Renewables

Microsoft is joining the likes of other major tech corporations and have made a pledge to cut three-fourths of their carbon emissions by 2030. They'll accomplish this feat by pursuing more renewable energy sources and working further with cloud technology.

As we live, breathe, drive cars, and cut down trees, we as a people emit greenhouse gases into the air. This is marked by what’s called a carbon footprint. 

The news comes just weeks after the completion of the South Australia project, and it could be just one of many energy storage solutions to come.

Proterra's new electric bus, the Catalyst E2 has broken the world record for electric vehicle range at 1,101.2 miles. It beat out the record set by a German vehicle back in 2011, and shows how close we are to EVs delivering huge range results.

The Taiwanese EPA is going to ban all single-use plastic from stores and restaurants by 2030. The process begins with removing free items in the coming years and they'll add a surcharge five years ahead of banning the product altogether.

To cut down on emissions from public transportation, London is going to be using coffee oil from used grounds into a biofuel blend. This provides a way to eliminate environmentally-toxic coffee grounds from landfills and existing buses don't need to be altered.

AES and Siemens are teaming up their technology platforms to create Fluence Energy, an independent energy storage startup that will battle Tesla in the industry. 

Toyota is attempting to clean up hydrogen production with a power plant that is 100 percent renewable. It'll generate water, electricity, and hydrogen from methane gas that emits from dairy cattle waste.

Queensland and New South Wales  are seeing record amounts of rooftop installations and solar farms being created. The sudden increase is likely due to the country's recent hot temperatures.

Scotland is one of the leading countries in the United Kingdom when it comes to generating renewable energy. An extraordinary month of May with high winds and sunny skies saw them fulfill their electricity needs for a third of the month.

Indian Railways, the fourth largest rail network in the world, is looking to add solar panels and battery packs to 250 different trains. They'll be testing out the technology first in an effort to add five gigawatts of solar power.

Could Europe be running on fully electric vehicles in less than 20 years from now? That's what ING, a Dutch bank, predicts in a detailed report on the trends of battery costs coming down. It also reveals some issues that their economy could run into.

Tesla had a head start on their 100-day bet to have a large-scale battery facility finished at one of South Australia's biggest wind farms. Production already began at a gigafactory in Nevada and according to  Musk, should be done in a few months.

Cox Energia of Spain is planning to supply the Chilean power grid with 140 gigawatt-hours of solar-generated energy. The company is expected to add a large-scale battery backup solution to keep the power going.

Renewable energy growth from solar and wind projects in Britain has broken over a dozen records in 2017 alone. This includes amounts of energy generation over one day for each source and over 40 hours where coal generation wasn't needed to meet demands.

On Sunday, a Toronto festival fed 5,000 people with a free Thanksgiving meal during the holiday weekend. This was all done with food that otherwise would have been thrown out by not meeting supermarket standards.

BP is doing a trial run Tesla's battery storage for wind farms after seeing their wild success in Australia. The pilot project in South Dakota is going to be on a far smaller scale, but could be rolled out to other wind farms in the future.

Niantic, Mission Blue, and a number of NGOs are teaming up to organize one of the biggest cleanup efforts in a 48-hour period. On Earth Day, Pokemon Go users are asked to group together and pick up trash at various sites around the world.

The first orders of Tesla's Solar Roof have been installed and are looking as awesome as promised. One of the homes that has received them is Elon Musk himself, sharing the photos and also updating shareholders on sales expectations.

Is this enough to significantly slow down the climate crisis? 

Facebook is teaming up with Tradewind Energy to create the second-biggest wind farm in Nebraska for its new data center near Omaha. It'll provide 320 total megawatts of capacity and is expected to fully power the new facility while providing electricity for over 90,000 homes.

Tesla seeks to outdo its successful South Australian battery project by submitting a bid to a utility company in the US for what will be the biggest battery backup facility in the world.

Nearly six months after Microsoft launched its "AI for Earth" program that provided grants and free access to artificial intelligence technology, the company is going to add an additional $50 million in investments over the next five years.

A new startup in California, Thor Trucks, is preparing to create an electric semi that targets the short-haul market. The ET-One will feature a range of 300 miles while hauling up to 80,000 pounds, and it will focus on customization features.

A few months after France set goals to end sales of traditional vehicles by 2040, the government has presented a bill that will ban oil and gas production by the same target year. It continues the aggressive renewable push by the European country.

Operation Warm is creating 15,000 coats created from recycled plastic bottles by the time autumn begins. Called "The Green Guardian," these will all be delivered to kids in need across North America by the upcoming fall season.

InterContinental Hotels Group has partnered with Diamond Developers to create a fully eco-friendly hotel in The Sustainable City. The property will be powered by 100 percent solar energy and will be the first fully sustainable hotel in Dubai.

Coal India, the world's biggest coal-producing company, will have to shut down nearly 40 mines by next spring as they will no longer be profitable. The move comes at a time when renewable energy is getting much more affordable in India.