Clean energy technologies are more mineral-intensive than burning fossil fuels

All clean energy technologies rely heavily on critical minerals

Although many of these minerals have been used for decades, such as copper in electrical wiring, the accelerating demand for them has strained existing extraction and processing systems. Supply chain disruptions for these materials may delay and increase the cost of transitioning to solar, wind, hydroelectric, and geothermal power.

How lithium has become one of the world's most important elements

Lithium is the driving force behind electric vehicles as the key element in the lithium-ion batteries that power the cars. But as demand for EVs rises, will global lithium supply keep pace with demand? This report projects demand will reach up to four million metric tons of the mineral compound containing lithium by 2030, with batteries accounting for 95% of end-use applications.

Watch how metals are extracted from rechargeable devices during recycling

Recyclable batteries found in cars, phones, power tools, and other electronics contain lithium, cobalt, nickel, and other precious metals, whose reuse generates 70% fewer emissions than during their initial mining. Upon shredding these devices, a filter press squeezes the pieces through a proprietary fluid, which separates them for future reuse.

A breakdown of global electricity generation in 2025, led by coal power plants

Fossil fuel plants generated 57% of global electricity, with the remaining power produced by clean energy sources, led by hydroelectric power at 14.0%. Roughly equal amounts of generation were provided by nuclear (8.9%), solar (8.7%), and wind (8.5%) power.

Explore the human and environmental resources needed to make an electric vehicle

The minerals needed to build batteries for electric vehicles are expensive and often take a human toll paid by the communities where they are mined. This interactive article details what minerals make up an electric vehicle battery, where they come from, and dangers posed by the mining process.

Geothermal power can reduce the dangerous mining of rare earth elements

Geothermal brines—mineral-rich underground fluids extracted for use in geothermal plants—contain small concentrations of REEs that can be recovered after energy generation. Although researchers suggest that this retrieval requires complex extraction methods at a significant scale to account for high flow rates, the chemical processes also occur in traditional REE processing.

Geothermal power plants can provide large-scale energy storage for other systems

These facilities can store excess energy from solar and wind power as hot water or steam, which can be used to run turbines to generate electricity when other renewable energy sources are unavailable. Simulations have found efficiencies of 90% during a storage-use cycle, making it comparable to lithium-ion batteries.

Some renewable energy sources may weaken the resiliency of electric grids by removing outage buffers provided by coal- and natural gas-fired plants, which provide the system with more time to find a new power source if a plant goes down.

Tesla plans to eliminate the use of rare earth elements in future vehicles

At a 2023 Investor Day event, Elon Musk outlined steps to focus Tesla's efforts on climate action rather than new vehicle models. Musk estimates the transition to carbon-free, sustainable energy will cost $10T.

Several birthstones play key roles across modern technologies

Diamonds are used in drills and quantum computing, while peridot and zircon help in steelmaking and carbon capture. Rubies, sapphires, and alexandrite enable several varieties of lasers found in medicine and advanced optics. Garnets are found in water filtration systems and radiation detectors. Sapphires are used as substrates in semiconductors.

AI's growing energy demands are driving tech companies to consider nuclear power

Big Tech has rebranded nuclear power as a green solution to address the strain on the grid from millions of people using power-hungry AI tools. As of mid-2025, generating one image uses as much electricity as charging the average smartphone, or leaving a household light bulb on for 87 consecutive days.

Solid-state batteries substitute the fluid electrolyte layer with a solid

The non-flammable solid greatly reduces the risk of fire and explosion, as well as the release of toxic gases via leaks in the existing sulfide-based systems. These batteries use garnet-type solid electrolytes, which provide high ionic conductivity and chemical stability but require temperatures above 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,800 degrees Fahrenheit) for fabrication.

Larger shares of solar power generation produce larger energy demand curves

Because solar energy is only available during daylight hours, transitioning an electric grid to solar requires significant ramp-ups and ramp-downs of other energy sources during mornings and evenings to compensate. Widespread adoption of affordable energy storage solutions can soften these curves.

Enough sunlight hits Earth in just 90 minutes to power the planet for an entire year

Despite this, in 2023, only 5.1% of electricity in the US came from solar energy. Solar panel technology has nonetheless made significant advancements since the 19th century, largely due to NASA's efforts in the space race.

Integrated circuits are made with light and require significant purified water and chemicals

The nonstop operation of fabrication plants, which takes months to manufacture a wafer of hundreds of integrated circuits, strains local resources and generates significant chemical waste. Much of the electricity consumed is used to maintain clean room conditions within plants.

Solar power is converting the sun's energy into thermal or electrical energy

Solar energy is the most abundant renewable energy resource. It can be captured in photovoltaic cells to generate electricity, solar heating and cooling technologies for temperature control, and concentrated solar power to drive steam turbines.

Why space resource extraction companies are racing to harvest lunar helium

Without a magnetic field to deflect it away, helium-3 from solar wind has accumulated on the lunar surface over billions of years in significant quantities. With a reported value of $20M per kilogram because of its potential use in clean nuclear fusion, harvesting of helium-3 may form the basis of a future lunar economy.

Data centers' electrical needs create increased water demands beyond cooling

Each query uses approximately one single-serving water bottle per conversation, but water is also used for steam cycles and cooling in power plants that generate electricity for data centers. Newer cooling methods, such as immersion cooling, where servers are submerged in fluids that don't conduct electricity, can minimize water use.

Gold's electrical conductivity, reflectivity, and catalytic capabilities make it scientifically valuable

Although gold has been prized since its use in 40,000 BCE for decorative purposes, it has more recently served as a replacement for mercury in the production of PVC plastic. Because gold does not react with air or corrode, it has remained in circulation and reused in electronics and biomaterials.

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

Uranium's ability to split easily makes it the most common catalyst for nuclear power

Uranium is commonly found in rocks, water, and soil worldwide, but significant industrial processes are needed to process and enrich it for efficient reactor usage. After being irradiated in reactors, it must be cooled down before disposal.

Graphite is a powerful conductor and heat-resistant material

Graphite can withstand temperatures of more than 3,000 degrees Celsius, allowing it to contain molten metal in steel production. Rosalind Franklin identified which carbon compounds become graphite and laid the groundwork for their use in industrial applications.

Solar panels can create pollinator-friendly habitats by protecting flowering plants

An example of agrivoltaics, where land is used for solar energy production and agriculture, the panels provide clean energy while also shading plants from excessive sunlight. Pollinator-friendly plants can improve water quality and reduce soil erosion by obstructing the wind.

From 1990 to 2020, wind turbine height and blade length have more than tripled

Wind turbines' energy generation capacity—or maximum power rating—also increased by 375% from 1998 to 2023. As of that year, wind turbines can produce more energy per dollar than solar panels, though transportation and installation challenges remain.

Solar panel manufacturing begins with silicon extracted from sand

The silicon is purified and shaped into wafers less than 0.2 millimeters thick, coated and connected through a criss-cross pattern of narrow and wider metal, followed by multiple rounds of lamination before bonding to a weatherproof panel.

View the most expensive materials on Earth, led by those forged in particle accelerators

Californium-252—valued at $27.8M per gram, as of 2025—is far rarer and more valuable than gold, silver, or diamonds due to production and transportation costs. The most expensive substance ever found or created is antimatter, costing approximately $62.5T per gram.

As of 2025, wave power projects remain in early research and testing phases

Waves can become a steady source of renewable energy because they do not pause like wind and solar power do. However, funding gaps and the effects of storms, salt exposure, and biofouling—mussels and other sea creatures attaching to wave machines—have presented challenges in scaling the technology beyond testing sites.

How fusion—which releases energy when two lighter atoms combine to form a heavier atom—differs from fission

Watch how deep-sea mining equipment collects and processes polymetallic nodules—metal-rich, potato-shaped rocks—from the ocean floor and creates environmentally damaging plumes of sediments.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

The use of fungi to detoxify land and water—a process known as mycoremediation—has been used to clean up natural resources affected by the 2025 California wildfires.

Radioactive elements can introduce software errors because the ionizing radiation they produce can detach electrons from atoms, and computer code relies on the distribution of electrons.

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

Sony set the standard for cylinder-shaped batteries when it repurposed manufacturing equipment used to make rolls of magnetic recording tape.

Pure water does not conduct electricity because this flow of energy requires the movement of charged particles, and water is a neutral molecule.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

Dirty lightning is a thunderstorm created from friction between rising and falling flows of ash and smoke during volcanic eruptions.

Scientists testing how climate change affects plants found, in a years-long simulation study, that poison ivy grew 70% faster with the resulting extra carbon dioxide.

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

Power lines are dotted with large, brightly colored balls to improve the visibility of these thin wires to helicopters and small planes and help prevent potential crashes.

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

The boiling temperature of water decreases with increasing elevation because the molecules need less energy to overcome the lower atmospheric pressure associated with thinner air.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

About 2,000 US babies are born annually without some portion of their limbs, potentially leading to a lifetime of pricey prosthetics.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.