Solar projects transform abandoned coal mines in Virginia
The Nature Conservancy hopes to bring clean energy jobs to the overwhelmingly rural and Republican area in Virginia that has lost more than 27,000 people since 2010.
Clean & renewable energy
This archive tracks real progress in clean and renewable energy — from solar and wind expansion to grid upgrades and policy wins. Each story focuses on what’s working, where, and why it matters for people and the planet.
World’s largest green H2 hub, Hydrogen City, to open in Texas in 2026
Green hydrogen is getting a serious proving ground in South Texas, where Green Hydrogen International just broke ground on Hydrogen City — a facility designed to produce more than 2.5 billion kilograms of clean hydrogen each year at full build-out. The trick is storage: massive salt caverns beneath the Piedras Pintas salt dome will hold the energy, smoothing out the natural ebbs of solar and wind. From there, pipelines will carry hydrogen to Gulf Coast ports to make greener fertilizer and sustainable aviation fuel. Phase one comes online in 2026, an early real-world test of whether green hydrogen can finally scale up to decarbonize the industries batteries can’t reach.
Giant floating solar panel flowers replace coal in Korea become a tourist destination
The solar project on the 17-mile-long reservoir in Hapcheon is able to generate 41.5 megawatts, enough to provide power for 60,000 people more than the total population of the county.
New fusion tech set to unlock near-limitless ultra-deep geothermal energy
MIT spin-off Quaise says it’s going to use hijacked fusion technology to drill the deepest holes in history, unlocking clean, supercritical geothermal energy that can re-power fossil-fueled power plants all over the world.
Germany aims to get 100% of energy from renewable sources by 2035
Economy Minister Robert Habeck has described the accelerated capacity expansion for renewable energy as a key element in making the country less dependent on Russian fossil fuel supplies.
E.U. adopts new tolling rules in watershed moment for green trucking
By May 2023, haulers operating zero-emissions trucks — battery electric or hydrogen — must be given discounts of at least 50% on distance-based road tolls.
The second-largest U.S. electric company by market value plans to exit all coal by 2035
Duke Energy will shut down all 11 of its remaining coal-fired power plants by 2035, spanning the Carolinas, Indiana, and Florida. The second-largest U.S. electric utility also plans to more than double its solar and wind capacity to 24,000 megawatts by 2030, backed by a $130 billion clean energy investment over the next decade. Duke serves roughly 8 million customers across six states, so its choices ripple outward into grid infrastructure, household bills, and the air people breathe near aging plants. When a utility this large commits to exiting coal entirely, it signals that clean energy economics have tipped — and offers a template other slow-moving utilities around the world may soon follow.
California lifts renewable energy target to 73% by 2032
The California Public Utilities Commission raised renewable energy procurement targets, plans for a more aggressive decarbonization plan, and includes increased reliability provisions.
Nuclear fusion heat record a ‘huge step’ in quest for new energy source
Nuclear fusion just hit a stunning new benchmark: scientists at the JET facility in Oxfordshire sustained a reaction for five seconds, releasing 59 megajoules of heat — more than double what the same machine produced in 1997. Inside the doughnut-shaped reactor, plasma reached 150 million degrees Celsius, roughly ten times hotter than the sun’s core, fusing hydrogen isotopes the same way stars do. The five-second burst matters because it proves the fuel can be burned stably and repeatably — the foundation any future power plant will need. If researchers can keep building on this, fusion’s promise of abundant, carbon-free energy drawn from seawater could reshape what a just, livable energy future looks like for everyone.
Global investment in low-carbon energy transition hits record $755 billion in 2021
Clean energy investment hit a record $755 billion globally in 2021, climbing 27% in a single year. What made it remarkable wasn’t just the total — it was the breadth. Automakers retooled factories for EVs, private capital poured into battery storage, and governments tied clean energy conditions to COVID recovery packages, pulling fresh money off the sidelines. China led the way, but the U.S., Germany, the U.K., and several emerging economies all posted real gains, suggesting the transition is spreading rather than clustering in one place. The harder truth: most of this money still bypasses the regions facing the steepest climate risks, and closing that gap is the work ahead.