Tag: energy
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Understanding why America’s biggest solar thermal project is coming to an end
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in GeneralWhy did Ivanpah fail despite massive investment, political support, and cutting-edge engineering? Ivanpah has become a cautionary example about timing, technology bets, politics, and the unforgiving realities of engineering at scale. Its closure is not the end of solar power, but it does show how quickly an industry can change, and how even bold ideas…
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Carbone non è più una parolaccia: perché è tornata l’energia «sporca» nell’economia globale
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in GeneralIl clamoroso ritorno sulla scena energetica mondiale del carbone, spinto da crisi geopolitiche, costi contenuti e necessità industriali. Cina e India guidano la corsa.
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Sora 2 and ChatGPT are consuming so much power that OpenAI just did another 10 gigawatt deal
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in GeneralOpenAI is partnering with Broadcom to design and develop 10 gigawatts of custom AI chips and systems, a massive amount of power that will use as much electricity as a large city. The move further highlights just how power intensive the AI boom has become. It’s the latest partnership between OpenAI and a high-profile chip…
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Is AI really making electricity bills higher?
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in GeneralResidential electricity costs are on the rise, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). The average price of electricity in America has increased 13% since 2022, with the cost of retail electricity expected to grow faster than the rate of inflation, the report says. Some regions, like the Pacific, Middle Atlantic and New England,…
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Keep the lights on or mine Bitcoin? How crypto is starting to suck up clean energy
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in GeneralTo “mine” for digital currencies, powerful computers perform trillions of calculations per second. The more computer power miners have, the more profitable mining will be. This all adds up to huge amounts of electricity use. Where once Abkhazia was powered almost entirely by renewable hydropower, it’s now increasingly reliant on subsidized energy from Russia to help reduce…
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Google’s greenhouse gas emissions are soaring thanks to AI
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in GeneralAI systems need lots of computers to make them work. The data centers needed to run them, essentially warehouses full of powerful computing equipment, suck up tons of energy to process data and manage the heat all of those computers produce. The end result has been that Google’s greenhouse gas emissions have soared 48% since 2019,…