Gadget 360: India Aims to Become 100 Percent Electric Vehicle Nation by 2030

The Indian government is working on a scheme to provide electric cars with zero down payment, for which people can pay out of their savings on expensive fossil fuels, with the aim of becoming a 100 percent electric vehicle nation by 2030.

"India can become the first country of its size which will run 100 percent of electric vehicles. We are trying to make this program self-financing. We don't need one rupee of support from the government. We don't need one rupee of investment from the people of India," Power Minister Piyush Goyal said at an event organized by CII Young India.

Climate Central: If a Power Plant Is Built in the U.S., It’s Likely to Be Renewable

If a new electric power plant is built in the U.S. these days, chances are it’s renewable -- either wind or solar.

That’s the gist of a report the U.S. Department of Energy released this week showing that, together, wind and solar accounted for nearly two-thirds of all new electric power plants built in 2015. It’s a trend expected to continue through 2016, even with low natural-gas prices likely to keep utilities building plenty of gas-fired power plants, too.

San Jose Mercury News: Stanford Solar Vehicle Team Reeling Over Lost VW Sponsorship

The Stanford Solar Car Project runs on the typical fuel of a student science club: food court meals, energy drinks and many late nights cracking engineering problems.

The volunteer group also has an enviable list of supporters from Silicon Valley and beyond. But a major backer, Volkswagen, has pulled its blue-and-white emblem from the side of Stanford's clean energy vehicle.

The German automaker, mired in an environmental scandal, told the club in January it was ending its long-standing $100,000 cash and in-kind support. Volkswagen says the withdrawal of funding reflects a shift in priorities, not a reaction to its diesel emissions controversy. Stanford students are now scrambling to raise funds like a bootstrapping startup.

Climate Progress: Climate Skepticism Has Lost Major Ground Among Weather Experts

Among climate scientists, there’s a consensus that climate change is real and driven by human activity. Among meteorologists and weathercasters, however, that acceptance of climate science has historically been harder to find. That may have finally changed.

Some 99 percent of U.S. weathercasters -- those who communicate weather forecasts on TV or radio, but who aren’t always trained meteorologists -- accept the fact that climate change is happening, according to preliminary findings from a George Mason University’s Center for Climate Change Communication study released Thursday. The study, which has yet to go through the peer review process, comes days after George Mason University released a similar survey that shows that some 96 percent of American Meteorological Society members think climate change is real.

Green Car Reports: Will Electric Cars Cause Oil Prices to Crash?

As electric cars become more widespread, they have the potential to drastically reduce the need for oil.

That will lead to reduced transportation-related carbon emissions and lower costs for consumers, but what effect will it have on the oil industry? This question has sparked a bit of debate among analysts.