and air conditioning

Modern air conditioners typically emit greenhouse gases and are energy intensive.Image: Dirk Waem (Getty Images)The path to creative climate solutions is paved with the skeletons of a million startups, but Blue Frontier wants to be different. Blue Frontier is chasing the dream of cleaner air conditioning systems with its use of a concentrated salt solution, and results are so promising that the company just got a big check from Bill Gates.In the dog days of summer, most of us try to gravitate toan air conditioned place…

Data centers have caused skyrocketing power demand in parts of London. Now, new housing construction could be banned for more than a decade in some neighborhoods of the UK’s biggest city because the electricity grid is reaching capacity, as first reported on by the Financial Times. The reason: too many data centers are taking up too much electricity and hogging available fiber optic cables.The Financial Times obtained multiple letters sent from the city’s government, the Greater London Authority (GLA), to developers.…

A Portland misting station in Lents park during a heat wave on August 13, 2021. Photo: Nathan Howard (Getty Images)Scorching temperatures are still sweeping around the world, and this time the heat is headed to the historically temperate Pacific Northwest.Temperatures in the Portland metro area are expected to peak at a little over 101 Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) and will hover around the 90s Fahrenheit for the next few days, according to the National Weather Service. Yakima, Washington is expected to see temperatures between…