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Renewable energy projects, like a hybrid wind and diesel system on San Cristobal Island, are paving the way for the Galapagos Islands' clean energy future, according to this analysis. Elecgalapagos, a utility tasked with leading the islands' transition away from fossil fuels, has set a goal to source 70% of the Galapagos' electricity from renewables in the near future. San Cristobal is home to three turbines providing about 30% of its electricity needs.

America's total gasoline consumption could fall by as much as 20% over the next two decades as electric vehicles become more widespread, according to a Wood Mackenzie report. Carbon savings from increased EV use could be offset by increased use of fossil fuels in electricity generation, the report warns.

On Friday, a group of children suing the government for inaction on climate change scored a major victory, as a judge ruled that the Washington State Department of Ecology must deliver an emissions reduction rule by the end of this year. That decision follows another major win in mid-April, when an Oregon judge ruled that a similar lawsuit could go forward despite opposition from the fossil fuel industry.

The small country of Denmark is making a big commitment to renewables. Today Denmark's electric grid is over 40 percent renewably powered, and the country is aiming to reach 100 percent renewable electricity by 2035 and 100 percent renewable energy in all sectors by 2050. 

Anthropogenic Emissions of Methane in the United States" (Miller et al.) finds that methane emissions in the United States from agriculture, fossil fuel production, and other activities are 1.5 times higher than previous EPA estimates.

The White House has announced a new plan to reduce America's methane emissions, which are thought to account for up to 14% of the country's total greenhouse emissions. The Environmental Protection Agency will monitor methane emissions from the fossil-fuel sector, and the Interior Department will develop a plan to capture and sell methane emitted by coal mines on federal land. The effort will depend on "cost-effective, voluntary actions and common-sense standards," said Dan Utech, special assistant to the president for energy and climate change

The International Energy Agency estimates that to stay within 2 degrees Celsius of atmospheric warming, the global economy will have to avert emitting the carbon from roughly 80 percent of world's proven reserves of fossil fuels. This is called unburnable carbon.

NEW YORK - Touted as the world's largest gathering ever on climate change, this week's U.N. Climate Summit will be as much about business as politics. Major companies, including Big Oil, will make pledges to help fight global warming by cutting their heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions, protecting the world's forests and reducing methane leakage from fossil fuel production.

Some scientists and analysts are touting carbon capture and storage as a necessary tool for avoiding catastrophic climate change. But critics of the technology regard it as simply another way of perpetuating a reliance on fossil fuels.

Using a first-of-its-kind heat recovery system, and drawing a substantial percentage of its electricity from solar, the university is greening up its operations in a move that will see greenhouse gas emissions cut by 68 percent and fossil fuel use cut by 65 percent.

China pledged to reduce its CO2 emissions by 60-65% per unit of GDP by 2030, compared to 2005 levels. The country also pledged to procure 20% of its electricity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030.

The solar-friendly state has been working on a laundry list of renewable energy strategies in a coordinated effort to wean itself from fossil fuels. Last week, the state legislature upped the ante by passing a bill that calls for 100 percent renewables by 2045.

Carnegie has been on a seven-year journey to create the world's first bio-based interior textile that doesn't compromise performance, value or aesthetics.

Just as it was being called out for using the dirtiest mix of energy among Internet giants, Amazon Web Services  announced this week a deal to build an 80-megawatt solar farm to power its east coast data centers. It will invest $150 million towards construction of a solar farm in Virginia where the majority of its data centers exist - and where the incumbent utility Dominion Virginia relies on fossil fuels for all but 2 percent of its generation. 

A CDP poll of 2,000 publicly traded companies found that nearly half - including a majority of fossil fuel energy companies - support negotiation of a climate agreement to limit global warming. 

Good news on a technology that could revolutionize geothermal energy made waves at the American Geophysical Union meeting last week. Anyone who understands that the world's hunger for energy will push our planet beyond the point of no return without technological solutions will welcome the idea of CO2 plume geothermal power or CPG.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change calls for a dramatic shift from fossil fuels, aiming to influence world leaders to take concrete steps.

Bonaire (pop. 14,500), a small island off the coast of Venezuela, is famous for its beautiful marine reefs, which are visited by 70,000 tourists every year. What many of the tourists don't realize is that the majority of the electricity powering their needs comes from renewable energy. Yet for the residents of Bonaire, the switch from fossil-fueled to renewable energy systems has made a world of difference.

Finally, the fashion industry realizes we cannot continue this trend in a world where the rising population will have to devote more land to food - or even energy. We cannot continue to grow cotton like mad, nor can we endlessly spin fossil fuels into polyester or other synthetic fabrics. The road toward more sustainable fibers will be a long one with plenty of failures and misses, but it is one we need to take. That is, at least, absent a total rethink of how many clothes we really need in our closets - a discussion the large global clothing chains want to avoid.

The US energy landscape is swiftly transitioning away from fossil fuels in favor of renewables, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. "By the close of 2014, the United States was relying on an unprecedented amount of renewable energy from wind turbines, solar panels, and other technologies. We are bearing witness to fundamental change in the energy sector, reflecting the needs and aspirations of all who depend on it," said the report. It added that US carbon emissions have already dropped 10% below 2005 levels