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Two people riding in an electric automobile photographed in 1900

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The first electric car dates to the 1830s, but sources name different inventors

The first electric car is hard to pinpoint to one inventor or country, says the Department of Energy, but a Groningen museum…
The lithium-ion battery pack of a Nissan Leaf on display, with its cover lifted to show the modules

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What an EV battery costs, and how long it lasts

An EV battery is a pack of lithium-ion cells that stores the electricity an electric car drives on, and packs cost an…
Seawater from a high tide flooding a residential street lined with parked cars in Edgewater, Florida

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Climate change effects on oceans include record heat and rising seas

Climate change has put about 90% of the excess heat in the Earth system into the ocean, and that heat is raising…
An ethanol production plant with grain storage silos in Minnesota

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Biofuels explained through ethanol, biodiesel and renewable diesel

Ethanol, biodiesel and renewable diesel are three different products made three different ways. Ethanol comes from fermenting starch or sugar. Biodiesel comes from a chemical swap called transesterification, and renewable diesel comes from a refinery process called hydrotreating that produces a fuel nearly identical to petroleum diesel.
A wind turbine standing beside rows of solar panels on open farmland

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How to stop global warming by cutting emissions to net zero

Stopping global warming means cutting greenhouse gas emissions to net zero, and the IPCC's 1.5°C pathways reach net zero CO2 in the…
A logging truck loaded with cut tree trunks at a harvested forest site

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Is biomass renewable? Yes, when regrowth keeps pace with harvest

Yes, biomass counts as renewable energy as long as it's harvested no faster than plants regrow, and US timberland met that test…
The spillway and powerhouse of Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River in Washington

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Hydropower is electricity made from moving water

Hydropower is electricity made by letting falling or flowing water spin a turbine, and it supplied about 14% of the world's electricity…
The Belchatow coal power plant in Poland, with two tall striped chimneys and steaming cooling towers

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Carbon emissions by country, with China well ahead of the US and India

China emitted 12.3 billion tonnes of fossil carbon dioxide in 2024, out of a world total of 38.6 billion tonnes, according to…
Nesjavellir geothermal power station in Iceland with steam rising from its plant buildings

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How geothermal energy works, and why EGS is finally taking off

A geothermal power plant makes electricity by pulling heat out of the ground and using it to spin a turbine, the same basic principle behind a coal or gas plant, minus the fuel and the smokestack.
Large piles of wood chips at an outdoor yard under a cloudy sky

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What biomass is and how much energy it supplies

Biomass is plant and animal material that people burn or turn into fuel, and it supplied about 5% of US energy in…
Aerial view of Plant Scherer, a coal-fired power plant in Georgia, with steam rising from its cooling towers

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Burning fossil fuels mainly causes climate change

Burning fossil fuels and other human activity cause climate change, and the Indicators of Global Climate Change 2025 update puts the human-induced…
A black Chevrolet Bolt EV, a battery electric hatchback, parked in a lot

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Electric cars in the US by the numbers

The US sold about 1.5 million plug-in electric cars in 2025, slightly fewer than in 2024. By the end of that year,…