A solar cell, also known as a photovoltaic cell (PV cell), is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by using the photovoltaic effect. It is a type of photoelectric cell, a device whose electrical characteristics (such as current, voltage, or resistance) vary when it is…

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of green buildings, homes, and neighborhoods,…

A hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is a type of hybrid vehicle that couples a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) with one or more electric engines into a combined propulsion system. The presence of the electric powertrain, which has inherently better energy conversion efficiency, is intended to achieve either…

Although Alberta has a presence in many industries such as agriculture, forestry, education, tourism, finance, and manufacturing, the politics and culture of the province have been closely tied to the production of fossil energy since the 1940s. Alberta—with an estimated 1.4 billion cubic metres of unconventional oil…

In a report compiled by the government of Alaska, the real GDP of Alaska was $51.1 billion in 2011, $52.9 billion in 2012 and $51.5 billion in 2013. The drop-off that occurred between 2012 and 2013 has been attributed to the decline in the mining sector, specifically the oil and gas sectors, a consequence of declined…

A feed-in tariff (FIT) is paid by energy suppliers in the United Kingdom if a property or organisation generates their own electricity using technology such as solar panels or wind turbines and feeds any surplus back to the grid. The FIT scheme was imposed on suppliers by the UK government, and applied to…

The 2026 Iran war fuel crisis is a worldwide fuel crisis caused by the war between Iran and the U.S.-Israel coalition. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which over 20% of the world's oil trade passes, and attacks on energy infrastructure in Iran and several Gulf Cooperation Council countries led to a large…

The history of Walmart, an American discount department store chain, began in 1950 when businessman Sam Walton purchased a store from Luther E. Harrison in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and opened Walton's 5 & 10. The Walmart chain proper was founded in 1962 with a single store in Rogers, Arkansas, expanding inside…

The economy of Paris is based largely on services and commerce: of the 390,480 of its enterprises, 80.6 percent are engaged in commerce, transportation, and diverse services, 6.5 percent in construction, and just 3.8 percent in industry. Paris, including both the City of Paris and the Île-de-France region (Paris…

The 1979 oil crisis, sometimes referred to as the second oil crisis (in reference to the 1973 oil crisis), refers to the drop in oil production in the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution that led to an energy crisis in 1979. Although the global oil supply only decreased by approximately four percent, the oil markets'…