What really happens when lightning strikes cars, what to do if you’re out in the open or on a beach, and other tips for National Lightning Safety Awareness Week.
Workers in a car factory in South Africa.
Photo by JNS/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
Jodi Gardner, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Thousands of New Zealanders live with so-called ‘fuel poverty’ because they can’t afford their electricity bill. A government ‘social tariff’ would be one way to keep homes warm.
People line up for ice provided by a utility company during a 2019 power outage in Brooklyn.
AP Photo/Seth Wenig
Practices such as redlining left marginalized groups in more disaster-prone areas with poorer quality infrastructure − and more likely to experience prolonged power outages.
Joby Aviation tests its electric air taxi in Manhattan.
Courtesy of Joby Aviation
These electric aircraft take off and land vertically so they don’t need runways. And they promise a quieter, more accessible and less polluting form of short-distance air travel than helicopters.
A 2014 protest in Durban, South Africa against expensive coal-fired electricity and for cheaper renewable energy.
Climate March/Flickr
After 30 years of democracy, South Africa is in a deep electricity crisis which can only be solved if the government moves speedily to set up solar and wind plants.
Utilities can turn off power to reduce the risk that their equipment could spark wildfires during extreme weather events.
Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images
Turning off power is a last-ditch strategy for utilities to reduce the risk that their systems could spark wildfires. In most states, deciding whether to take that step is up to utilities.
Renewable energy provides about 20% of U.S. electricity.
AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez
New charts and data show how corporate demand could boost clean energy investment in regions where renewable energy potential is strong but wind and solar power have lagged.
As more homes like these in Folsom, Calif., add solar power, electricity pricing becomes more complicated.
AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli
California is considering a controversial proposal for utilities to charge customers for electricity based partly on household income. Two scholars explain how this approach could benefit everyone.
In the 19th century, the world ran on steam. In the 21st century, little has changed. Every thermal power plant still relies on steam as a final stage.
Why do batteries lose charge more quickly when it’s cold?
Halfpoint Images/Moment
Electric vehicles are catching on across the US, but they’re also catching on fire in colder regions like the Northeast and Midwest.
Flares burn at the Shell Norco Manufacturing Complex in 2021, in Norco, La. Plants like this produce not only greenhouse gas emissions, but also excess heat.
(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
The event has prompted questions about the reliability of the state’s electricity grid. But it’s important to note these extreme winds would have seriously disrupted any power system.
Claims about the discovery of a coveted room-temperature superconductor peppered the news in 2023. We pulled three stories from our archives on what superconductivity is and why scientists study it.
Yadlamalka Energy’s solar farm at Neuroodla, South Australia.
AAP Image/Supplied by Greenhouse Communications
The Australian Labor government’s expanded Capacity Investment Scheme gives us a better chance of hitting high renewable energy targets. It’s not without risk but well worth the rewards.