Hawaii faces a growing plastic waste problem. Recycling is expensive and difficult on the islands, and discarded fishing nets (the largest source of Hawaii’s marine debris) continue to wash ashore and drift in surrounding waters. Researchers are now exploring an innovative way to tackle both challenges at the same time by turning discarded plastics into roads.

As of mid-July, there have been three major heatwaves in western Europe this summer. An early intense heatwave in May was followed by an exceptionally severe heatwave in late June that broke all-time records across the region. A third heatwave in July swept through France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and elsewhere.

The Trump administration has been battling to stop wind power projects in the United States citing various dubious reasons such as national security, danger to birds and whales, and even cancer risks. The President has had a personal vendetta against wind energy for more than a decade since he was unable to stop a wind turbine project near his golf course in Scotland. The executive orders to halt wind-energy leases and permits last year were ultimately overturned by the courts, allowing projects such as five offshore wind projects in the Northeast to continue.

The Schoharie Central School District, located in the heart of New York’s Mohawk Valley, recently transformed a former hayfield into a one-acre solar installation. The system is rated at 749 kilowatts of power. The project was funded by $2.4 million in voter-approved capital as well as state aid.

U.S. electric power consumption hit is second straight annual record high in 2025 and will rise further in 2026 and 2027. Electric grid consumption had been relatively stable between 2010 and 2021 and per capita consumption even declined over that period, but all that has changed.

The Clean Air Act, passed in 1970, created programs that lowered the levels of six common pollutants: particulate matter, ozone, lead, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide. As a result, the combined emissions of these six dropped by 78% over the ensuing 50 years even while the U.S. economy continued to grow. In particular, the reduction of smog and fine particulate matter improved public health nationwide.

Electric cars store large amounts of energy in their battery banks that is used to drive the car. But in principle, parked electric cars could be used as mobile energy storage networks. The energy in cars could be given back to the power grid – a technology known as vehicle-to-grid or V2G. Alternatively, the stored energy in a car could supply electricity directly to a home, for example during a power outage. This is V2H.

The clothing industry accounts for about 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions – more than, for example, air travel. Large amounts of land are used to grow natural materials for clothing, but synthetic materials are more common. Used textiles often end up in landfills, where they take decades to decompose. A fair amount of clothing gets reused, but ultimately very little of it gets recycled. Estimates are less than 1% of used clothing is recycled into new textiles globally. Much of it simply cannot be.

Heat pumps are highly efficient all-in-one heating and cooling systems. Ordinary furnaces burn fuel to produce heat. Heat pumps move existing heat from one place to another using electricity and refrigerant. A heat pump can act as heater in the winter and an air conditioner in the summer.

Five species of sea turtles are found in the Gulf of Mexico. All five were pushed to the brink of extinction due to human activity. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 listed all sea turtles in the United States as threatened or endangered except the flatback turtle. Under the Act, it is illegal to harm or in any way interfere with a sea turtle or its eggs.