Category Archives: Environment

AI Energy Demand Can Keep Fossil Fuels Alive, Tech Backers Promise World’s Two Biggest Oil Producers

An AI-fossil fuel axis is forming in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia as AI advocates pledge an endless need for energy — spelling disaster for the climate.

Embracing Climate Change to Hurt China

The U.S. goes all in on the burn-it-all-down strategy.

Pulling the Rug Out from Under China’s Clean Tech Strategy

China went all in on clean energy technology in recent years, but the economic war by the West and other developments now pose challenges to that gamble.

For Climate and Livelihoods, Africa Bets Big on Solar Mini-Grids

Nigeria pioneers in mini-grid installations to bring reliable electricity to remote communities — a model for other African countries

Data Center Boom Sparks Utility Spending—But How Real Is the Demand?

In an unexpected break for the environment, might much-hyped data center energy demand fall short of projections?

Book Review: The Dazzling Complexity of the Polar Realm

In “Ends of the Earth,” Neil Shubin travels north and south to explore the frontiers of polar science and history.

The Little-Known ‘Supreme Court Justices’ Who Decide Your Electricity Rates

A few people in each state oversee where and how we get electricity. They’re called public utility commissioners.

How an Israeli-US Startup Wants to Make Geoengineering Profitable

Forget contrails. Here’s a geoengineering initiative that should give cause for pause.

Income, Wealth, and Environmental Inequality in the US

A study based on US air pollution data finds blacks at all income levels suffer worse exposures.

Climate Change: Insuring the World of Tomorrow

Leading edge conventional wisdom on the role of insurance as climate disasters increase underestimates the severity of the problem.

‘We Know What It’s Like’: How Appalachian Towns Are Learning to Help Each Other After Floods

A meant-to-be-heartening story of post-flooding recovery efforts in Appalachia: is this the coming new normal in climate-change-exposed areas?

Charlie Krauss: What the Enron Egg Says About AI’s Nuclear Courtship

How nuclear small modular reactors (SMR) hype, with a boost from AI, has reached absurd, as in satire-suitable, levels.

Demand for Electricity Takes Off. US Power Generation by Source in 2024: Natural Gas, Coal, Nuclear, Wind, Hydro, Solar, Geothermal, Biomass, Petroleum

Quelle surprise! Power demand surges thanks to data centers (AI, cloud, crypto) and increasing share of EVs.