Energy Production

Hydropower is essential to the U.S. power grid, but it only creates energy when there's water to move. How many hydroelectric plants could be in jeopardy as lakes and rivers dry up?

By Caitlin Grady & Lauren Dennis

A virtual power plant is a network of wind farms, solar parks and home battery systems designed to relieve the energy load on the main power grid. We talked to one expert to find out how.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Move over corn and soybeans, there's a better biofuel in town. And this one grows in abundance at the bottom of the ocean.

By Diane Kim, Ignacio Navarrete & Jessica Dutton

A combination of energy deregulation, competitive power markets and the push for low prices are all to blame for taking down the Texas power grid. But what's being done to prevent it from happening again?

By Theodore J. Kury

Though a highly publicized 1989 cold fusion breakthrough was subsequently discredited, research is still being conducted in hopes of future success.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Could solar cells be the asphalt of the 21st century?

By Patrick E. George & Cherise Threewitt

Wouldn't it be nice if we could pull CO2 out of thin air and transform it into a fuel that's better for the environment?Now we can.

By Mark Mancini

Properly disposing and storing coal ash is extremely tricky, and it only takes one small trigger to cause a catastrophe.

By John Donovan

We may be able to capture carbon emitted from fossil fuel-burning power plants and convert it to fuel for storing energy generated by wind turbines and solar panels.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Germany's multi-billion-dollar investment in green energy seems to be paying off, but there's still more work to be done.

By Mark Mancini

Tesla has built the world's largest lithium-ion battery storage system in Australia.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Researchers have found a way to use evaporation from lakes and reservoirs to generate electricity, and say that could become a major renewable energy source.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Bird death is a critique among those who oppose wind turbines. The data from multiple studies doesn't back that up.

By Jesslyn Shields

Australia's having some serious energy issues. Elon Musk is betting Tesla can help.

By Jonathan Strickland

The largest coal-fired power plant in the western United States could close up shop by the end of 2019. And the reasons aren't strictly environmental.

By Julia Layton

The island of Ta'u is ditching diesel and embracing solar, with a little help from SolarCity and some government funding.

By Jonathan Strickland

Yep, the same country that's home to Saudi Aramco, an energy behemoth valued at trillions of dollars, thinks it might be time to start stepping away from the oil.

By Ben Bowlin

There's no question that people are interested in solar energy. The problem has been how to store it. Could the much-hyped Powerwall home battery change that scenario?

By Nicholas Gerbis

Could the source of Earth's future energy come from an ambitious idea to encircle the sun with technology? Maybe, but it's a concept that's a long way from today's reality.

By Nathan Chandler

People all over the world are working on turning this very ancient power source into an even more important modern one. And that means a lot more than dams.

By John Perritano

Nobody likes to spend a small fortune fueling up at the pump. Could some minuscule matter change that scenario and the energy sector in general?

By Kate Kershner

While nanoparticles and nanocrystals have always existed -- they're even found in volcanic ash -- it was only recently that scientists could manipulate things on the nanoscale. What applications might nanotechnology have in fuel efficiency?

By Laurie L. Dove

Sometimes the ideas get a little crazy in the race to find clean and inexpensive energy, like tying solar energy to hydrogen production in a palm-sized device. And sometimes those crazy ideas actually work.

By Kate Kershner

Traditional wind power is a promising, through controversial, alternative energy source. But new research is yielding new possibilities: The future of wind may not be in blades, in farms or even fixed to the Earth.

By Julia Layton

Farmland, farmland, farmland and ... drilling rig? That's the reality in parts of Pennsylvania, where hydraulic fracking for shale gas is bringing in profits and protests. What do you know about this controversial process?

By Kate Kershner