Battery makers are tweaking — or altogether revamping — the chemistry and mechanics of batteries in an attempt to get a new generation of devices from the lab to the market.
Why it matters: The adoption of electric vehicles, the promise of renewable energy and the bottom line of dozens of companies may hinge on new, solid-state batteries that are meant to be lighter, faster and more powerful.
If your sidewalks are extra nutty with acorns this fall, certain species of oak trees in the region may be "masting," or producing enormous crops of seed.
Why it matters: There's a mystery at the center of why there are so many nuts, as scientists are unsure exactly what triggers "mast" events every few years or why many tree species — not just oaks — experience them.
The ExxonMobil and Chevronmegadeals are now firmly on the radar of Capitol Hill Democrats.
State of play: Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and over 20 Senate colleagues signed a letter urging the FTC to launch antitrust probes of the planned acquisitions.
Pope Francis plans to spend three days at the COP28 climate summit, multiple outlets report, a visit that will increase the spotlight on the talks.
Why it matters: He'll be the first pontiff to attend an annual UN "conference of the parties," underscoring Francis' focus on climate during his tenure.
Ørsted's decision to scrap New Jersey offshore wind projects has major implications for renewable tech's U.S. future.
State of play: The global wind giant took a roughly $4 billion impairment when announcing earnings, mostly from those projects. The stock swooned 26% on Wednesday.
A new study warns the Earth's climate is on track to warm significantly more than shown by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) projections.
Driving the news: The paper, published Thursday in the peer-reviewed journal Oxford Open Climate Change, is a synthesis of new and previous discoveries across multiple fields. It is peppered with policy prescriptions, unusual for a scientific paper.
A record wintry snap was slamming much of the Lower 48 U.S. states on Wednesday night.
Of note: Some 70 million people were under freeze warnings, from eastern Texas to southern New York and the National Weather Service said "widespread record low temperatures" were likely Thursday morning from Texas to Maine, with below-normal conditions persisting across the East and South in the daytime.
Despite the increased urgency of reducing emissions and building resilience to climate change impacts, a new analysis shows that total philanthropic giving by foundations and individuals remained essentially flat from 2021 through 2022.
Why it matters: In addition to the growing low-carbon economy, philanthropic giving is a major source of support for emissions cutting as well as climate adaptation.
Why it matters: The world's largest wind energy developer halting these projects, Ocean Wind 1 and 2, is a blow to President Biden's clean energy drive to cut emissions, which includes the goal of reaching 30 gigawatts of offshore wind-generating capacity in U.S. waters by 2030.
The race between weather agencies to see who has the most advanced computer models has given way to an international competition over implementing artificial intelligence.
Driving the news: The U.K. Met Office, which already runs one of the top weather forecast models in the world, announced a new partnership on Tuesday with the Alan Turing Institute to develop highly accurate, lower cost forecast models using machine learning and AI techniques.
The country's biggest ferry system is going electric in what local officials hope is an early step toward decarbonizing the broader maritime industry.
What's happening: Washington State Ferries — the largest U.S. ferry system by ridership, carrying more than 17 million people last year and about 24 million annually pre-pandemic — is working to shift to a zero-emissions fleet by 2050.
The Seattle region is solidifying its place as a global leader in the race for fusion energy, with five major companies looking to crack the code on the clean, sustainable power source.
Why it matters: In a rapidly warming and carbon-dependent world, there's a "huge prize" for developing and commercializing fusion energy, Mike Sexsmith of General Fusion said last month at Seattle Fusion Week.
An unusually powerful storm is forecast to rapidly intensify and bring heavy rains and damaging winds to Ireland and the U.K., with its effects extending into France, Belgium, the Netherlands and other parts of Western Europe.
Driving the news: The timing of the storm is forecast for late Wednesday through the end of the week. The U.K. Met Office took the unusual step of naming the weather system days in advance, assigning it Storm Ciarán.
