Denmark’s DONG Energy divests from fossil fuels in favour of renewables
Danish wind energy giant DONG Energy announced its plans to divest its upstream oil and gas business for $1.05 billion.
Business
This archive collects stories about businesses — from startups and local enterprises to multinational corporations — taking meaningful action on social, environmental, and economic challenges. These reports highlight moments when commerce and accountability intersect in constructive ways.
Kentucky coal company announces plans to build the state’s largest solar farm
Berkeley Energy Group, the coal company behind the project, billed it as the first large-scale solar farm in the Appalachian region, which has been hit hard by the decades-long decline in the U.S. coal industry.
Tesla charges ahead with plans for more gigafactories
Tesla claims that by the end of 2018, the Nevada factory will assemble more lithium-ion batteries than what were produced globally in 2013.
Solar road tiles get their first public test in Sandpoint, Idaho
Solar road tiles made their public debut in 2016, when 30 hexagonal glass panels lit up a town square in Sandpoint, Idaho. Built by Solar Roadways after a viral crowdfunding campaign, the tiles powered a fountain and restrooms, glowed in patterns, and melted snow. A modest proof that sidewalks might someday double as power plants.
U.S. offshore wind farm breaks ground at Block Island for the first time
America’s first offshore wind farm came to life in 2015, when construction began on five turbines in the Atlantic waters off Block Island, Rhode Island. A 21-mile submarine cable eventually linked the island to the mainland grid, replacing its diesel generators. Small in scale, it proved offshore wind was buildable in U.S. waters.
Apple releases the iPhone, putting the internet in everyone’s pocket
The iPhone launched on June 29, 2007, when Apple opened its stores to buyers who had waited hours, sometimes days, for a $499 glass rectangle with no keyboard and no instruction manual. Steve Jobs had unveiled it months earlier as “an iPod, a phone, and an internet communicator,” and the audience laughed, thinking he was joking. He wasn’t.
Denmark builds the world’s first offshore wind farm at Vindeby
Offshore wind began quietly in 1991, when Danish workers planted 11 small turbines in the shallow waters off Vindeby, on the island of Lolland. Each one produced just 450 kilowatts, powering a few thousand homes and proving turbines could survive the sea. It was the first offshore wind farm ever built — a modest experiment that opened a door.
Steve Jobs unveils the first Macintosh, putting a personal computer within reach
The first Macintosh arrived on January 24, 1984, when Steve Jobs pulled a beige, talking computer from a canvas bag onstage in Cupertino. Priced at $2,495, it brought the graphical interface — windows, icons, a clickable trash can — to everyday buyers. It marked the moment computing began leaving the lab for the living room.
U.S. first utility-scale solar farm starts generating power in California
Utility-scale solar arrived in 1982, when ARCO Solar switched on a photovoltaic field near Hesperia, California — the first solar plant anywhere to cross one megawatt of capacity. The silicon cells traced back to NASA satellite research, now wired into the everyday grid. A modest start for what became one of the fastest-falling costs in energy history.
IBM and Microsoft launch MS-DOS, reshaping personal computing
MS-DOS arrived in August 1981, when Microsoft sold IBM the operating system that would power its new personal computer. The twist: Microsoft didn’t write it, but bought the underlying code from a Seattle programmer for $25,000 and kept the rights to license it elsewhere. That clause helped shape the PC era.