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El Niño expected to smash heat records in 2024 - GE (Feb 29) |
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Feb 29 · If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.
There’s a 90 percent chance that global average surface temperatures will reach a record high for the year leading up to June 2024, according to new research published today in the journal Scientific Reports. Some places will be more sweltering than others, particularly in parts of Asia. The heat has cascading effects, like raising the risk of drought and wildfire.
A weather pattern known as El Niño is to blame. El Niño is part of a natural, cyclical phenomenon, but climate change heightens the stakes by raising baseline temperatures before El Niño swoops in to push the ... | By Justine Calma, a senior science reporter covering climate change, clean energy, and environmental justice with more than a decade of experience. She is also the host of Hell or High Water: When Disaster Hits Home, a podcast from Vox Media and Audible Originals. Read more ...
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Switch To EVs, Save Kids' Health - GE (Feb 21) |
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Feb 21 · A wholesale switch to electric vehicles would be a tremendous boon to the health of many people around the world. But a new report from the American Lung Association highlights the particular advantages for children, especially those vulnerable to respiratory illness.
Based on a model in which all new vehicles sold by 2035 are zero-tailpipe emission, the group concludes that there would be 2.7 million fewer asthma attacks among children, as well as 147,000 fewer acute case of bronchitis. The transition to EV-only sales would also prevent 2.67 million cases of upper respiratory symptoms and 1.87 million cases of lower respiratory symptoms in children. And there would be 508 ... | By Andrew J. Hawkins, transportation editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public transportation, and aviation. His work has appeared in The New York Daily News and City & State. Read more ...
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Joe Biden's top climate adviser on how climate change will shape the US economy - GE (Nov 17) |
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Nov 17 · Climate change is already taking its toll on the US economy, according to the most sweeping national assessment yet that was published earlier this week. Conducted every four years, this was the first national climate assessment to dedicate an entire chapter to economics. Its “conservative estimate” is that extreme weather supercharged by global warming already costs the US $150 billion in damages a year. That’s just one example of how our changing planet will affect Americans’ pocketbooks.
Extreme weather supercharged by global warming already costs the US $150 billion in damages a year
How is the Biden administration coping with this new reality? And are new ... | By Justine Calma, a science reporter covering the environment, climate, and energy with a decade of experience. She is also the host of the Hell or High Water podcast. Read more ...
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It’s time to put oceans to the test in the climate fight, scientists say - GE (Sep 05, 2023) |
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Sep 05, 2023 · More than 200 scientists have signed onto a letter pushing for “responsible” research into ways to trap planet-heating carbon dioxide in the world’s oceans. They want to take urgent action on the climate crisis, while making sure they don’t trigger any new problems by relying on oceans to help in the fight.
Polluters have trashed the world’s atmosphere with carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels. That blanket of pollution is already warming the planet and causing more extreme weather disasters. One way to keep climate change from getting worse is to take some of those historic emissions out of the atmosphere.
Oceans already do that for us, absorbing and holding ... | By Justine Calma, a science reporter covering the environment, climate, and energy with a decade of experience. She is also the host of the Hell or High Water podcast. Read more ...
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May be a graphic of map, magazine, poster and text that says 'ne Ver Thearga Tech Reviews Science Entertainment More CLIMATE ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE Climate change 1 is redrawing the disaster map / From tropical storms to wildfires, climate disasters - GE (Aug 22, 2023) |
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Aug 22, 2023 · Disasters have no borders, and a summer of unexpected catastrophe across the US shows it. California is notorious for drought and fire, not tropical storms like Hilary that barreled over Los Angeles this week. The East Coast expects hurricanes, not the pollution nightmare triggered by smoke that drifted in from blazes hundreds of miles away. Hawaii’s native greenery isn’t supposed to burn, and yet fires engulfed Maui.
Climate change is sending new calamities to new places - a phenomenon that can be observed not just in the US but all over the world. It’s piling disaster upon disaster on communities figuring out how to adapt to these new realities. Often, they’re faced with ... | By Justine Calma, a science reporter covering the environment, climate, and energy with a decade of experience. She is also the host of the Hell or High Water podcast. Read more ...
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ENVIRONMENTAL - GE (Jun 06, 2023) |
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Jun 06, 2023 · More than 200 environmental activists are killed every year around the world. Often, the victims are Indigenous peoples defending their land. Other times, they’re small-scale farmers fending off industrial agriculture. Or they’re just people who happen to live in a place where logging and mining threatens their homes and livelihoods.
When their deaths do make headlines, we don’t often learn much about their lives. In many cases, even names and gender are missing from reports. There might not be as much attention paid to rural or marginalized communities. Or gender isn’t perceived as something that might have played a role in how that person was treated. That omission can sweep ... | By Justine Calma, a science reporter covering the environment, climate, and energy with a decade of experience. She is also the host of the Hell or High Water podcast. Read more ...
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Energy Department Kicks Nuclear Fusion Startups $46 Million - GE (Jun 01, 2023) |
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Jun 01, 2023 · If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.
The Department of Energy is pumping $46 million into eight companies developing nuclear fusion power plants, which has been an elusive clean energy dream for scientists for over half a century. Now, after a big scientific breakthrough in December, the Biden administration aims to achieve “a pilot-scale demonstration of fusion” on an incredibly fast timeline that’s “within a decade.”
The funding announced yesterday is a big bet on what’s considered the “Holy Grail” of clean energy. Generating electricity from nuclear power plants mimics the way stars create their own energy. ... | By Justine Calma, a science reporter covering the environment, climate, and energy with a decade of experience. She is also the host of the Hell or High Water podcast. Read more ...
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Forever chemicals are disproportionately polluting Black and Hispanic neighborhoods - GE (May 16, 2023) |
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May 16, 2023 · Toxic chemicals linked to cancer and heart disease are disproportionately polluting water sources in Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in the US, a new study shows, providing new evidence of environmental impacts targeting communities of color.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals” for their extreme persistence in the environment, are toxic byproducts of heat-resistant materials. They’re widely used in aerospace, construction, automotive, and electronics industries. Because of their resistance, they can also penetrate the soil and contaminate water sources near factories as well as accumulate in wildlife.
A new Harvard study ... | By Sebastián Rodríguez Read more ...
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NASA's powerful new air quality monitor has launched into space - GE (Apr 07, 2023) |
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Apr 07, 2023 · NASA sent a powerful new instrument into space overnight to track air pollution. If all goes well, it should be able to zoom in to see how air quality changes from neighborhood to neighborhood across North America. That could fill in big data gaps that hide disparities when it comes to who has to live with the most pollution.
The tool is called TEMPO, short for Tropospheric Emissions Monitoring of Pollution instrument. It will keep a tab on three harmful pollutants: nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde, and ground-level ozone. Together, they’re key ingredients for smog.
It should be able to zoom in to see how air quality changes from neighborhood to neighborhood across North ... | By Justine Calma / @justcalma Read more ...
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Delta Air Lines lays out its plan to leave fossil fuels behind - GE (Mar 09, 2023) |
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Mar 09, 2023 · Delta Air Lines laid out a new plan to wean its planes off fossil fuels in an effort to address climate change. The goal, the airline said, is for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to make up at least 95 percent of its fuel consumption by 2050.
SAF is made from waste or crops through a process that’s supposed to cancel out much of the greenhouse gas emissions a plane produces. It’s not a perfect system and could create new environmental problems. And with very little SAF produced today, it’s going to be an uphill climb for Delta to hit its 2050 target. Nevertheless, SAF is largely seen by the industry as the most viable alternative to fossil fuels for now.
With very little ... | By Justine Calma / @justcalma Read more ...
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Why cars running on e-fuel can't replace EVs - GE (Mar 08, 2023) |
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Mar 08, 2023 · Porsche showed off a new pilot plant in Patagonia, Chile, last month - not one that manufactures cars but, rather, one that makes e-fuel, a synthetic alternative to conventional gasoline made from air and water using electricity. The plant, a joint project with ExxonMobil and other energy companies, “is a symbol of hope in the fight against climate change, for a more sustainable future – and one that might also feature the music of a Porsche engine,” Porsche boasts in a February 14th press release.
The dream that car companies like Porsche are selling with e-fuel is that drivers can keep their internal combustion engines and fight climate change at the same time. All they have ... | By Justine Calma / @justcalma Read more ...
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Soaring SUV sales make it harder to hit climate goals - GE (Mar 01, 2023) |
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Mar 01, 2023 · SUV sales soared in 2022, a trend that makes it much harder to reach global climate goals, experts say. And while car buyers flocked to electric SUVs along with their gas-guzzling counterparts, supersize EVs pose their own environmental challenges.
When it comes to slashing pollution from passenger vehicles, bigger is the opposite of better. SUVs burn through about 20 percent more oil on average than medium-size cars. Electric SUVs also require larger batteries than other EVs, and experts are already warning that we won’t have enough raw materials to meet skyrocketing demand for lithium-ion batteries.
Bigger is the opposite of better
Nevertheless, SUVs outcompeted ... | By Justine Calma / @justcalma Read more ...
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Geoengineering startup's claim it got ‘OKs to launch' from the FAA doesn't stand up to scrutiny - GE (Feb 24, 2023) |
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Feb 24, 2023 · If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.
Controversial solar geoengineering startup Make Sunsets says it released three balloons carrying atmosphere-altering particles in Reno, Nevada, this month. It’s an escalation of the company’s questionable climate change-fighting tactics, which got it banned from launching balloons in Mexico in January. And while the company says it got the green light from the FAA and local authorities, officials say no such authorization was granted.
The way Make Sunsets explains it, this kind of geoengineering is a solution to humanity’s epic failure to stop planet-heating pollution. But ... | By Justine Calma / @justcalma Read more ...
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Coming soon: smart homes where the electricity isn't so dumb - GE (Jan 04, 2023) |
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Jan 04, 2023 · I don’t know if Schneider Electric will be the one to crack it, but I like what it’s promising here at CES 2023 - a smart home where the electrical circuits themselves are smart enough to keep your house powered, save on your energy bill, manage solar, and charge electric vehicles, all through a single app.
Schneider Electric isn’t a household name, but there’s a good chance you’ve got one of its Square D circuit breakers in your home - the company says four in 10 US households already do. Today, it’s announcing an ecosystem of gadgets that won’t be hidden inside your walls, including:
“What’s the big deal?” you might ask. “Can’t you buy all those pieces from any number ... | By Sean Hollister Read more ...
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A plasma physicist explains what's next after this week's nuclear fusion breakthrough - GE (Dec 15, 2022) |
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Dec 15, 2022 · Tammy Ma was about to board a plane at the San Francisco International Airport when she got the call of a lifetime. She’s a plasma physicist at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), the world’s largest and most energetic laser. An experiment at the facility had just accomplished a breakthrough in nuclear fusion that scientists have been trying to achieve for decades.
“I burst into tears, and I was jumping up and down in the waiting area,” Ma told reporters at a technical briefing on the achievement in Washington, DC, this week.
NIF shot 192 laser beams at a tiny target filled with fuel and achieved “fusion ignition” in a controlled setting for the first time on ... | By Justine Calma / @justcalma Read more ...
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Meet the CO2 battery cozying up with a wind energy giant - GE (Oct 12, 2022) |
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Oct 12, 2022 · There’s a new CO2 battery in the energy game, and it just might be the assist turbines need to harness the full power of the wind. The technology uses carbon dioxide to store energy in the form of pressure and heat. It’s a relatively straightforward solution that gives the CO2 battery some more flexibility than more traditional alternatives, like lithium-ion batteries.
Lithium-ion batteries have become ubiquitous companions to solar panels. But the new CO2 battery could have an edge when it comes to storing energy from winds, which can be even more temperamental than the sun. Energy Dome, the company that developed the CO2 battery, announced a new partnership with global wind ... | By Justine Calma / @justcalma Read more ...
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American utilities aren't living up to their climate pledges, new report finds - GE (Oct 04, 2022) |
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Oct 04, 2022 · A damning new report gives American electric utilities failing grades on addressing climate change. Instead of transitioning quickly to clean energy, according to the report, many utilities in the US are propping up aging coal plants and expanding polluting gas infrastructure.
“These companies’ supposed climate commitments are mostly greenwashing,” says the report published yesterday by environmental group Sierra Club and University of California, Santa Barbara associate professor Leah Stokes. In other words, utilities are paying lip service to climate change without doing enough to actually tackle the crisis.
“These companies’ supposed climate commitments are mostly ... | By Justine Calma / @justcalma Read more ...
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The Nord Stream pipeline leaks are a disaster — the oil and gas industry has a much bigger mess - GE (Sep 30, 2022) |
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Sep 30, 2022 · This week, the world watched what’s likely to be the fossil fuel industry’s single largest methane release ever. An astonishing amount of methane is floating up from the now-notorious Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines and rising above the surface of the Baltic Sea. It’s a pollution nightmare. It also pales in comparison to the vast amount of methane that oil and gas operations constantly release.
Up to 778 million standard cubic meters of methane gas could spew from the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in a worst-case scenario, according to the Danish Energy Agency. That’s equivalent to nearly a third of Denmark’s greenhouse gas emissions for the entire year of 2020.
The Nord ... | By Justine Calma / @justcalma Read more ...
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What the Biden administration might do to keep crypto mining from derailing climate goals - GE (Sep 16, 2022) |
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Sep 16, 2022 · Crypto mining has exploded in the US over the past few years, and we’re just now starting to understand how that boom affects our infrastructure, environment, and daily life. As the US became the biggest hub for Bitcoin mining, for instance, crypto mines have revived ailing fossil fuel plants and driven up electricity bills.
We finally got a clearer picture of the fallout from US crypto mining last week when the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) published a report on the industry’s impact on energy and climate change. The analysis estimates that the crypto industry operations in the US pump out about as much greenhouse gas pollution annually as all the ... | By Justine Calma / @justcalma Read more ...
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Ethereum just completed The Merge — here's how much energy it's saving - GE (Sep 15, 2022) |
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Sep 15, 2022 · The Merge, which took place early Thursday morning ET, will cut Ethereum’s energy consumption by an even bigger margin than previously expected, a new analysis finds. It’s also expected to slash the cryptocurrency network’s greenhouse gas emissions dramatically.
Ethereum’s electricity use is expected to drop by a whopping 99.988 percent post-Merge, according to the analysis published today by research company Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute (CCRI). The network was previously using about 23 million megawatt-hours per year, CCRI estimates. Moving forward, it’s expected to use just over 2,600 megawatt-hours per year. To help visualize just how massive this is, the report compares ... | By Justine Calma / @justcalma Read more ...
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The Nissan Leaf can now officially power buildings using bidirectional charging - GE (Sep 12, 2022) |
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Sep 12, 2022 · Nissan has approved the first bidirectional charging system for use with its all-electric Leaf vehicle in the US. The FE-15 charger by Fermata Energy, which can power buildings using the EV’s battery, charge it, and send stored energy back to the grid, is the first system of its kind to earn UL 9741 certification for bidirectional charging solutions.
Back in 2012, Nissan promised its maybe soon-to-be-discontinued EV would eventually share its stored battery power back to your home or the grid during peak hours or even in emergencies. This technology is broadly known as Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G), Vehicle-to-Home (V2H), and Vehicle-to-Load (V2L), which all can be used ... | By Umar Shakir Read more ...
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Tesla quietly built a virtual power plant in Japan - GE (Aug 29, 2022) |
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Aug 29, 2022 · There’s already one in California and Australia
Tesla’s latest virtual power plant is in Japan. The company announced Friday that it has been quietly installing its Powerwall batteries at homes on the island Miyako-jima since 2021 and now has over 300 installed. It’s the largest commercial virtual power plant in Japan, according to the statement.
Virtual power plants take advantage of solar panels and batteries in private homes. People with those setups can sign up to send extra power back to the electrical grid in their area, giving it an extra boost during situations when it’s at risk of a blackout. The grid can use that power instead of pulling from the gas-fired ... Read more ...
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To fight climate change, we need to start biking like the Dutch - GE (Aug 19, 2022) |
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Aug 19, 2022 · Universal cycling could slash one-fifth of CO2 emissions from cars, study finds
If people around the world were as enthusiastic cyclers as they are in the Netherlands, we could cut an impressive amount of planet-heating pollution. The Dutch use bicycles to get around more than folks in any other country, cycling about 2.6 kilometers (1.62 miles) a day.
If that was the trend across the world, it would slash 686 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution a year, according to the authors of a new study published this week in the journal Communications Earth & Environment. That’s enormous - roughly equivalent to erasing one-fifth of CO2 emissions from passenger cars ... Read more ...
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The uneven energy costs of working from home - GE (Aug 02, 2022) |
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Aug 02, 2022 · The pandemic revealed the vulnerability of many households to increased utility bills
The COVID-19 pandemic has given us a sneak peek into how working from home changes electricity demand and what that might mean for Americans’ utility bills. The picture it’s painted so far isn’t very pretty, particularly for anyone who’s already struggling to meet their needs.
The transition to remote work is changing our energy system in ways that could worsen racial and economic inequities in the US. Working from home shifts energy costs from employers to workers. That burden is bigger for people who live in older, less efficient homes.
“I was either freezing in my house in the ... Read more ...
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Amazon's climate pollution jumps in 2021, fueled by pandemic shopping - GE (Aug 01, 2022) |
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Aug 01, 2022 · Don't be fooled by the climate PR
Amazon's greenhouse gas emissions ballooned big time last year despite the company's efforts to sell itself as a leader in climate action. Its carbon dioxide emissions grew an eye-popping 18 percent in 2021 compared to 2020, according to its latest sustainability report.
Amazon generated 71.54 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent last year, about as much pollution as 180 gas-fired power plants might pump out annually. This is the second year in a row that Amazon's climate pollution has grown by double digits since it made a splashy climate pledge and started reporting its emissions publicly in 2019. Comparing that year to ... Read more ...
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Can hydrogen fuel cells power Microsoft data centers? - GE (Jul 28, 2022) |
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Jul 28, 2022 · There’s hype around 'green’ hydrogen
Microsoft has reached a new milestone in its effort to ditch diesel in favor of cleaner energy at its data centers. The company announced today that it successfully tested a hydrogen fuel cell system powerful enough to replace a traditional diesel-powered backup generator at a large data center.
As part of its plans to tackle climate change, Microsoft wants to completely quit using diesel as fuel for its backup power systems by 2030. To keep data centers running 24/7, regardless of power outages, each center is equipped with batteries that temporarily kick in until backup generators are fired up.
For now, those generators run on ... Read more ...
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Dead solar panels are about to become a lot more valuable - GE (Jul 08, 2022) |
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Jul 08, 2022 · The solar industry needs all the materials it can get
In the coming years, recyclers will hopefully be able to mine billions of dollars worth of materials from discarded solar panels, according to a new analysis published this week. That should ease bottlenecks in the supply chain for solar panels while also making the panels themselves more sustainable.
Right now, most dead solar panels in the US just get shredded or chucked into a landfill. The economics just don’t shake out in recycling’s favor. The value you can squeeze out of a salvaged panel hasn’t been enough to make up for the cost of transporting and recycling it. That’s on track to change, according to the ... Read more ...
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Bitcoin's energy use drops following price plunge - GE (Jun 24, 2022) |
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Jun 24, 2022 · It’s taken a prolonged price plummet to get to this point
After taking a nosedive in June, the price of Bitcoin has stayed so low that it’s forcing the blockchain’s massive electricity use to similarly dip. Over the past couple weeks, Bitcoin’s energy consumption has dropped by more than a third, according to estimates of annualized electricity use by digital currency economist Alex de Vries on his website digiconomist.net.
Bitcoin’s energy hunger, which has alarmed environmentalists and consumer advocates concerned about pollution and utility prices, comes from the process of mining new tokens. Bitcoin miners earn new tokens by validating transactions through an ... Read more ...
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The US has fallen way behind on climate goals - GE (May 31, 2022) |
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May 31, 2022 · President Biden pledged to cut carbon emissions in half by 2030 - but it will take a lot more work
The US is doing a pretty horrible job of following through on promises it’s made to tackle climate change, according to two separate new studies. A global ranking of countries completed by Yale and Columbia found that the US now ranks 43rd among 180 nations that Columbia and Yale evaluated in their most recent Environmental Performance Index (EPI). That’s a major plummet since the last time the researchers ranked countries in 2020, when the US was in 24th place.
When it comes to climate indicators alone (the evaluation also considers countries’ progress on other kinds of ... Read more ...
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Federal regulators crack down after pipeline caught spewing CO2 - GE (May 27, 2022) |
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May 27, 2022 · The operators of a pipeline that burst in 2020 face nearly $4 million in penalties
Federal regulators are beginning to crack down on a new generation of pipelines that will be crucial for the Biden administration’s plans to capture millions of tons of carbon dioxide to combat climate change.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) proposed penalties yesterday on the operator of one such pipeline that ruptured in Mississippi, sending at least 45 people to the hospital in 2020. The agency also pledged to craft new rules to prevent similar pipeline failures from happening as the US makes plans to build out a network of pipelines to transport ... Read more ...
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Big Tech is pouring millions into the wrong climate solution at Davos - GE (May 25, 2022) |
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May 25, 2022 · The carbon removal tech they’re funding isn’t really meant to tackle Big Tech’s own emissions
Alphabet, Microsoft, and Salesforce today pledged $500 million to new climate tech that’s supposed to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to keep it from heating up the planet. It’s the latest move by Big Tech to propel the emerging technology forward while painting themselves as global leaders when it comes to taking action on climate change.
Regardless, these companies have a lot of work left to do to deal with their own emissions. Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) isn’t the solution for Big Tech’s own pollution.
To be sure, the climate crisis has gotten so bad that the ... Read more ...
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Big Tech is pouring millions into the wrong climate solution at Davos - The Verge - GE (May 25, 2022) |
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May 25, 2022 · The carbon removal tech they’re funding isn’t really meant to tackle Big Tech’s own emissions
Alphabet, Microsoft, and Salesforce today pledged $500 million to new climate tech that’s supposed to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to keep it from heating up the planet. It’s the latest move by Big Tech to propel the emerging technology forward while painting themselves as global leaders when it comes to taking action on climate change.
Regardless, these companies have a lot of work left to do to deal with their own emissions. Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) isn’t the solution for Big Tech’s own pollution.
To be sure, the climate crisis has gotten so bad that the ... Read more ...
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Why tech giants' cash is a hidden source of greenhouse gas emissions - GE (May 18, 2022) |
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May 18, 2022 · Big Tech can do much more to stop banks from using their cash to finance fossil fuels, report says
Even tech companies that have promised to slash their greenhouse gas emissions have a big climate-related blind spot, according to a new report published by three environmental groups. With their cash and investments, Google, Apple, Meta, and other tech giants are indirectly financing fossil fuel companies.
While these companies might have taken steps to cut down on pollution within their own operations and supply chains, the financial institutions they bank with still funnel Big Tech’s profits into heavily polluting industries. Emissions associated with that financial ... Read more ...
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Why tech giants' cash is a hidden source of greenhouse gas emissions - GE (May 18, 2022) |
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May 18, 2022 · Big Tech can do much more to stop banks from using their cash to finance fossil fuels, report says
Even tech companies that have promised to slash their greenhouse gas emissions have a big climate-related blind spot, according to a new report published by three environmental groups. With their cash and investments, Google, Apple, Meta, and other tech giants are indirectly financing fossil fuel companies.
While these companies might have taken steps to cut down on pollution within their own operations and supply chains, the financial institutions they bank with still funnel Big Tech’s profits into heavily polluting industries. Emissions associated with that financial ... Read more ...
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Why fossil fuel companies see green in Bitcoin mining projects - GE (May 04, 2022) |
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May 04, 2022 · And why it’s risky business
Of all the corporate climate hype floating around this spring, ExxonMobil’s secret project to cut down its pollution by mining Bitcoin has to rank up there as one of the strangest.
Exxon launched a pilot project in 2021 to mine Bitcoin in North Dakota’s Bakken oil fields, according to reporting by CNBC in March. The US’s biggest oil and gas company is also thinking about doing the same in Alaska and parts of Nigeria, Argentina, Guyana, and Germany, Bloomberg reported. And it’s not alone. Other oil companies, including ConocoPhillips in North Dakota, see the energy-hungry cryptocurrency as a way to offload some of their climate footprint and ... Read more ...
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Ford did what Tesla won't - GE (May 03, 2022) |
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May 03, 2022 · 'If these things are so world-changing, why are they not mainstream?’
If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.
Last fall, Ford began parading around a fully electric 1978 F-100 pickup truck that could accelerate 0–60 mph in around three seconds. The company brought it to YouTubers, automotive trade shows, Jay Leno, and even us. And we all agreed: we want this truck in our own garages.
But for Ford, this car was far more than a pretty old new truck - it was a way to show off its new electric crate motor, the M-9000-MACHE, or the same electric motor that is in Ford’s all-electric Mustang Mach-E GT.
A ... Read more ...
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DO ROBOTS DREAM OF ELECTRIC TREES? Drones are setting down roots in wildfire-scarred landscapes - GE (Apr 18, 2022) |
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Apr 18, 2022 · Tree-planting efforts get a boost from drones
Drones flew over a wildfire-charred landscape in British Columbia last November, dropping thousands of tree seeds on the blackened ground. The flights were part of an experimental trial to reseed First Nations forests that were lost to the monumentally destructive 2017 fire season. With drones on their side, people in the area hope that reforestation can move faster - especially as wildfires continue to worsen.
2017 was one of the worst fire seasons on record in British Columbia. Nearly 800,000 hectares went up in smoke, taking with them homes, cars, and trees. For the local residents and First Nations communities in the ... Read more ...
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How switching to EVs would improve health in the US - GE (Mar 30, 2022) |
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Mar 30, 2022 · The American Lung Association counted how many early deaths a switch to electric vehicles could avoid
If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.
A major shift to electric vehicles and a clean power grid in the US could save tens of thousands of lives over the next few decades, according to a new report by the American Lung Association.
The drop in pollution from tailpipes and power plants would prevent up to 110,000 premature deaths by 2050, the report projects. It would also avoid 2.78 million asthma attacks and 13.4 million lost workdays. All in all, that would amount to $1.2 trillion in public health benefits. Read more ...
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EU Parliament backs off plans to phase out energy-hungry cryptocurrencies - GE (Mar 14, 2022) |
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Mar 14, 2022 · But Bitcoin is still under scrutiny
A de facto ban on Bitcoin and Ether died in the European Union Parliament today. The controversial proposal attempted to clean up pollution from the most energy-inefficient cryptocurrencies. But even though the proposal failed, cryptocurrencies are still likely to face scrutiny from policymakers as the EU tries to tackle twin climate and energy crises. Getting rid of their pollution has become a global game of whack-a-mole since China banned cryptocurrencies last year.
The EU Parliament’s committee on economic and monetary affairs voted on Monday to move forward with a legislative framework for regulating digital assets. In the ... Read more ...
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2024 Volkswagen ID Buzz electric microbus revealed: less flower, more power - GE (Mar 09, 2022) |
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Mar 09, 2022 · VW resurrects its iconic microbus for an electric era
After five years of teases, the long-awaited debut of the Volkswagen ID Buzz is finally here. The German automaker revealed the all-electric van at a virtual event on Wednesday, where it positioned the ID Buzz as a recreation of its iconic Type 2 Microbus - think hippies, flower power, and peace signs - for a more modern era.
The ID Buzz and its commercial equivalent, the ID Buzz Cargo, will arrive in Europe later this year, with a longer wheelbase version for US markets scheduled to make its debut in 2023 and go on sale here in 2024.
There’s a lot we still don’t know - mainly the price. But the ID Buzz will ... Read more ...
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