Climate change mitigation

Photo: GoogleGoogle is now using geothermal energy to meet the massive power needs of its data centers. Google announced a first-of-its-kind geothermal project is now operational in Nevada in a blog post on Tuesday, using heat from the Earth’s core as energy.Like It or Not, Your Doctor Will Use AI | AI UnlockedThe tech giant has been carbon neutral since 2007, meaning it purchased carbon offsets but still uses fossil fuels, but Google has bigger goals on the horizon. By 2030, the company intends to run on carbon-free…

Some Republicans are seemingly no longer denying that climate change isn’t real, and they have a plan to tackle greenhouse gas emissions. Not, it’s not supporting a transition towards renewable energy. They want to plant more trees. What Is Carbon Capture? With Gizmodo’s Molly Taft | TechmodoHouse Speaker Kevin McCarthy visited a natural gas drilling site in Ohio last month to promote House Republicans’ plan to push domestic energy production. He claimed that the U.S.’ natural gas was “cleaner” than Russia’s. “God has…

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a historic climate policy proposal on Thursday. Through a new rule, the Biden Administration intends to set limits on coal- and gas-fueled power plants’ greenhouse gas emissions.California’s Snowpack Gets a Much Needed Boost | Extreme EarthGenerally, the EPA regulates polluting emissions like carbon monoxide and ozone. But the agency has exercised limited authority over planet-warming carbon dioxide in the past. Currently, the sole Clean Air Act provision on the books…

When Queen Elizabeth II died September 2022, her son Charles III became the new king of England. Immediately, headlines advised on how he could brand himself as the climate king. Publications lauded him as the potential “activist king” or recalled his works as the “climate prince.”Lower Drought Conditions In California | Extreme EarthIt’s true that, compared to other public figures or wealthy celebrities, Charles has a pretty impressive resume of caring about the environment. He’s been championing environmental causes…

Most people in the U.S. pay private or investor-owned power companies—fueled by profit motives—for their electricity. It’s a system that makes advancing renewable energy secondary to advancing corporate revenue. But public utilities offer an alternative that divorces peoples’ energy needs from companies’ bottom lines. Often, these state or municipal run-entities offer more affordable rates, and they’re accountable to the taxpayers who fund them. As a result, environmental advocates and policy experts tend to agree that…

This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.A Transformer Is Headed to the MoonFossil fuel projects require money — and that money is coming from the world’s top private banks, including many with net-zero climate pledges. That’s according to a new report from the Rainforest Action Network, which looked at the major financial institutions funding oil and gas infrastructure since the 2015 Paris Agreement.“Banks and financial institutions need to be held accountable for their…

This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.How Can You Be a Steward of Good Tech in 2023? | Gizmodo InterviewAfter a nearly two-decades-long permitting process, a 732-mile transmission line capable of sending power from what will be the largest onshore wind farm in North America to Western states got a green light last week.The Bureau of Land Management, or BLM gave final approval to begin building the $3 billion TransWest Express high-voltage transmission line. The…

The world’s most important climate meeting this year is going to be headed up by one of the world’s most oil-reliant countries. It sounds like the plot of an absurdist play, but it’s reality, and the cracks are already starting to show ahead of an especially crucial year for climate action.What Is Carbon Capture? With Gizmodo’s Molly Taft | TechmodoEach year, the UN hosts what’s known as a Conference of Parties, or COP, in a different country to keep the world on track in working toward halting runaway climate change.…

This morning, I received an exciting press release from the Department of Energy: The federal agency now has a strategy in place to significantly expand the U.S.’s offshore wind capacity. Under the shiny new “Advancing Offshore Wind...” plan, the DOE hopes to support the Biden administration’s existing goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030.This Summer’s Hottest UmbrellaWow, sounds great! We love a clear roadmap for a federal agency. Plus, if we make it to 40 GW of offshore wind, that would be…

Fishermen in a boat on the Laguna Madre in front of giant wind generators on the mainland near Port Isabel, Texas.Photo: Jon G. Fuller / VWPics (AP)Electricity generated from renewable energy sources surpassed electricity created by coal for the first time ever in the U.S. in 2022, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced yesterday. Is This Product Actually Vegan?Coal-fired electricity generation dropped from 23% of total generation in 2021 to 20% in 2022. Meanwhile, the increase in renewable electricity…