Tech

Could high-flying kites power your home?

Enlarge / Kites could make it possible to build wind farms on land that isn’t windy enough for conventional wind turbine towers. (credit: Peter Cade | Getty Images) Any kid who’s ever flown a kite has learned the lesson: Once you can get the kite off the ground and high into the air, you’re more […]

Tech

Ambitious new climate commitments force IEA to revise renewable power forecast

Enlarge / Workers install photovoltaic panels on the roof at the reconstruction project of Fengtai Railway Station on November 12, 2021, in Beijing, China. (credit: Jia Tianyong/China News Service) Around the world, countries installed renewable power at a record pace in 2021, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency. The trend is […]

Tech

Deep in the heart of a collapsing power grid

Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson / Getty Images) Texas is now entering its third day of widespread power outages and, although supplies of electricity are improving, they remain well short of demand. For now, the state’s power authority suggests that, rather than restoring power, grid operators will try to shift from complete blackouts to rolling ones. […]