China to reach peak gasoline demand in 2024
With plug-in cars increasingly displacing gas guzzlers, China is now on track to hit peak gasoline demand in 2024, according to independent analyses from the International Energy Agency and Rystad Energy.
Today (2017 C.E. - 2025 C.E.)
This archive spans the years 2017 through 2025, a period marked by rapid advances in clean energy, medicine, technology, and social equity. It collects documented breakthroughs, policy wins, and scientific achievements from the present era. If you want evidence that progress is real and ongoing, this is where to look.
Work begins along California-Oregon border on largest dam removal project in U.S. history
Klamath River restoration is now the largest dam removal effort in U.S. history, reopening more than 400 miles of river to salmon once the last three dams come down. But the real story is what comes next: members of the Karuk, Yurok, and other tribal nations spent five years hand-gathering seeds from nearly 100 native plant species, and roughly 17 billion of those seeds will be sown along the freed riverbanks over the coming decade. Tribal ecological knowledge is shaping every phase, woven together with western science. For Indigenous communities worldwide fighting to restore ancestral waters, the Klamath offers a powerful template — proof that rivers, and the cultures rooted in them, can be brought back to life.
Ghana ends capital punishment
The West African country currently has 170 men and six women on death row, whose sentences will now be replaced by life imprisonment. Until now, execution has been the mandatory sentence for murder in Ghana.
Australian state of Victoria bans natural gas in new homes
The government said from January 1, 2024, planning permits for new homes and residential subdivisions, including public and social housing, will only connect to all-electric networks.
Michigan bans conversion therapy for minors
The law prohibits state-licensed providers from engaging in the psychologically-damaging practice. Michigan is now the 22nd state in the United States to ban such “therapy.”
Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic form body to regulate AI development
The Frontier Model Forum will focus on the “safe and responsible” development of frontier AI models, referring to AI technology even more advanced than the examples available currently.
Netherlands to return nearly 500 looted objects to Indonesia and Sri Lanka
“We’re not only returning objects; we’re also embarking on a period of closer cooperation with Indonesia and Sri Lanka in areas like collection research, presentation, and exchanges between museums,” said Dutch Secretary of State for Culture and Media Gunay Uslu.
Jacksonville Jaguars’ Kevin Maxen becomes the first male professional men’s coach in the U.S. to come out as gay
In a historic moment, Jacksonville Jaguars assistant strength and conditioning coach Kevin Maxen has come out, becoming the NFL’s first male coach to publicly identify as gay.
Admiral Lisa Franchetti to become the first female top officer in the U.S. Navy
Admiral Lisa Franchetti’s nomination as the U.S. Navy’s top officer would make her the first woman ever to sit on the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the body’s history. A 38-year veteran who commissioned in 1985, she’s already only the second woman to reach four-star admiral in the Navy’s nearly 250 years. Her path includes commanding two carrier strike groups and leading U.S. Naval Forces Korea — the kind of operational résumé that speaks for itself. Her nomination came alongside several other historic firsts at the Pentagon, signaling a real generational shift in who gets to lead. It’s a reminder that the long, patient work of opening doors at the very top of powerful institutions does, eventually, move forward.
World’s largest wind turbine is now fully operational and connected off coast of China
A single wind turbine off China’s Fujian coast can now power roughly 36,000 homes — and it’s the largest ever connected to a grid. The MySE 16-260 stretches 260 meters across, wider than the Eiffel Tower is tall, with each rotation generating up to 34.2 kilowatt-hours of clean electricity. It’s built to withstand winds of 287 km/h, which matters in a stretch of sea where near-gale conditions blow more than 200 days a year. An 18-megawatt machine is already in the works, hinting at how fast this ceiling keeps rising. Each leap in turbine size makes offshore wind cheaper and more credible as a backbone of the clean energy transition worldwide.