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Adaptation

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An illustration of a portrait of a woman with short blonde hair surrounded by drawings of solar panels, wind turbines, a clock, trees, an American flag and a pendulum. — With time, a swinging pendulum shapes energy and climate change
The time horizon of addressing climate change and transitioning our massive energy system to cleaner resources is spectacularly mismatched for humanity and its societal pendulum swings. Harder Line
Amy Harder 5 min read

Illustration of a little grey house with a green lightning bolt on it connected by a green cord to an old-fashioned alarm clock that is ringing, as indicated by red lines coming from it. The background is a swirly light blue. — Here are four fast solutions in the current ‘race’ for power
With the rise of artificial intelligence, increased domestic manufacturing and growing electrification of vehicles and more, electricity demand in the U.S. is expected to soar in the coming years. Explainers
Cat Clifford 5 min read

Image shows a man grimacing and holding up a windmill like a barbell with clean energy technology icons sitting on top of the barbell like weights. the weightlifter is wearing a green shirt and the background is blue — Embracing disruption is key to tackling climate change
The stakes are high and, importantly, the solutions already exist — not in some future breakthrough, but in deploying innovations we’ve already made in smarter, faster ways. Voices
Alexander Dale 4 min read

Illustration showing the comparison of risks between heat and air pollution. By Nadya Nickels — Geoengineering quantified: Heat is deadlier than air pollution
As the Earth’s temperature keeps rising, scientists and entrepreneurs around the world are exploring increasingly novel ways of tackling climate change — including lessening deadly levels of heat. Explainers
Cat Clifford 5 min read

How to protect clean energy projects against extreme weather

The trials of floating solar projects in India point to a broader trend: extreme weather exacerbated by climate change is increasingly impacting the clean energy projects intended to help combat climate change worldwide. Explainers

Anuradha Varanasi 4 min read

A photo of solar panels floating on the surface of a lake under serene blue skies.

What a board game teaches us about equity and clean energy

Unlike past versions of the game that focused almost entirely on growth, Catan: New Energies requires players to examine the consequences of expansion. Voices

Mahesh Ramanujam 2 min read

An illustration of two dice being rolled in front of a red and yellow backdrop. One of the die has a lightbulb and a wind turbine on it, while the other has a question mark and the word

Why we need digital skills for a green future

Addressing environmental challenges requires advanced technology and, just as crucially, workers with the skills to wield it. Voices

Matt Sigelman & Justina Nixon-Saintil 3 min read

Photo of a worker securing a mount underneath a large solar panel, with the sun high in the sky above.

Calling for adaptation over emissions in development funding

A new study urges global development banks to prioritize funding for lower-income nations to help them adapt to climate change, above and beyond reducing emissions. Data Dives

Amena H. Saiyid 2 min read

Illustration with a grid of images in blue and green showing solar panels, the Earth, wind turbines, money, hurricanes and flooding.

Reducing contrails could be a surprisingly effective climate solution

Not all opportunities to address climate change are created equal. Contrails may be the low-hanging fruit of the aviation industry. Voices

Ian McKay & Ken Caldeira 3 min read

An illustration with a red background shows a plane taking off, leaving two white trails of gas behind it. A giant hand with an eraser is erasing the white trails of gas behind the plane.

How to improve life for humanity — and not worsen global warming

Access to reliable energy dramatically improves the quality of people’s lives. And the world needs a lot more energy to bring billions of people out of poverty. Explainers

Cat Clifford 4 min read

An illustration with dots coming out from a globe.

In Wisconsin, I saw how the global energy transition is a local challenge

Cat Clifford shares what she learned while having tricky conversations about clean energy in Wisconsin ahead of the 2024 election. Reporter's Notebook

Cat Clifford 3 min read

Illustration for the Wisconsin Reporter's Notebook

To save the climate, let’s consider making food without farms

The newest synthetic food companies aren’t making novel compounds — they’re making the same molecules we relish eating now, but with drastically lower impacts to the climate and environment. Voices

Steven J. Davis & Ian McKay 4 min read

An illustration of a cow in a field in the background and a hand holding a plate of butter in the foreground.

Extreme weather prompts growth of parametric insurance, offering faster, more flexible payments after disasters

Based on a simple, data-driven model, such policies could especially benefit poor and remote areas threatened by climate change. Latest News

Bill Spindle 5 min read

A man in a red tshirt leans against a post and surveys a large brown and green field under a cloudy sky.

How biology can help clean up mining, emissions and more

The solutions to many urgent environmental concerns like global CO2 emissions, water contamination and mining waste already exist in nature. The answer lies at the microscopic level, using biological processes that have been around for millions of years. Voices

Nicole Richards 3 min read

A human hand wearing a lab glove holds up a petri dish with a leaf inside on the left; on the right, a robotic hand holds up a vial containing a spiral of DNA.

In concrete, carbon removal offers value beyond CO2 disposal

Injecting captured carbon dioxide into concrete could turn our built environment into a global carbon sink. Voices

Robert Niven 3 min read

A drawing of a CO2 cloud and an arrow pointing to a block of concrete.

How we can fix the electrician shortage

Electricians have an indispensable role to play in the energy transition. And we need a lot more of them. Voices

Tracy K. Price 3 min read

Illustration of an electrician with a lightning bolt insignia on his chest.

Full U.S. energy loan chief interview: utilities, hydrogen and more

Jigar Shah, head of the U.S. Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office, shares his thoughts on disrupting the power sector, hydrogen production and transportation and more. Latest News

Cat Clifford 8 min read

An photo collage including a picture of Jigar Shah, head of the DOE's Loan Programs Office, a government building, and solar panels.

U.S. energy loan chief on hydrogen, peak power demand, pipelines and his coffee mug

Cipher sits down with Jigar Shah, director of the Loan Programs Office in the U.S. Energy Department for a Q&A about the energy transition landscape. Q&A

Cat Clifford 4 min read

Jigar Shah, director of the Loan Programs Office, speaking at CERA Week in March. Against a purple background

U.S. energy loan chief wants “culture and norms” disrupted

Jigar Shah is trying to use his perch overseeing the department’s Loan Programs Office to help move the multi-headed behemoth that is the U.S. electricity industry into a decarbonized future. Latest News

Cat Clifford 5 min read

Photo of the the Department of Energy Building in downtown Washington DC, USA, against a blue backdrop.

Helping entrepreneurial scientists cross the first ‘Valley of Death’

Many scientists develop breakthrough materials and new processes that could be successful commercial products. But most of these breakthroughs remain in lab notebooks or seminar slides and never translate into startup ideas. Voices

David Jaramillo 3 min read

Illustration, scientist stands in front of a deep valley, with a wind turbine and solar panels on one side and an oil rig on the other. Blue background.

US investment in carbon removal needs to increase exponentially, finds report

To reach net zero by midcentury, the United States will need to be able to remove a gigaton of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere per year by 2050, according to Rhodium Group. Data Dives

Cat Clifford 2 min read

Bar charts running from top to bottom in shades of blue.

Surging power demand spurs smarter electric grid use

Electricity demand is going up; building new transmission lines is really hard. But there are a number of improvements that could help us get more out of the existing grid today. Explainers

Cat Clifford 7 min read

An illustration with a blue background with overlapping pictures of different transmission towers, with a green arrow pointing up and to the right.

How to understand direct government aid for climate change

Wealthier nations say they are on track to belatedly meet a goal of providing $100 billion a year to poorer nations for climate adaptation and mitigation, but critics say this fund won't be enough for countries buffeted by climate-fueled impacts. Explainers

Amena H. Saiyid 4 min read

Climate financing's fate at COP28 is overshadowed by devastating images of flooding in Pakistan.

Carbon capture needs to ramp up significantly by 2030

Efforts to capture carbon dioxide emissions need to accelerate rapidly in the next seven years to get on track to help the world achieve net zero by mid-century, according to a new report. Data Dives

Jillian Mock 2 min read

Stacked bar chart with lines of blue and green.

As the world bakes, developing world scrambles to adapt

The world is not cutting emissions fast enough to slow climate change, leaving everyone—but especially developing nations—scrambling to adapt to a hotter planet and its extreme-weather consequences. Latest News

Anca Gurzu 3 min read