By Laura Paddison, CNN.  Excerpt: The combined water level in two of the United States’ biggest reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, has fallen to a historic low, in what experts are calling a significant moment in the Colorado River crisis — threatening a water system that supplies tens of millions. On July 12, Lake Powell was at 3,524 feet and Lake Mead was just under 1,043 feet, breaking a record set in March 2023, according to an analysis published by five Colorado River experts last week. Together, the two reservoirs haven’t been this low since 1957, during the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam, before Lake Powell even existed. ...The Colorado River is the lifeblood of the Southwest. It irrigates more than 5 million acres of farmland, generates enough electricity to power around 700,000 homes and provides water for 40 million people. ...The Colorado River has shrunk rapidly over the past 25 years as water demand has boomed and climate change has delivered hotter, drier...

By John Timmer  , arstechnica.  Excerpt: On Tuesday, the US Energy Information Administration released full-year data on how the country generated electricity in 2025. It’s a bit of a good news/bad news situation. The bad news is that overall demand rose appreciably, and a fair chunk of that was met by additional coal use. On the good side, solar continued its run of astonishing growth, generating 35 percent more power than a year earlier and surpassing hydroelectric power for the first time. Overall, electrical consumption in the US rose by 2.8 percent, or about 121 terawatt-hours. Consumption had been largely flat for several decades, with efficiency and the decline of industry offsetting the effects of population and economic growth. There were plenty of year-to-year changes, however, driven by factors ranging from heating and cooling demand to a global pandemic. Given that history, the growth in demand in 2025 is a bit concerning, but it’s not yet a clear signal that ...

By Calvin Coffee, TCD-The Cool Down.  Excerpt: Gujarat, a leading state in India, already gets nearly 60% of its electricity from renewable sources, and it's gearing up to deliver even more. According to  the Times of India , Gujarat's clean energy mix, composed of solar, wind, and hydro power, currently meets about 58% of the state's energy demand. ...even more improvements are on the horizon. The state has announced plans to invest around $3.5 billion in the next phase of its  Green Energy Corridor , a massive grid project designed to make clean power more accessible and reliable across the region. The upcoming upgrades will help move over 16,000 megawatts of renewable energy  throughout Gujarat , connecting new solar and wind zones in areas like Kutch, Banaskantha, and Jamnagar. New transmission lines and substations will ensure the system operates smoothly, even during peak demand, allowing more people to benefit from uninterrupted clean power. ...The Indian gove...

By Michelle Lewis , Elektrek.  Excerpt: Renewable energy – solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower, biomass – accounted for more than 90% of total US electrical generating capacity added in 2024, according to data released yesterday by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and reviewed by the SUN DAY campaign. Solar alone accounted for over 81% of the new capacity. Moreover, December was the 16th month in a row in which solar was the largest source of new capacity. ...In its latest monthly  “Energy Infrastructure Update” report  (with data through December 31, 2024), FERC says 105 “units” of solar totaling 4,369 megawatts (MW) came online in December, along with two units of wind (324 MW) and two units of biomass (45 MW). Combined, they accounted for 86.9% of all new generating capacity added during the month. Natural gas provided the balance: 717 MW....  Full article at https://electrek.co/2025/02/07/renewables-90-percent-new-us-capacity-2024-ferc/ ....

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/08/business/energy-environment/norway-electric-vehicles.html By  Jack Ewing , The New York Times.  Excerpt: Last year, 80 percent of new-car sales in Norway were electric, putting the country at the vanguard of the shift to battery-powered mobility. ...The country will end the sales of internal combustion engine cars in 2025. ...There are problems, of course, including unreliable chargers and long waits during periods of high demand. ...But the air in Oslo, Norway’s capital, is measurably cleaner. The city is also quieter as noisier gasoline and diesel vehicles are scrapped. Oslo’s greenhouse gas emissions have fallen 30 percent since 2009, yet there has not been mass unemployment among gas station workers and the electrical grid has not collapsed. ...Levels of nitrogen oxides, byproducts of burning gasoline and diesel that cause smog, asthma and other ailments, have fallen sharply as electric vehicle ownership has risen. ...Oslo’s air has ...

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/05/02/climate/hydroelectric-power-energy.html By Mira Rojanasakul  and  Max Bearak , The New York Times.  Excerpt: New research released Tuesday by Global Energy Monitor reveals a transformation underway in hydroelectric projects — using the same gravitational qualities of water, but typically without building large, traditional dams like the Hoover in the American West or Three Gorges in China. Instead, a technology called pumped storage is rapidly expanding. These systems involve two reservoirs: one on top of a hill and another at the bottom. When electricity generated from nearby power plants exceeds demand, it’s used to pump water uphill, essentially filling the upper reservoir as a battery. Later, when electricity demand spikes, water is released to the lower reservoir through a turbine, generating power. Pumped storage isn’t a new idea. But it is undergoing a renaissance in countries where wind and solar power are also growin...