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Category: Renewable energy/fossil fuels

Attacks on ME desalination plants highlight risks of near-total dependence on ‘fossil fuel water’

Attacks on ME desalination plants highlight risks of near-total dependence on ‘fossil fuel water’

Inside Climate News reports: Recent attacks in the Middle East on desalination plants, facilities that remove salt from seawater, raise the potential for a humanitarian crisis if the region’s freshwater production facilities are subjected to more widespread destruction. The attacks also underscore the region’s heavy reliance on an energy-intensive method of producing drinking water that is powered almost entirely by fossil fuels. On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the United States of striking a desalination plant in southern…

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With foreign backing, Israel’s solar energy boom is powering apartheid

With foreign backing, Israel’s solar energy boom is powering apartheid

Sofia Fani Gutman, Carolina Pedrazzi and Andrey X report: “How do you charge your phones?” we asked. “With the sun,” Ahmad replied, nodding toward the small cluster of solar panels behind him. For 47 years, the tiny hamlet of Naba’a Al-Ghazzal, part of the community of Al-Farsiya, has survived on the northern edge of the Jordan Valley in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Home to around 20 members of the Daraghmeh family — including Ahmad, the community’s informal leader — all…

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As Trump retreats from climate goals, China is becoming a green superpower

As Trump retreats from climate goals, China is becoming a green superpower

BBC News reports: China has created a desert that no longer just reflects the Sun. It captures it. Aluminium soaks up the rays on the golden dunes of Inner Mongolia, transforming one of the harshest landscapes into one of the world’s largest solar farms. Xin Guiyi, who has lived here all his life, seems to welcome the change. “It used to be so dry and the desert was getting bigger,” he explains, as he mixes feed for his small flock…

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China’s messy renewable energy revolution might save the world

China’s messy renewable energy revolution might save the world

Wired reports: There’s a particular kind of sci-fi nerd who equates fusion tech with utopia. If we could only harness the engine of the stars, it would uncork near limitless energy and neatly sweep away a whole mess of humanity’s problems. But how would that work exactly? What would the transition look like? You don’t have to wonder. It’s happening now. Solar panels and wind turbines capture the fusion of the sun and convert it to electricity. And at the…

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Fusion breakthrough: Energy researchers report tokamak experiments that exceed mysterious ‘plasma density limit’

Fusion breakthrough: Energy researchers report tokamak experiments that exceed mysterious ‘plasma density limit’

The Debrief reports: In a potential new milestone for fusion energy research, researchers in China report achieving a state once only theorized for fusion plasmas, enabling stable operation under conditions that significantly exceed normal limits. The achievement was made during experiments with China’s Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), which reportedly produced fusion plasmas in a “density-free regime,” overcoming a longstanding hurdle to nuclear fusion ignition. The team’s findings were featured in a new study in Science Advances, offering a fresh…

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Musk drops ‘sustainable’ from Tesla’s mission while promoting a fantasy of ‘abundance’

Musk drops ‘sustainable’ from Tesla’s mission while promoting a fantasy of ‘abundance’

Fred Lambert writes: It’s official. The word “sustainable” is gone from Tesla’s mission statement. For over a decade, Tesla’s guiding star was arguably the most impactful corporate mission statement of the 21st century. But over the last few years, we have watched the company slowly drift away from its environmental roots. Now, Elon Musk has confirmed the final step in that divorce, rebranding the company’s goal from “Sustainable Abundance” to simply “Amazing Abundance.” The evolution of Tesla’s mission statement tells…

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Adventure capitalism on the precipice: Climate denying grifters go into fusion

Adventure capitalism on the precipice: Climate denying grifters go into fusion

Announcing the planned merger of Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) and fusion power company, TAE Technologies, Michael B. Schwab (son of Charles Schwab, who just launched “Trump Accounts”), who is expected to be the chairman of the new company said: With the infusion of TMTG’s significant capital, TAE is on the precipice of scaling its leading technology to usher in a new era of energy abundance. The world needs energy, and fusion is the clear answer. The New York…

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China is pouring vast resources into fusion research

China is pouring vast resources into fusion research

The New York Times reports: China’s government has made fusion a national priority, marshaling resources at daunting speed. Recently, a Shanghai start-up essentially matched an engineering breakthrough by America’s best-funded fusion company, Commonwealth Fusion Systems, in much less time. Over the summer, the Chinese government and private investors poured $2.1 billion into a new state-owned fusion company. That investment alone is two and a half times the U.S. Energy Department’s annual fusion budget. The two countries’ progress could soon be…

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As Trump cancels largest solar project in North America, China advances with largest in the world

As Trump cancels largest solar project in North America, China advances with largest in the world

Politico reports: The Trump administration’s cancellation of what would have been one of the world’s largest solar power projects has some industry observers fretting over the future of renewable energy on public lands. They predicted the Esmeralda 7 project — by far the largest solar project that had moved through the permitting process under former President Joe Biden’s Interior Department — won’t be the last major project in the pipeline to be pulled. It was one of a number of…

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Global renewable energy generation surpasses coal for first time

Global renewable energy generation surpasses coal for first time

The Guardian reports: The world’s wind and solar farms have generated more electricity than coal plants for the first time this year, marking a turning point for the global power system, according to research. A report by the climate thinktank Ember found that in the first six months of 2025, renewable energy outpaced the world’s growing appetite for electricity, leading to a small decline in coal and gas use. The world generated almost a third more solar power in the…

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Bill McKibben says cheap solar could topple Big Oil’s power

Bill McKibben says cheap solar could topple Big Oil’s power

Yale Climate Connections reports: Bill McKibben is like that old culture of yeast you revive when you want to start a new batch of sourdough. He makes movements rise. McKibben is a cofounder and senior adviser of climate activist group 350.org, the founder of Third Act – a climate and democracy group led by U.S. residents over the age of 60 – and the principal instigator behind Sun Day, a nationwide community celebration of solar energy on September 21. His…

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The real reason Trump poses a threat to the economy

The real reason Trump poses a threat to the economy

Jonathan Cohn writes: With his broad shoulders, thick arms, and even thicker New England accent, ironworker David Langlais is exactly the sort of American who is supposed to love Donald Trump’s policies. But Langlais says he is dumbfounded by some of the president’s recent decisions, especially the one that halted work on an energy project off the coast of Rhode Island. The project is called Revolution Wind. When it is completed—or, more accurately, if it is completed—it will consist of…

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U.S. mines are literally throwing away critical minerals

U.S. mines are literally throwing away critical minerals

Grist reports: The United States is home to dozens of active mines. Some extract copper, while others dig for iron. Whatever the resource, however, it usually makes up a small fraction of the rock pulled from the ground. The rest is typically ignored. Wasted. “We’re only producing a few commodities,” said Elizabeth Holley, a professor of mining engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. “The question is: What else is in those rocks?” The answer: a lot. In a study…

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Trump regime orders work halted on wind farm that is close to completion

Trump regime orders work halted on wind farm that is close to completion

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration on Friday ordered that all construction stop on Revolution Wind, a $4 billion wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island that is already mostly built. The 65-turbine project had obtained all necessary permits from the Biden administration, and nearly 70 percent of the turbines have been installed. The developers behind the project had said it was on track to produce enough electricity for more than 350,000 homes in Rhode Island and…

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EPA moves to terminate $7 billion in grants for solar energy

EPA moves to terminate $7 billion in grants for solar energy

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration is preparing to terminate $7 billion in federal grants intended to help low- and moderate-income families install solar panels on their homes, according to two people briefed on the matter. The Environmental Protection Agency is drafting termination letters to the 60 state agencies, nonprofit groups and Native American tribes that received the grants under the “Solar for All” program, with the goal of sending the letters by the end of this week,…

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The world is investing more in clean energy than fossil fuels

The world is investing more in clean energy than fossil fuels

Canary Media reports: As the Trump administration doubles down on fossil fuels, the rest of the world is investing more and more in clean energy. This year, $2.2 trillion will be invested in clean energy, efficiency, and electrification globally, according to the International Energy Agency — double the $1.1 trillion that will flow toward fossil fuels. It’s a remarkable change from a decade ago. Back in 2015, fossil fuels still attracted more money than clean energy. In 2016, perhaps galvanized…

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