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Electric cars, hydrogen, biofuels and carbon capture.

12 articles

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…
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 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…
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…
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,…
Large indoor storage hall filled with wood pellets at a biomass fuel depot

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Is Biomass Carbon Neutral? It Depends on the Wood

Biomass energy can be carbon neutral, or it can be worse than coal. Which one you get depends mostly on what you're burning and how long you're willing to wait for the atmosphere to break even.
The carbon capture unit at Boundary Dam Unit 3, a coal plant in Saskatchewan

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How much CO2 carbon capture and storage actually captures

Carbon capture and storage runs 77 projects worldwide today, but flagship coal retrofits Petra Nova and Boundary Dam both missed their own capture targets.
A row of public electric vehicle charging stations

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How fast electric vehicle adoption is happening

Worldwide electric vehicle adoption hit a record in 2025, but US sales reversed hard once the $7,500 federal tax credit expired in September.
Hydrogen fuel cell cars at a hydrogen fueling station in Riverside, California

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Where hydrogen fuel cells stand

Most hydrogen fuel cells still run on fossil-based hydrogen, US sales remain tiny next to EVs, and a 2025 law moved up the tax credit deadline.