Artificial intelligence has captured headlines recently for its rapidly growing energy demands, and particularly the surging electricity usage of data centers that enable the training and deployment of the latest generative AI models. But it’s not all bad news — some AI tools have the potential to reduce some forms of energy consumption and enable cleaner grids. […]
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Here’s How Long Trump Plans to Exploit Venezuela’s Oil Industry
March 12, 2025: Greenland’s parliamentary elections result in a massive win for the pro-independence movement. The center-right Demokraatit Party, which supports a local business-driven approach to gaining independence, wins nearly 30 percent of the vote. The most aggressively pro-independence party, Naleraq, wins 25 percent. “We don’t want to be Americans. No, we don’t want to […]
Read MoreHere’s How Long Trump Plans to Run Venezuela’s Oil Industry
March 12, 2025: Greenland’s parliamentary elections result in a massive win for the pro-independence movement. The center-right Demokraatit Party, which supports a local business-driven approach to gaining independence, wins nearly 30 percent of the vote. The most aggressively pro-independence party, Naleraq, wins 25 percent. “We don’t want to be Americans. No, we don’t want to […]
Read MorePositioning Massachusetts as a hub for climate tech and economic development
Massachusetts is uniquely positioned to become a leader in climate tech, said Emily Reichert MBA ’12, the CEO of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) and former CEO of Greentown Labs, to members of the MIT community at a seminar in November. Reichert outlined the interconnectedness of economic development and clean energy innovation in MassCEC’s […]
Read MoreTrump Whines About Windmills Killing Eagles With Weirdest Photo Ever
“As far as American citizens, the vast majority of American citizens, especially that the U.S. Border patrol has arrested, many of those citizens assaulted federal officers, assaulted border patrol agents, in the performance of our duties,” Bovino said. “Anyone that assaults a federal officer, you’re gonna go to jail.” The Homeland Security Department released a […]
Read Moreportable wooden box recharges disposable alkaline batteries even with power bank
wooden box with USB cable recharges disposable batteries RegenBox 1 is a portable wooden box designed to recharge disposable AA and AAA alkaline batteries, even with a power bank. A DIY kit that users need to assemble themselves, the device comes with a USB port and power cable that supply energy to the recharger box. […]
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Paul Sullivan: Can the Bears' owners find true happiness in an enclosed stadium off the Skyway?
CHICAGO — You have to give credit to the Chicago Bears. They don’t take no for an answer. For the last four years Illinois residents and politicians have been telling the Bears they would not help them build a new stadium with taxpayer assistance. The Bears would not listen. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Renderings were released. […]
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Post-COP30, more aggressive policies needed to cap global warming at 1.5 C
The latest United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) concluded in November without a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels and without significant progress in strengthening national pledges to reduce climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions. In aggregate, today’s climate policies remain far too unambitious to meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius, setting the […]
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Working to eliminate barriers to adopting nuclear energy
What if there were a way to solve one of the most significant obstacles to the use of nuclear energy — the disposal of high-level nuclear waste (HLW)? Dauren Sarsenbayev, a third-year doctoral student at the MIT Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering (NSE), is addressing the challenge as part of his research. Sarsenbayev focuses on […]
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What makes a good proton conductor?
A number of advanced energy technologies — including fuel cells, electrolyzers, and an emerging class of low-power electronics — use protons as the key charge carrier. Whether or not these devices will be widely adopted hinges, in part, on how efficiently they can move protons. One class of materials known as metal oxides has shown […]
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Calls For A Moratorium On New Data Centers Get Louder
Current Climate brings you the latest news about the business of sustainability every Monday. Sign up to get it in your inbox. UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images The rapid growth and impact of massive data centers, especially for AI and cryptocurrency companies, this year has had big economic benefits, especially for construction and design […]
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Making clean energy investments more successful
Governments and companies constantly face decisions about how to allocate finite amounts of money to clean energy technologies that can make a difference to the world’s climate, its economies, and to society as a whole. The process is inherently uncertain, but research has been shown to help predict which technologies will be most successful. Using […]
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Tariffs Drive New U.S. Solar Panel Production—Will Texas Miss Out?
Solar power plant in Central Texas getty Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has asked for a legislative inquiry into two companies that are constructing large scale solar panel manufacturing plants in Texas in reaction to a FOX News report that the companies have links to China and Chinese government officials. While Patrick’s ultimate goal is […]
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New materials could boost the energy efficiency of microelectronics
MIT researchers have developed a new fabrication method that could enable the production of more energy efficient electronics by stacking multiple functional components on top of one existing circuit. In traditional circuits, logic devices that perform computation, like transistors, and memory devices that store data are built as separate components, forcing data to travel back […]
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Resurrecting an MIT “learning by doing” tradition: NEET scholars install solar-powered charging station
Students enrolled in MIT’s New Engineering Education Transformation (NEET) program recently collaborated across academic disciplines to design and construct a solar-powered charging station. Positioned in a quiet campus courtyard, the station provides the MIT community with climate-friendly power for phones, laptops, and tablets. Its installation marked the “first time a cross-departmental team of undergraduates designed, […]
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Firewood Banks Aren’t Inspiring. They’re a Sign of Collapse.
Most articles about wood banks wrap them in the same tired language. Community spirit. Rural generosity. Neighbors helping neighbors. It’s the kind of coverage you get when journalists focus on the people stacking the wood instead of the conditions that made it necessary. They never mention the underlying reality. Wood banks exist because without them, […]
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Weak Mileage Rules Put U.S. On The Road To An Automotive Jurassic Park
Current Climate brings you the latest news about the business of sustainability every Monday. Sign up to get it in your inbox. The Trump administration’s plan to weaken U.S. fuel economy rules, claiming it will make new cars about $1,000 cheaper for consumers – presumably because automakers can use less sophisticated powertrains – ignores a […]
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China’s Paradox: Kingdom Of Solar, Wind, Hydro, Nuclear And Coal
China is the world leader in manufacturing, deploying, and exporting solar pv technology. Here, employees work on the production line at a workshop of Jiangsu DMEGC New Energy Co., Ltd. on July 22, 2025 in Suqian, Jiangsu Province of China. (Photo by Xu Changliang/VCG via Getty Images) VCG via Getty Images For more than a […]
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Newsom’s California: Slouching Towards A Self-Inflicted Energy Crisis
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a session at the We Mean Business Pavilion during the COP30 U.N. Climate Summit, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025, in Belem, Brazil. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano) Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. California appears to be headed towards an energy crisis of its own making. The state’s gasoline prices […]
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Time To Update Your Priors: Natural Gas Is Expensive
When fracking spread across our country in the early 2000s, it ushered in an era of cheap gas and fundamentally changed the American energy landscape. Gas toppled coal to become the dominant source of electricity generation in the country–– and the United States became the world’s largest natural gas producer. However, we’ve gotten so used […]
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The Electric Revolution: Dire Consequences For Your Pocketbook
The board chairman and CEO of service provider DNV GL Remi Eriksen. picture alliance via Getty Images The price surge of new electricity in the next few years, plus general pass-along tariff increases, may seriously curtail Donald Trump’s promise to reduce inflation. Now we have some supporting numbers. A new report by DNV predicts just how much […]
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What’s the best way to expand the US electricity grid?
Growing energy demand means the U.S. will almost certainly have to expand its electricity grid in coming years. What’s the best way to do this? A new study by MIT researchers examines legislation introduced in Congress and identifies relative tradeoffs involving reliability, cost, and emissions, depending on the proposed approach. The researchers evaluated two policy […]
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2025: A No Good, Terrible, Very Bad Year For The Energy Transition
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva delivers a speech during the General Plenary of Leaders in the framework of the COP30 UN Climate Change Conference in Belem, Para State, Brazil, on November 6, 2025. (Photo by Pablo PORCIUNCULA / AFP) (Photo by PABLO PORCIUNCULA/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images There is no […]
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Copper Plot To Thicken At Three Meetings Over The Next Six Days
Three meetings of investors in some of the world’s biggest mining companies over the next six days will lay the foundations for what could be a period of significant change in the world’s copper industry. Worker Cleaning Copper Cathodes at the Escondida mine in Chile. (Photo by Oliver Llaneza Hesse/Construction Photography/Avalon/Getty Images) Getty Images Switzerland-based […]
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Oil Isn’t Cheap But It Might Become So
TAFT, CA – JULY 22: Oil rigs just south of town extract crude for Chevron at sunrise on July 22, 2008 in Taft, California. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images) Getty Images The internet is filled with claims that oil is undervalued compared to, for example, gold prices, the stock market, historical levels and so forth, […]
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Ten Years After Paris, States Must Lead On EVs As Washington Retreats
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 06: (L-R) California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and British Columbia Premier John Horgan sign climate agreements in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Getty Images When world leaders gathered in Belém last month for COP30, they marked a decade since the […]
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Driving American battery innovation forward
Advancements in battery innovation are transforming both mobility and energy systems alike, according to Kurt Kelty, vice president of battery, propulsion, and sustainability at General Motors (GM). At the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) Fall Colloquium, Kelty explored how GM is bringing next-generation battery technologies from lab to commercialization, driving American battery innovation forward. The colloquium […]
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OPEC+ Hits Pause As Global Oil Surpluses Threaten 2026 Prices
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais during the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg on June 20, 2025. The 28th edition of Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) took place at the ExpoForum Convention and Exhibition Centre in Saint Petersburg on June 18-21, 2025. (Photo […]
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OPEC+ Holds Fire, Maintains Oil Production Pause To March 2026
The logo of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries seen outside its secretariat in Vienna, Austria. (Photo: Danil Shamkin) NurPhoto via Getty Images Oil producers’ group OPEC+ maintained its plan to keep crude output levels unchanged until March 2026 at its latest meeting on Sunday, as market fears over a potential supply glut continue […]
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electric solo jetbike hovers as personal air vehicle for pilots without license
Concept electric solo jetbike by LEO flight has no propellers LEO Flight introduces the concept electric Solo JetBike, a hovering personal air vehicle for pilots without a license. Described as a one-person electric aircraft, it operates at low altitude and uses electric propulsion instead of propellers. The vehicle, which follows the still-concept LEO Coupe car-like […]
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Why America’s Power Grid Will Be Able To Withstand The $2.5 Trillion A.I. Datacenter Building Boom
Tech giants want to double A.I. electricity consumption in 5 years by enough to power more than 30 million homes. America can do it. Between now and 2030, the giants of A.I. like OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta aim to more than double the computing power dedicated to growing and operating their non-human minds. […]
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