals. The family business, started in 1924, was at serious risk. His business recovered, but … Read more
It’s been a record hot May in parts of Texas, and the state is in for more of the same this week. On Friday, because of the heat, six power plants in Texas went offline, taking 2,900 Megawatts off the grid, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). Texans were asked to curb … Read more
As Volkswagen looks to resurrect the Scout brand in the United States, CEO Herbert Diess has shed light on the decision, saying it represents an opportunity for the German auto giant to “become much more American.” VW announced plans to re-launch the Scout as a fully-electric pick-up and “rugged” SUV last Wednesday, with prototypes due … Read more
In northern California’s Stanislaus County, next to a landfill, there’s a company managing waste in a very different way: by burning trash instead of burying it. The energy recovery facility run by New Jersey-based Covanta harnesses steam to make enough electricity to power 18,000 homes in the area. A portion of the waste comes from … Read more
Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. After six power plants went down unexpectedly Friday — and with hot weather expected across Texas this weekend — the Electric Reliability Council of Texas on Friday evening is asking consumers to conserve electricity through … Read more
There’s “green energy” and then there’s truly GREEN energy, or rather, blue-green energy. A colorful colony of photosynthetic cyanobacteria, known as blue-green algae, have successfully powered a computer microprocessor for longer than six months, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Energy & Environmental Science. The little bio-based battery-alternative could serve as a … Read more