Sometimes you need to climb 30 ft. in the air, atop a modified oil rig, to get a better view of what’s coming next.
asserted
what → need → view
In October, TIME’s Justin Worland did just that when he traveled to southwestern Utah, where Fervo Energy is adopting fossil-fuel technologies for a rapidly changing energy landscape.
asserted
Energy → do → landscape
When we launched TIME100 Climate in 2023, funding from the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act, the single largest climate investment in American history, was starting to flow through the U.S. economy, making the country an exemplar of how government policy can influence climate action.
asserted
policy → launch → action
Three years later, we’re in a very different world—with signals that new investment is being driven less by direction from Washington than by desire from markets.
asserted
investment → ’re → markets
In May, Fervo Energy staged one of the largest U.S. clean-energy initial public offerings in history.
uncertain
Energy → stag → history
This was fueled by the geothermal-energy company’s Cape Station plant in Utah, with 100 MW of power scheduled by the end of 2026 and an additional 400 MW planned in 2028—which would be enough to power 500,000 homes.
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which → fuel → homes
In September, Google signed a landmark deal for the plant to supply power to a future data center in the area.
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plant → sign → area
That promise of clean data-center power is largely driving the enthusiasm of this new moment.
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promise → drive → moment
Investments in clean energy will nearly double those in fossil fuels this year, according to the International Energy Agency.
uncertain
Investments → double → Agency
“Around the world, countries and companies are turning to technologies that were developed as climate solutions and now also offer energy security, speed, reliability, and increasingly attractive economics,” Worland writes in this issue.
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Worland → turn → issue
Our 2026 TIME100 Climate, co-edited by Emma Barker Bonomo and Kyla Mandel, looks at Fervo’s CEO Tim Latimer and 99 other individuals who are leading and navigating this transformation.
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who → co → transformation
To assemble this group, our editors and correspondents reviewed hundreds of names, with a particular focus on those who achieved measurable and sustainable action over the past 12 months.
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who → assemble → months
What we found was a global story: At Start Campus in Portugal, CEO Robert Dunn led the design and development of the 1.2-gigawatt Sines Data Campus, an AI data center to be run entirely on renewable power and cooled by seawater.
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Dunn → find → seawater
At the end of last year, Microsoft announced a $10 billion investment in Sines.
asserted
Microsoft → announce → Sines
In neighboring Spain, CEO Mario Ruiz-Tagle has led Iberdrola España through a period of rapid expansion of the country’s wind and solar resources, which set the average Spanish household up to see a 10-euro savings on monthly energy bills since March, even as Europe is hit hard by high oil prices.
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Europe → neighbor → prices
It’s noteworthy that value—not values—is driving much of this change.
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value → ’ → change
While advocates have argued for decades that shifting to sustainable, renewable, noncarbon energy is simply the right thing to do, people everywhere are finding that moving away from fossil fuels is the right move for their bottom lines.
asserted
moving → argue → lines
India’s Mahindra Last Mile Mobility, led by CEO Suman Mishra, grew 85% year-over-year in the first quarter of fiscal year 2027 to become the country’s market leader in electric three-wheelers.
asserted
Mobility → lead → wheelers
In Chile, Juan Carlos Muñoz spearheaded Chile’s transition to electric public transportation; Santiago now has the largest fleet outside of China.
asserted
Santiago → spearhead → China
And in Kenya and Rwanda, BasiGo CEO Jit Bhattacharya is pioneering leased electric buses and charging infrastructure to cut diesel buses.
asserted
Bhattacharya → pioneer → buses
These innovators join a host of groundbreaking thinkers, investors, and pioneers who continue to write new playbooks for climate action, reminding us the world is full of leaders keeping their eyes on the future.
asserted
world → join → future
The Aporia
