This archive tracks real progress on sustainability — from clean energy adoption and circular economy breakthroughs to policy wins and community-led conservation efforts. Each story focuses on what’s working, where, and why it matters for the long-term health of people and the planet.
A record amount of new solar capacity has been fitted to Australia’s households and businesses in the first three months of this year, an increase of 46% on the same period last year.
The plan requires all new city-owned buildings and major renovations to be all-electric, effective immediately. The plan also hopes to phase out styrofoam and to plant 90,000 trees by 2021, and to end plastic straws and single-use containers by 2028.
The law, which will go into effect January 1, 2021, prohibits restaurants, caterers, coffee shops and grocery stores from using the to-go foam containers because they cannot be recycled in Maine.
This turning point is decades in the making — not a policy target, but an economic reality arriving ahead of schedule. Wind and solar costs have dropped so sharply that 74% of the U.S. coal fleet could now be replaced by renewables while still saving customers money. April’s seasonal conditions give renewables a boost they don’t always enjoy, and annual parity remains years away. But the direction is no longer in doubt — and as utilities retire coal plants early, this milestone signals to energy markets worldwide that the crossover isn’t hypothetical anymore.
RWE, one of Germany’s “big four” utilities, has cancelled plans for the BoA plus lignite coal-fired power station and promised to cease investing in new coal generation capacity.
Coal-burning power plants will get the axe in 2020, and all other coal-burning in Puerto Rico will be eliminated by 2028.
One of the world’s largest telecommunications company, Verizon that it is commitment to go carbon neutral by 2035 through a range of tools including reducing emissions directly and procuring renewable energy for its operations.
Chicago has passed legislation committing to running the city on 100 percent renewable energy by the year 2040.
Canada will provide a $5,000 rebate to electric and plug-in hybrid car buyers called iZEV and goes into effect on May 1.
UCLA researchers have developed a first-of-its-kind device that can generate electricity from falling snow. The inexpensive device scientists is small, thin, and flexible like a sheet of plastic.
