Technology

"The “SuperAdobe” homes of CalEarth are receiving plenty of attention after wildfires devastated parts of Los Angeles. Why aren’t we building them everywhere?" 

"Not so long ago, developers of the massive server farms talked about powering them with wind and solar power. But now, with the coming of power-hungry AI platforms, they’re bypassing the grid, building their own gas-fired power plants on site." 

"Facebook’s parent company Meta locked in 20 years of nuclear power on Tuesday from Constellation Energy to help meet the tech giant’s surging energy demand for artificial intelligence and its other power-intensive computing needs."

"The Trump administration has followed through on a threat to use emergency wartime powers to force expensive and polluting coal-fired power plants to stay open — even if the utilities that own them, the states in which they operate, and the grid operators responsible for maintaining reliability all agree it’s safe to shut them down."

"Domestic factories that make batteries to store power to meet America’s rising energy demand depend on Chinese components and federal subsidies."

"Sixteen states, the District of Columbia and more than a half dozen environmental groups have alleged in a lawsuit that the Trump administration has indefinitely and unlawfully frozen funds for a nationwide electric vehicle program." "Congress appropriated funds in the 2021 infrastructure bill for a national network of electric vehicle charging stations. The administration, which opposes EVs in favor of gasoline-power vehicles, has frozen the money."

"HFC-23 emissions from chemical plants in eastern China and elsewhere likely violate an international climate agreement despite readily available pollution controls. Advocates are pressing for action."

"The International Trade Commission backed solar tariffs as high as 3,521 percent in a vote Tuesday, shaking up a renewable industry facing multiple headwinds from potential congressional rollbacks of tax credits and cuts in federal spending."