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Special Report: Great Shale Gas Rush
Shale drilling has unlocked one of the largest reservoirs of natural gas in the world. It could boost jobs and shake up the energy equation. Can this resource be developed sustainably?
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Solar Energy: Plugging Into the Sun
Sunlight bathes us in far more energy than we could ever need—if we could just catch enough. Join National Geographic writer George Johnson on a journey through PV panels, solar arrays, and... well, the solar system.
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Energy Conservation: It Starts at Home
National Geographic magazine writer Peter Miller tracks his carbon dioxide emissions and impact on the planet as he and his wife put themselves on a carbon diet. The average U.S. household produces about 150 pounds of CO2 a day, but the Millers were aiming for 30. See how they did.
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Special Issue: Repowering the Planet
For 120 years National Geographic has covered the natural environment that sustains our lives. Now our planet is threatened by humanity's bond with fossil fuels. This special issue of National Geographic explores the challenge ahead.
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The Canadian Oil Boom: Scraping Bottom
Once considered too expensive, as well as too damaging to the land, exploitation of Alberta's oil sands is now a gamble worth billions. National Geographic Editor Robert Kunzig explores oil sand extraction and its environmental dilemmas.
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Essay: Our Energy Challenge
"Twenty years ago, if people thought of global warming at all, it was as an unlikely and distant threat. Five years ago most people hadn't heard of peak oil," writes Bill McKibben in NG's special energy issue. "Now they are the twin jaws of a closing vise..." Read more about the challenges we face.
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Essay: The Price of Power
In the National Geographic magazine's special energy issue writer Michelle Nijhuis ponders the coal paradox—how a cheap, easily accessible energy source can wreak environmental havoc.
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Essay Paths to the Future
Bill McKibben writes about the promise of renewables and energy technologies, as well as the importance of conservation, in National Geographic's special energy issue.
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Interview With Secretary of Energy Steven Chu
Steven Chu, the nation's new Secretary of Energy, speaks with noted science writer Michelle Nijhuis. "We're in a war," he says, "to save our planet."
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Biofuels: Green Dreams
In theory, burning a tank of ethanol could make driving even an Indy car carbon neutral. But the operative word is "could." Producing corn ethanol consumes just about as much fossil fuel as the ethanol itself replaces. Biodiesel from soybeans and sugar cane fares only slightly better. Read more about both the challenges and benefits of biodiesel.
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Tapped Out: World Oil
World oil demand is surging as supplies approach their limits, but forecasts of peak oil are highly controversial—not because anyone thinks oil will last forever, but because no one really knows how much oil remains underground and thus how close we are to reaching the halfway point. Learn more.
Energy Video
The Big Energy Question
Has fracking changed our energy future for the better, or for the worse? Get experts' opinions and weigh in with your own.
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Tweets by @NatGeoGreenGreat Energy Challenge Blog
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- Tar Sands Tour: Boomtown, Scarecrows, and Spin; “We Have Met the Enemy, and He is Us”
- Climate Change: China, U.S. Bring Toy Fire Truck to Seven-Alarm Fire
- Student Infographic Contest Paints Bright Picture of Youth Concern on Energy and Climate
- ‘The Greenest Home’: A Window on 18 Super-Eco Dream Houses
Energy Video
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Sun Energy From Toxic Land
New Jersey has become a U.S. leader in solar energy capacity. One of its projects turned a polluted landfill into a solar farm. Video.
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Great Energy Challenge Video
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Special Report: Shale Gas Rush
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A Dream Dashed by the Rush on Gas
The shale gas industry maintains that it protects drinking water and land. But mistrust has been sown in rural communities.
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New Jobs Through Energy
The industry promises jobs to a state badly in need of an economic boost, but the work so far isn't where you might expect it to be.
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Mapping a Gas Boom
Track the growing mark that energy companies have etched on Pennsylvania since first producing natural gas from shale.