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French entrepreneurs look to agriculture and forestry for the future of aviation fuel

Dec 28, 2022
One company says it can make sustainable aviation fuel using beets, sugar cane and forestry waste.
France is Europe's largest producer of sugar beets. Now, a bioenergy company there is using bacteria from the sugar to produce sustainable aviation fuel.
Thierry Zoccolan/AFP via Getty Images

After a holiday marked by power failures, what's being done to ensure the lights stay on?

Dec 27, 2022
Experts say the country needs more transmission lines to move power from where it’s being generated to where it’s needed.
A sign for a closed bar in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Dec. 24. Millions spent the holidays without power due to extreme cold.
Logan Cyrus/AFP via Getty Images

To fund climate-friendly agriculture, farmers seek financial support from restaurants

Nov 28, 2022
Some restaurants have joined an effort to support regenerative farming with a 1% charge on sales.
Cows graze at Nick DiDomenico's farm located in Longmont, Colorado.
Rae Solomon/KUNC

In Ilulissat, Greenland, fast climate changes are altering a way of life — for better and worse

Nov 25, 2022
As icebergs melt, fishing with sled dogs on sturdy winter glaciers is no longer safe. But the retreating ice also means bigger catches of fish.
The town of Ilulissat, meaning "iceberg" in Greenlandic, overlooks Disko Bay.
Adrienne Murray/BBC World Service

For some countries, blue bonds offer a way to refinance debt while fighting climate change

Blue bonds, or debt-for-nature-swaps, are helping developing nations refinance their debt while conserving their oceans.
Blue bonds are one way countries can battle debt while looking out for the world's oceans.
Getty Images

Are current climate initiatives unfair to developing nations?

Nov 17, 2022
Rahul Tongia of the Brookings Institution argues that a swift, large-scale energy transition is unrealistic for poor countries, and unnecessary.
Participants arrive Thursday at the COP27 climate conference, where world leaders are discussing plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and minimize the impacts of  climate change.
Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images

Low Mississippi River water levels drive up shipping costs

Nov 15, 2022
The river is a critical pathway for all kinds of agricultural products, including grains and soy beans.
Barges, stranded by low water, sit at the Port of Rosedale along the Mississippi River.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

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What's happened so far at the UN's COP27 climate summit?

Nov 15, 2022
The Economist's Vijay Vaitheeswaran says that delegates have discussed issues like reparations and other aid for developing countries.
This year's UN climate summit has brought attention to issues like climate reparations for developing countries, says Vijay Vaitheeswaran, Global Energy and Climate Innovation Editor at The Economist.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images

A power plant that captures carbon is coming to Texas, thanks to federal incentives

Nov 8, 2022
The plant will generate almost no greenhouse gas emissions, Net Power says. But critics say there are better alternatives.
Net Power says its planned electric plant will use natural gas but release almost no CO₂. Some critics, though, think wind and solar generation would be better choices. Above, a wind farm and power station in West Virginia.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

When prescribed burns spiral into devastating wildfires, who pays the price?

Oct 21, 2022
A prescribed burn that went awry in New Mexico has some questioning the value of the practice, but scientists say we need prescribed burns more than ever because of climate change.
A scorched structure and vehicle stand on a property mostly destroyed by the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire on June 2 near Las Vegas, New Mexico.
Mario Tama/Getty Images