• UN calls on AI companies to declare environmental cost of AI
• New energy projects and data centers are contributing to pollution
• UN sets up AI Environmental Transparency Initiative to provide insight into the impacts of water usage, carbon emissions, and land usage

Multiple studies on the direct and indirect impact of AI have predicted that the technology is damaging local and global environments, and contributing to man-made climate change.

But the full extent of the damage should be publicly disclosed by AI companies themselves, the United Nations has said.

Speaking during London Climate Action Week, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, “If AI is to help build a better ​future, it must be honest about what it costs us now.”

Reveal the full environmental cost of AI

“By 2030, they could use ⁠more power than all but five countries – and enough water to meet the basic needs ​of all 1.3 billion residents of sub‑Saharan Africa for an entire year,” he said.

His speech (via Reuters) also included the launch of the UN’s AI Environmental Transparency Initiative, which offers AI companies the opportunity to publicly disclose water, the environmental impacts of their water usage, carbon emissions, and land use.

Some AI companies have agreed to net-zero commitments and decarbonization through renewable energy projects, but these commitments are largely voluntary and do not subject companies to any repercussions if they fail to meet targets.

This has been exacerbated in the US — where many of the largest AI companies operate — with President Trump stripping away environmental commitments, obstructing planned renewable energy projects, removing legislation on the construction of fossil fuel energy production, and even deleting the US government’s comprehensive archive of climate resources.

As AI now accounts for 80-90% of the world’s compute resources, there has been an explosion in new data center construction projects to meet demand. Many sites have turned to on-site natural gas burning turbines to supply their energy, which has been linked to health issues and neurological symptoms in local populations. In other regions, data centers have been linked up to nearby energy networks causing local resident’s bills to skyrocket.

The total environmental cost of AI is not known, but estimates for the US have placed the total cost at around $25 billion per year, which includes the health costs of residents living in the polluted vicinity of data centers. The UN hopes that the AI Environmental Transparency initiative will provide direct insight into the fiscal, human, and environmental costs of AI.

• 79% of data centers are exposed to climate hazards, 54% face chronic heat or drought
• Higher temperatures lead to more cooling demand, creating a vicious circle
• Component longevity is also at risk from heat and other impacts

According to new First Street research, four in five (79%) or the world's data center capacity is exposed to climate hazards like flooding, wildfire and winds, with more than half (54%) of data centers located in areas that face chronic heat or drought stress.

With hyperscalers investing billions to keep up with demands created by AI, First Street stresses that today's decisions could impact cloud computing for years to come.

But even without further investments, rising temperatures and the effects of climate change could put existing facilities under further pressure.

Hyperscalers are building data centers in at-risk areas

Besides the obvious risk of component damage, higher temperatures also mean that data centers need more cooling than they previously did, driving up electricity and water consumption. Because chips and other components operate best at an optimal temperature, higher temperatures could even cause them to fail sooner.

Flooding, winds and storms also threaten electrical systems, network connectivity and fiber networks, potentially leading to outages.

The revelation comes just weeks after a separate study from insurer MS Amlin found that half (56%) of all new projects are being located in disaster-prone areas.

"Most underwriting for real assets still uses historical data, but the climate is no longer behaving the way the historical record would predict," CEO Matthew Eby said.

But with part and utility costs soaring, companies are being forced to reduce costs elsewhere, including locating campuses in cheaper areas that are often more at-risk. With companies already having to consider compute capacity, power availability, connectivity and local opposition, "climate risk is becoming an increasingly important determinant of long-term performance," First Street warns.

"Together, these risks affect NOI stability, cash flow durability, and long-term asset performance," the company added.

• UN warns AI's environmental footprint is much, much more than just energy
• AI data centers could consume the water equivalent of 1.3b people by 2030
• Report calls for more diverse reporting and robust governance to protect people

A new UN report is arguing artificial intelligence's impacts are far from parity – instead, that its environmental impact is being underestimated because most discussions only focus on carbon emissions.

Instead, the United Nations is urging companies, investors and governments to also include water consumption and land use in their evaluations.

This comes as AI data centers alone are expect to consume 945TWh of electricity by 2030 – the equivalent of 1.95b homes, or three times the population of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nigeria.

UN is worried about AI's environmental impacts

Electricity aside, the UN is also warning that their water consumption by the end of the decade would be equal to 1.3b people in Sub-Saharan Africa (9.3 trillion liters), and the land use could equate to 14,500 square kilometers (twice as big as Jakarta, home to 32m people).

But it's far more than the environment alone that the AI industry is putting under pressure – unlike conventional software, artificial intelligence leans heavily on physical data center campuses, grid connections, cooling systems and semiconductors, expanding its impacts heavily across both Scope 2 and Scope 3.

Professor Kaveh Madani, Director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, stressed that the report should serve as a blocker to AI. Instead, Madani calls for responsibility and sustainability.

"We have a narrow window to ensure that the backbone of the technological revolution of our era develops within planetary limits, and that the communities who provide the critical minerals for advancing AI and the ones that host its infrastructure and e-waste are also among those who benefit from it."

Interestingly, while much of the debate often centers around model training, researchers now believe inference (the everyday use after deployment) accounts for around 80-90% of AI's energy demand. ChatGPT alone is said to process around 2.5b prompts per day, and energy demand is only increasing as response quality improves.

Looking ahead, the UN is called for the mandatory reporting of carbon, land and water footprints as well as 'efficiency by design' approaches. The paper also encourages stronger governance to prevent the environmental costs from being shifted onto the most vulnerable communities.

• Data centers are raising temperatures in towns and cities
• Researchers recorded variations as high as four degrees
• Considerations for heat need to be made when planning and constructing data centers

Data centers operate thousands of GPUs in order to solve computational problems, generating heat in the process. This heat then needs to be removed to keep the data center cool and working at maximum efficiency.

However, some data centers are pumping out so much heat that it is raising the temperatures of local towns and cities by multiple degrees. In some cases, heat islands with temperatures 16 degrees F higher have been recorded.

Researchers at Arizona State University have studied the effects of data center heat output in Phoenix, and found that temperatures can rise by as much as four degrees F, exacerbating the health risks caused by high temperatures, and compounding the heat output of Phoenix as a whole.

Data centers are raising temperatures

The researchers measured the air temperature both upwind and downwind of four selected facilities. The facilities ranged in output from a 36-megawatt data center in Mesa to a 169-megawatt campus in Chandler. According to the study, data centers of this size can put out as much heat as 40,000 households.

When measuring the temperatures at the data center sites, the researchers recorded temperatures 14 to 25 degrees F higher than the surrounding air. As these thermal plumes moved downwind, they raised the temperature by an average of 1.3 to 1.6 degrees F, with the highest recorded temperature being 4 degrees F higher than temperatures upwind of the data centers.

“Even if these data centers only contribute to an additional heat island magnitude of one degree or two degrees, that can still have a very significant impact on our lives”, said lead author David Sailor, professor at Arizona State University and director of ASU's School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning.

Not only can the higher temperatures make health risks related to heat worse, but even a 1 degree F increase can drive up energy consumption and heat output of air conditioning in residential and commercial areas, which in turn raises temperatures further.

Sailor and co-authors suggest that city planners and industry developers need to take into account the heat output of datacenters during planning, and consider using greenbelts, woodlands, or parks to act as a buffer between data centers and population centers.

Heat output is just one of the reasons residents in the vicinity of planned and constructed data centers are protesting against such facilities.

Via TechXplore

• Renewables now account for more of the world's electricity than coal
• They represent 33.8% of electricity generation compared to 33% for coal
• Solar is a key driver here, as it met 75% of the growth in global electricity demand

Renewable energy became the main source of electricity for the world over the course of 2025, finally overtaking coal in this respect, according to a new study.

A report from CarbonBrief carried the revelation made by a think tank called Ember. Based on Ember's calculations in its latest global electricity review, coal-fueled electricity generation dropped by 0.2% last year to 33%, while renewables maintained a steady upward trajectory to edge past coal, hitting 33.8%.

Wind and solar power catered for 99% of the growth in electricity demand last year (solar represented the majority of that – 75% of it, in fact). The International Energy Agency separately said in its Global Energy Review 2026 report that "the absolute increase of solar PV generation in 2025 is the largest ever observed for any source".

In the past, we have seen the share of fossil fuel generation drop year-on-year, but that was driven by economic crises or the pandemic, whereas this is the first time a move to clean power has caused coal usage to drop.

Apparently, record solar generation, with a 30% year-on-year increase, was the key factor driving renewable energy to take the top spot from coal. Note that this is coal power alone, which is being compared to renewables for electricity generation (as opposed to including other fossil fuels, such as gas, which are considered separately).

Analysis: EV and solar highlights – and the looming threat on the horizon

Clearly, this is good news, and Ember's report makes an interesting point about electric vehicles (EVs) being a "structural driver of electricity demand growth", accounting for some 8% of the rise in global electricity demand last year.

EVs totaled 66TWh of growth last year compared to 36TWh in 2024, so that's a large jump, with EV sales now comprising over 25% of the car market across the globe, the thinktank notes.

With the rising cost of fuel, I wouldn't bet against seeing bigger leaps, and a recent report in the UK pointed to EVs experiencing year-on-year growth in sales of 24.2% in March (where diesel and petrol vehicles were down by 6.1% and 11.4% respectively).

EVs aside, solar is singled out as the key driver of renewables by Ember: "The accelerating build-out of solar power is increasingly taking place alongside battery storage deployment, enabling the next paradigm shift – from daytime solar to anytime solar."

As battery costs have fallen 'sharply' over the past two years – by 20% in 2024, and 45% last year, we're told – deployment was up 46%, and the "world installed enough battery capacity to shift 14% of the new solar generation in 2025 from midday to other hours of the day."

The strides forward made with solar don't just apply to traditional large-panel arrays, but increasingly to gadgets that harness power from the sun. Such as this solar-powered Windows 11 laptop, or a smart lock with a mini solar panel, which was showcased a few months back at CES 2026. Solar-driven home security cameras are becoming much more commonplace, too, offering key advantages in terms of ditching wiring.

These are very small increments of solar usage, true, but they all add up on top of the progress that's clearly being made in this arena.

The potential blot on the landscape amid this positive renewables news is the threat posed by AI-driven data center construction – and the power demands therein – and how they'll be met. This is a danger that's being taken seriously, and over in the US, a recent development is that Maine has even passed new laws effectively banning the construction of sprawling data centers in certain areas.

• Google signs 20-year deal with DTE Energy to produce 2.7GW of clean energy
• The data center will only use 1GW – 1.7GW are designed for nearby communities
• Google's $10m Energy Impact Fund will also support locals improve energy efficiency

Google has confirmed the company has signed a new data center deal in Michigan, partnering with the state's DTE Energy, and there are much broader implications for the local economy and sustainability.

As part of the contract, Google will fund 2.7GW of new clean energy capacity via the 20-year contract, including a mix of solar and battery storage.

Google will also contribute to enhancing grid flexibility and demand response systems, in the hope of reducing its data center's impact on local homes and businesses.

Google's Michigan data center will help modernize the grid

"As part of this announcement, Google is introducing a $10 million Energy Impact Fund to scale and accelerate energy affordability initiatives that are designed to drive down monthly bills for communities in Michigan," the company's Americas Clean Energy and Power Director Will Conkling wrote.

This includes "home weatherization, efficiency technology innovations for households and energy workforce development projects." The company is also set to cover the costs associated with upgrading the infrastructure and delivering electricity to the new data center campus.

With the data center expected to use 1GW, this marks one of the biggest clean energy data center projects of its kind – the 2.7GW plans will nearly triple Google's expected use, supporting the state (which has traditionally relied heavily on coal) with cleaner sources.

The company hasn't yet confirmed a location for its site, but it's currently assessing a site in Van Buren Township, a western suburb of Detroit.

More broadly, Microsoft is also eying up a data center site at the Covenant Business Park in Lowell, per an update by the Township.

Google's data center could go live in late 2027 or 2028.

• US Interior Sectrary believes winning the AI arms race is a priority
• We need lots of electricity now – renewables aren’t up to the job
• Climate change is ‘solvable’ – AI could even help

Speaking at a natural gas industry event in Italy promoting fossil fuels for AI power (via YouTube), US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum claimed the true existential threat is the US losing the AI arms race, not climate change.

Burgum acknowledged that climate change is indeed a concern, but it’s a ‘solvable’ one and less urgent than AI dominance.

He also criticized the global $5 trillion investment in wind, solar and batteries, calling it ineffective and inflationary.

Is winning the AI race more important than climate change?

Despite strong progress, renewables are still seen as too slow and costly, especially to meet AI energy demands. The event’s emphasis was on cheap and abundant energy to power AI data centers, with AI causing the highest use of electricity in human history.

However, ongoing geopolitical tensions continue to influence both climate change and artificial intelligence infrastructure, with the US planning to end Russian imports of uranium (for nuclear energy) by 2028.

On the other side of the coin, China’s strategy involves investing in all forms of energy – including coal, nuclear, wind and solar – to ensure maximum energy security and maintain its export advantage.

Speaking at the event, Trump’s Interior Secretary emphasized the need to focus on the humans on the planet today, not future generations, claiming that saving the planet depends on winning the AI arms race and not preventing one degree of global warming by 2100.

“We need power to do that, and we need it right now,” he stated.

Countering Burgum’s viewpoint, scientists estimate that we’re actually on track to read 2.7-3 degrees of global warming by 2100, and AI energy demands are only worsening this trend.

Although artificial intelligence could hold the key to unlocking greater climate change fixes, it’s also clear that a divide is emerging between whether further expansions – at the risk of sustainability – are going to be worth it.

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• Report notes 52% of the top 100 data center hubs are at high or very high risk of climate change
• 100% of APAC and Middle East hubs would be at high/very high risk by 2040
• Many are located in high water stress areas too

New research from Maplecroft has confirmed the common suspicion – data centers are tied closely to global warming, with their high energy and natural resource demand compounding effects, while simultaneously being at risk of climate change.

More than half of the world's top 100 data center hubs are already at high or very high risk from rising temperature, with cooling demands set to increase significantly, ultimately leading to higher energy and water usage.

This comes as demand for artificial intelligence, cloud computing and data storage continues to grow, showing no signs of slowing down.

Data centers are their own worst climate enemy

With 56% of the surveyed data centers at high or very high risk today, Maplecroft predicts that two in three (68%) could be at risk by 2040, and a staggering four in five (80%) by 2080.

This is more apparent in some regions than others, with 100% of Asia-Pacific and Middle East data center hubs expected to be at high or very high risk by as soon as 2040, highlighting the importance of strategic planning when it comes to location.

In the short and medium terms, Maplecroft believes shutdowns due to overheating, such as the ones seen across the UK and US in 2022, could become more frequent.

The report also explains how increased water demands could spark social and political conflict in certain communities, with more than half (52%) of data center hubs expected to be in high and very high water stress areas by 2030.

Regions like Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the Middle East, Lagos and Johannesburg in Africa, Los Angeles and San Diego in North America, and Channai and New Delhi in Asia, are all considered high-risk areas.

"The onus is on operators, customers and investors alike to assess rising climate threats, alongside social and political risk factors – not only for their own resilience, but because of a growing regulatory focus on third-party risk management," noted Sustainable Procurement and Human Rights Consultant Capucine May and Risk Insight Senior Asia Analyst Laura Schwartz.

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I get it, it's hard to buy sustainable tech. There's a lot we come up against when trying to constitute what a responsibly made gadget even looks like, from manufacturing's toll on the planet to the very nature of consumerism and the waste it inevitably leaves.

Not to mention that most tech products we purchase have some form of design obsolescence baked into them that deliberately forces us into buying the latest 'premium' version because of limited lifespans – and don't even get me started on the subscription model (well done Charlie Brooker for driving this point home in the best episode of Black Mirror season 7). It's a mind field to say the least.

Thankfully, there are companies out there that are slowly trying to change this repetitive cycle we seem to have gotten ourselves into. One of those is a Swedish startup called Exeger, which is behind the world's first solar-powered headphones.

Before the first self-powered cans were released in 2021, using solar power to charge everyday gadgets wasn't very commonplace. That's mainly because it adds an additional cost to making the products, creates design complexities to ensure adequate sunlight, and has limited efficiency.

It's why we've only ever really seen solar tech added to watches and pocket calculators. But a lot has changed since the first solar calculator was launched in the 1970s (anyone still have a Sharp EL-8026?), and that's mainly due to breakthroughs that have helped solve many of these limitations.

Exeger's patented solar cell technology, known as Powerfoyle, has been breaking down many of those earlier barriers, which is why it is increasingly finding its way into more products. Here are three new gadgets using Powerfoyle that you can soon get your hands on.

Self-charging speakers

Exeger has been doing a lot of work to modify its Powerfoyle tech to be better suited to headphone makers.

One of the first companies to utilize solar technology in headphones was Urbanista – read our Urbanista Miami review and Urbanista Los Angeles review for a detailed rundown of their performance. They have since added this technology to more of their product range, including the Phoenix wireless earbuds and Malibu portable speaker.

There's also been the Adidas RPT02 and Philips A6219 GO headphones, but the latest manufacturer to jump onboard the tech is Merry Electronics, which has partnered with Exeger to make solar-powered headphones for brands to buy.

Merry Electronics produces tech for a variety of companies, all of which have different ranges, sizes, and price points. This meant Exeger had to make adjustments to Powerfoyle to suit a wider range of products. One of the biggest limitations they faced, Exeger's Alexander Faust tells me, was the size of its solar cells.

"By going slimmer, not only can we [adapt to] more aesthetics but we can reach more products with much better design, which means that in terms of design and cost we can really address all the different price bands, including headphones below $100," Faust said.

Solar-powered headgear

As more companies and manufacturers partner with Exeger, Powerfoyle is finding its way into a lot of different types of everyday tech products.

One of the most practical ones I got to see at CES 2025 earlier this year was a helmet. This wasn't just a case of adding Powerfoyle tech to collect and store the energy from such a sun-drenched everyday item, though.

Instead, the Cosonic helmet is designed to power an internal microphone and speakers as well as an LED taillight on the back of it for anyone who rides a scooter or bike, particularly delivery drivers who require the extra features.

"This [type of prodcut] is focusing on the Uber Eats of China. You have different companies, one is called Meituan, [but you also have] Ele.me, Sam's Club, Daojia. You have like five top big ones and they all promise to deliver to your place in less than 30 minutes," Faust explained, adding "there are 15 million of those riders in China alone."

There's also the POC Omne Eternal helmet, which is aimed more at everyday cyclists who want an extra bit of safety when riding during low visibility. This doesn't have the extra audio connectivity features, just a rear light that automatically turns on when in low-light conditions.

Perpetual remotes

Exeger has already been working with companies like Hama and Omni to make solar-powered remotes.

One of the newest manufacturers that Exeger partnered with in 2025 is the electronics maker SMK, to create a different type of self-charging remote. This one isn't for your TV but for an appliance instead.

Just like the e-reader e-notetaker displays that Exeger makes, this proof-of-concept air conditioner remote uses the same type of display to help preserve energy. It also has a helpful charging feedback feature that lets you know where to place it to get the most light.

Outside of remotes, Exeger is also working on solar-powered sensors. Two of the latest are the Kapsch Elumian, which is the world’s first light-powered tolling transponder, and the Leedarson Light-Powered Door Window Sensor that alerts you when a window or door is open.

A brighter future

Powerfoyle isn't the only solar technology that is finding its way into everyday products. There are plenty of other companies experimenting with solar tech to make it more energy efficient and adaptable than those first few solar-powered power banks that came out (weren't those terrible?).

Of course, solar-powered gadgets are not going to completely solve high energy consumption, but every little bit makes a difference, and if we can send that message as consumers to the companies we buy from, then sustainable solutions are only going to become more accessible.

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Jonathan Scott, the handy half of The Property Brothers, is not just a friendly face on untold HGTV shows about renovating, building, and improving homes; he’s a hands-on sort of guy with an eye for technology and, especially, the intersection of smart home tech and sustainability.

I’ve known the Scott brothers for well over a decade, and I've always been impressed with Jonathan’s worldview. A licensed contractor, he sees a home as more than just a dwelling; it’s an ecosystem, and in his renovations and builds he likes to think from the ground up, and about where and when the best opportunity to include sustainable smarts present themselves.

A few years back we talked about his interest in promoting access to solar technology for homes, and given the ongoing changes in both technology and our climate, I thought it was high time to check back in.

Despite his busy schedule, which includes managing a media empire of TV shows, video content, a magazine, books, making guest appearances and enjoying family life, Scott agreed to speak with me about the importance of planning when it comes to finding the right mix of smart-home gear and eco-friendly (and sometimes disaster-avoiding) technology.

After catching up a bit, we dove into the core subject and talked about intelligent home solutions, big and small, and how they impact cost, energy, sustainability, and more. Our conversation has been edited for space and clarity.

TechRadar: You've helped in building and renovating hundreds of homes over the years, and I'm assuming – and you can tell me if I'm wrong – that some smart home technology is factored in. And I'm kind of curious about that, and how maybe it changes a project as you're going into it.

Jonathan Scott: It all depends. A lot of people, when they think about smart technology, they're thinking, 'Surround sound or cameras so I can creep on my friends and family and make sure they're not sneaking midnight snacks in the middle of the night' or whatever it might be. That's not what I think of when I think of true smart-home technology. I'm thinking of what is going to make your life easier, what is going to make the home safer, what is going to save you money. Those are the things that are all important.

One of the greatest pieces of technology right now is a water-saving piece of technology and catastrophic flood-averting technology. It is an AI-driven leak-detection technology with shut-off. Insurance companies are now starting to require them because they've realized they all but eliminate the possibility of having a catastrophic flood.

In my circumstance, it's not even just about the flooding. It's my kids leaving the taps on and then we get a big water bill because, in the guest house, the tap was running for a week and we didn't know. The technology will tell me within minutes that somebody's left the tap on, even if it's a dribble, it can find leaks in the wall.

That's one of the technologies that I think is incredible… because it's actually going to save you headaches and money at the end of the day.

TechRadar: And you have it on an app, right? You would get the notifications on an app, I'm assuming.

Jonathan Scott: I use Phyn and there's a bunch of different technologies out there. What I have discovered in my research is that Phyn is an ultrasonic technology, and it is hands down the best technology and price point on the market. There are other ones as well that don't use ultrasonic.

They have a little cog wheel inside. That's how they measure the flow and everything. The problem is if you have any hard water or mineralization over time, it gunks that up, and it stops working.

You want to always go with something that's going to last so that you don't have to worry about it. And when there is an emergency, it handles the job. That's why I like that. But it's one of those things where most people don't think about something like that until it's too late. And that's a problem. So, that is a type of smart home technology on the water side that I think is amazing. And you have to have the auto shut-off. There are some devices that just monitor flow, but then in an emergency, that's not going to help you, especially if you're not at home.

I've actually averted several floods, not only in our house but in our parents' house, where something happened and immediately [the technology] caught it, no water damage at all.

Same on the power side. There are tons of technologies where you can read the smart panels, for example, where it communicates with all your appliances and it says 'This appliance is using excess energy,' which usually means that the motor's about to go out on a fridge or something like that.

Jonathan Scott: You can also, if you went away on vacation and you're like, "Oh my gosh, did I leave the curling iron on?", you can shut off any individual circuit within the house using these power apps as well. You got to be kind of technically inclined, probably, to dig into that.

The real reason I love putting in a smart panel, like a SPAN panel, I think you and I have talked about SPAN before as well. They do smart panels, EV charging, all kinds of stuff. It's actually the future-proofing of the home that I'm excited about, because in the future, if there was a situation where you're out of power, your power's gone out in your neighborhood, you don't have solar storage backup, you could go and charge your EV, come back, plug it into your house and power your house off your EV.

In the future, there will be that two-way flow of technology, but then also the data from everything is really valuable. I think these technologies allow you to really get a big picture of the cost of your home, the power consumption, and where you can improve.

TechRadar: It really does sound like these things are married: smart home technology and sustainability. I guess what I'm curious about is how much planning in advance do you have to do to integrate these things?

When we're dealing with some smart home technology that we review here, it's so piecemeal, and some things don't talk to each other. So, these systems that you're talking about, are they requiring sort of one decision about a platform, or are they kind of platform-agnostic, and you can just pop them in?

Jonathan Scott: No matter what, the easiest time to incorporate any of this is when you're renovating or building or replacing an appliance that has broken down; that's the time when you should consider [for instance] induction for cooking.

Which, by the way, every single chef I know, every cook I know who has said "I don't want induction. I want to cook with real fire and real flame" – every single one of them has changed their mind. Everyone I've known has changed their mind after they got over the initial learning curve of induction, and now they're obsessed with it and they love it. The nice thing is that you don't have to deal with the benzene pumping into your house, the exhaust issues, the gas challenges.

So, the one good thing with these technologies is they're not only a lot more efficient to run because you're not running power and gas, they're just cleaner and safer, and healthier as well.

When you look at that leak-detection device, Phyn, that's something you can put in at any time because it just goes on your main water line coming into the house. It's a $550 device, and it will prevent you from ever having a leak or wasted water.

When it comes to something like a smart panel, you need to be doing a full panel rewire. That can cost several thousand dollars to put in, and the devices as well. You want to do that usually when you're doing a renovation.

Otherwise, if you have a hot water heater that's about to die, if you have a range or a fridge or something like that that's going to die, that's when you want to look at the energy-efficient options or the smart options.

I always say you don't need to break the bank going out of your way to replace an appliance that you just bought five years ago. If it's working perfectly fine, don't worry about it. But as these things come up, that's when you want to make sure you're getting the smartest, latest technology.

Lance Ulanoff: And it seems like the smartest latest technology is also usually the most energy efficient…

Jonathan Scott: Exactly. They're finding new ways all the time. I attend all of the conferences where the latest technologies are coming down. I know I've seen you at CES, but also ARPA-E [Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy, a US government agency that funds the research and development of advanced energy technologies] has this conference all around power and everything like that. There’s some really cool ideas floating around.

One of the ones that we're seeing is appliances that have battery backup within them. For example, ranges. You're cooking and the power goes out. A lot of people don't realize that if you have a battery backup, that only usually covers about four circuits. The batteries aren't covering your entire house; it's covering four circuits. You have to decide what you want to back up.

There are some appliances now where even if the power goes out, you trickle charge. Normally, a range, if it's electric or induction, it'll have a 220-volt plug, and so that's a lot of power, and it's also more expensive when you're running to it.

They have some new ones now that are only a 110-volt plug. So, just a regular outlet... it trickle-charges over time. Throughout the night, it fills up its battery. Then, when you're actually cooking, it's drawing from the battery and not from your power source. If most people are cooking at dinner time, that's when most utilities charge the most money for their power because that's when everybody's using it.

Lance Ulanoff: That's really smart because in my house right now, we're having some discussions about doing laundry and things, and dishwashing at what time. Because we just got this note, "Don't do it in peak time." There's a problem with that. You're going to, maybe, incur higher costs, and I hadn't actually heard about that [new technology]. Basically, what they sound like is hybrid devices. It's like hybrid cars, right?

Jonathan Scott: Yeah. And it's early. These technologies will improve. And even on the laundry side, GE has their Profile, which is this all-in-one washer-dryer. And in the past, a lot of these all-in-one units, they never dried very well. This system is incredible. So, first of all, you don't have to vent it. It's a heat pump system. It takes all the moisture out of the clothes. You don't have to have a vent going anywhere. It also only plugs in with 110 volts, so you don't have to run 220 volts.

You can essentially put laundry in a place where you would never have been able to put laundry before because wouldn't have been very easy. And it automatically puts your load over from wash to dry. If you have everything in there and you don't need to go and change it over, you don't have to do anything. I think it does the full [wash and dry] cycle in two hours, or an hour and a half.

All of these technologies, when they first come out, they're a little awkward. It's kind of the awkward teen years of technology. And then once it actually takes root, things will be totally different.

To be totally honest, my opinion of where the future is going to be in not only heating but also powering your home. Right now all of the appliances, so whether it's induction cooking, VRF [variable refrigerant flow, a type of HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system], or heat pump for heating and cooling. You do not need gas for your heating and cooling anymore. Even in cold climates, they've proven that the new heat pump technology is incredibly efficient.

The only place where right now, all-electric technology is not great is in instant hot water heating. If you want tankless hot water heating, if you go all electric, it just draws so much power that it ends up being expensive, and it also means you have to upgrade your service, usually. If you have room for a hot water tank, then a hot water system is the way to go. That's no problem. You just have to size it appropriately.

But give it another five, 10 years. I think the future is going to be every room where you need hot water – kitchen, bathroom – underneath the baseboard, there's that wasted space there. There's going to be a small unit in each of those that heats on demand as you need it. And that way, you're not traveling it all through your house in pipes, letting it heat up and cool down instantly.

TechRadar: And you're wasting the water in that distance. First, you turn it on, all the cold water comes, and then you get the hot water.

Jonathan Scott: Exactly. The other thing that I think is going to be in the further future, I think we're going to have some source of power that we bring into our home like a battery that powers the entire house for a period of time – a year, who knows what it would be. But at some point, I don't think it's going to be necessarily this interconnected grid system. I think it's going to be an independent power source, and that will transform our ability to build in areas that don't have a grid system set up.

TechRadar: Right. I was going to say, especially in far-flung areas where they don't have all that infrastructure set up already, it makes some sense. So that kind of segues into where we are right now in sort of the solar space.

I get people coming to my door once a month pitching me on it, and we've talked about it. We just haven't, because of the investment, the cost of it, and subsidies coming and going. But you were very invested in that the last time we talked [Jonathan produced a 2019 documentary on the subject]. I'm kind of curious where you see solar energy for homes right now.

Jonathan Scott: There are a lot of utilities that still fight homeowners being in charge of their own power and producing their own power because that takes money away from them. I've never agreed with that because it's sort of distributing the power so that you don't have the blackouts like Texas had or the surges and whatnot that California suffers from in the summer.

I do think distributed energy is a good idea. Depending on where you live, the payback period is a lot shorter or a lot longer because again, some jurisdictions, strangely enough, it seems to be the sunniest places, tend to have the worst solar policies. Shouldn't be the case; but you're right, it's a cost-prohibitive factor, and then the costs have come down a lot, but that tends to be when people decide, “Do I really want to do this? Do I want to do something that's good for the environment but I don't have to put the cash up, so I'll lease the system.”

There are companies that still lease it, like SunRun. They've also switched to a sales platform, too, because most people, I say, if you can afford to buy your system, you're better off doing that because then you reap the benefits once you pay back the system, and that cash goes into your pocket. If you lease it, you're doing something good for the environment. You might see a little bit of a reduction in your monthly costs, but you're not really going to benefit in a big way, you're just doing something good for the environment.

My thought on it is, be real cautious. There are some technologies like the Tesla Solar System, which is what I have on my roof here. They don't produce as much as your newer PV panels, but this is a historic home that we're in, so we wanted to make sure it architecturally looked like slate tile, which it does. We couldn't do PV panels on it.

Know where you are. Know what you're producing. If you have the ability to have the standard PV panels, it's a better way to go. You're going to get more efficiency out of it. But, just make sure as well that you're aware certain times of the year, you don't get the same production. If you have trees blocking the sun from hitting your roof, which I do have a section of my roof here that doesn't get sun, that affects your production. But overall, even from when I put my first system on in Vegas, I instantly saw my power bills drop to about 10% of what they were before. It really does have a positive effect.

TechRadar: I want to switch gears a little bit because I just have a couple more questions, and I'm curious about sort of sticking more with a little bit of the smart home idea. Do you run into a lot of people who are really very interested in the idea of the centralized control, and being able to talk to their house and have things happen? And is that something that's easy to do or hard to do?

Jonathan Scott: That's kind of a trick question. Yes, I do believe simplifying the consumer experience is important. Having a centralized control – my house here I use Control 4, Drew uses Apple's Home setup. In fact, Drew, my brother, is very connected. He's got the ability, he can talk to it.

Every room, when he walks in the room, he's got motion sensors, so it turns the light on, and none of that's monitored by another company. He does it all himself.

Mine, I have a company that comes in and does it. These days, and I think there are going to be a lot more jobs in home automation and AI integration as well, because it's the future of where the home is going to be.

It is getting a little bit complicated, especially when it comes to the security side of things. The big thing for me is making sure that no one could ever hack your network or create some vulnerability where all of a sudden somebody can get in and access your devices. So that's the scariest thing. You have to know what you're doing to make sure you don't have that.

TechRadar: Last question, because I know we're running short on time. Have you heard about this dumb home trend where people are like, I don't want any technology in my home. And have you encountered that with any of your renovations?

Jonathan Scott: I mean, there's never a shortage of dumb people in the world, that's for sure, but as far as dumb homes, the only time I've ever had clients who have said they don't want to put any smart technology is usually a cost factor. They want to put [the money] into the flooring or the cabinets. They want to put their budget towards something that they can see. And sometimes they don't think of the smart-tech aspect of it.

The suggestion I usually make is, if nothing else, wire your home so that inside the walls, you already have everything you need. If you want to run an access point, expand your Wi-Fi, you can do that. The biggest problem I have in a lot of newer homes is that there's bad Wi-Fi throughout.

People need Wi-Fi today. They want strong Wi-Fi. So, no matter what, I usually say, at least when you're running all of your electrical, run your Cat 6 [Ethernet cabling] to anywhere where you may want to have a Wi-Fi hub, and you will thank yourself later for it.

TechRadar: The one smart thing I did with my house when I did my big upgrade, I ran Cat 6 to every room in the house.

Jonathan Scott: Yeah, smart.

TechRadar: And believe me, yeah, we needed the mesh network.

Jonathan Scott: I take it to the next level at my house here. Not only do I have a mesh network everywhere, I also have my own cell repeaters on the property. So, where we are, there is no cell service in and around the properties, but I'm the one place where we have solid cell service here, and it's because I ran my own repeaters.

TechRadar: Then the last question. Do you think that it's fair to say that a smart home is generally going to be a more sustainable home?

Jonathan Scott: Yes, because it's two-factor: One, if you have something like a smart thermostat, it's turning down your demand at times when you don't need it, which is actually saving you money, saving you energy in your home. That's a good thing. But also, these technologies remind us of what our use is.

When you see in an app it says, “Hey, you've got excessive water usage happening here,” and you discover that your friend who's staying in the guest room is taking four-hour showers. These are all things that are also going to save you money.

What I like is a lot of the data from these technologies, it's just reminding us and almost gamifying the fact that we're like, "What can I turn that off. I don't need that running. Why is this still plugged in?"

TechRadar: Right. That makes sense.

What if your laptop could get a full hour’s worth of charge simply by leaving it in sunlight for 20 minutes? That’s the promise of Lenovo’s latest concept laptop, a Yoga model featuring a photovoltaic solar panel on the rear of the screen, converting light into charge for the laptop’s battery.

I’ve seen a lot of great concept devices from Lenovo and other laptop makers at events like MWC 2025, and I’m usually pretty excited about them. So let me be absolutely, unequivocally clear about this one:

THIS RULES.

I’m serious. To be honest, I can’t believe it took this long for a tech company to strap a solar panel to the back of an ultrabook. We need more of this. It feels like such a straightforward idea; naturally, the Yoga Solar PC can be charged conventionally via a cable, but just being able to close the lid and let it soak in the solar rays is brilliant - and basically ensures that you’ll never be stranded without any charge again (unless it’s the middle of the night, I suppose).

The power of the sun, in the palm of my hand

I can’t be the only one who’s gone on a trip or even just off to work, only to find that I’ve forgotten my laptop charger. Thus begins that stressful game of watching the battery life tick down, turning on efficiency mode, lowering the brightness, and praying.

But with Lenovo’s Solar Yoga? I could just leave it on a windowsill for an hour while I have lunch, and come back to a freshly-charged battery.

It’s also just a general triumph of eco-friendly engineering. The solar panel on the rear of the display (which, incidentally, doesn’t appear to make the laptop noticeably thicker than Lenovo’s other Yoga ultrabooks) offers an energy conversion rate of more than 24%, which is among the very best you’ll see in any type of photovoltaic solar cells.

Lenovo also designed a ‘Dynamic Solar Tracking system’, which continually monitors the influx of electricity and adjusts the laptop’s battery consumption to prioritize the solar energy to better preserve your battery life.

Solar-powered devices aren’t a new thing, of course - fellow laptop manufacturer Acer sells a foldable 200W solar panel that you can hook up to a power bank, ideal for charging your devices when you’re out in nature (or in a Mad Max-style apocalypse). But the Yoga Solar PC is the first ultrabook in the world with a fully-integrated solar power solution - and even though it’s just a concept right now, it’s one that I seriously hope makes it beyond the prototyping phase.

Having handled the device in person at MWC, it certainly looks and feels like it could be retail-ready. I can practically picture myself taking this bad boy camping, or even just down to the cafe.

The downsides?

Alright, okay, as much as I love this, I will admit that there are some potential stumbling blocks to this sort of tech being widely implemented in our laptops. For starters, solar panels aren’t exactly the most durable things in the world - and I have to imagine that replacing an integrated panel like this would be a costly and difficult affair. Having a laptop with glass on the outside does feel a little bit like a recipe for disaster. Drop it once, and it might be game over.

Heat buildup also feels like a natural problem here. After all, you generally don’t want your laptop to be too hot. But surprisingly, Lenovo had the Yoga Solar PC sitting under a bright lamp on their stand at the expo (presumably for hours at a time), and while the back panel itself was a bit warm to the touch, the rest of the laptop didn’t feel hot at all. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that a metal exterior lid would probably cook your laptop more if you left it out in the sun.

Lastly, I suspect that if it were to make it to general production, the Yoga Solar PC would be very expensive. I’ve looked into getting solar panels installed on my house - and sure, this is just one solar panel, and it’s a lot smaller, but it’s also part of the laptop chassis rather than a standalone item - oh, and these Yoga laptops aren’t exactly bargain-basement hardware to begin with.

Still, as someone who enjoys a good foray into the great outdoors, I think this proof-of-concept is a fantastic idea and I’d gladly throw money at Lenovo to own one. A laptop that’s more eco-friendly and can save my bacon if I forget my charger? Sign me up.

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Despite the wide-ranging potential applications of AI technology, concerns remain about its reliability, the legality of training models on copyrighted data without permission, and environmental impact.

In face of this, many investors believe generative AI will become integral to industries such as business analytics, creative services, and automation.

Analysts predict 60% of current skeptics will embrace generative AI within the next few years, knowingly or not, and investors are not slowing down as they continue to throw their hat in the ring.

The rapid expansion of Generative AI

New figures from PitchBook hae claimed investment in generative AI startups remains robust, with venture capitalists pouring $3.9 billion across 206 deals in the third quarter of 2024. US-based companies attracted the lion’s share, raising $2.9 billion across 127 deals and this does not include OpenAI’s notable $6.6 billion round.

Some standout funding rounds include Magic, a coding assistant startup that secured $320 million in August, and Glean, an enterprise search company, which raised $260 million in September.

Meanwhile, Hebbia, a business analytics firm, drew $130 million in July. Furthermore, investments extended beyond the U.S., with China’s Moonshot AI raising $300 million and Japan’s Sakana AI closing a $214 million round focused on scientific discovery.

Unfortunately, the rapid expansion of generative AI also brings challenges, particularly regarding energy consumption. According to Bain & Company, companies deploying AI at scale will require gigawatt-scale data centers, which consume up to 20 times the power of typical data centers today. This demand risks straining global electricity and labour markets.

The reliance on data centers has already prolonged the use of coal-fired power plants, with Morgan Stanley warning greenhouse gas emissions could triple by 2030 if the trend continues unchecked.

In response, major data center operators like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google are turning to nuclear energy to offset their environmental impact. Microsoft, for instance, announced plans to source power from the controversial Three Mile Island nuclear facility, though such projects could take years to become operational.

Despite these environmental and technical hurdles, investor interest in generative AI remains high. ElevenLabs, known for its viral voice-cloning tool, is reportedly seeking to raise funds at a $3 billion valuation. Black Forest Labs, the company behind a controversial image generator on the X platform, is also in talks for a $100 million funding round.

Via TechCrunch

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IBM has released its most powerful geospatial foundational model to date, with Prithvi-EO-2.0 boasting 600 million parameters.

The model is trained on NASA's HLS V2 product which provides 30m granularity, with Prithvi 2.0 capable of picking out individual tree-species and crop types from satellite images, and cattle and solar panels from drone footage.

IBM’s range of geospatial models are allowing communities experiencing the firsthand effects of climate change to identify risk-areas, and warn populations ahead of time.

Battling energy, flooding, and urban heat islands

Speaking on the development of Prithvi 2.0 at IBM Research Zurich, Juan Bernabe-Moreno, Director IBM Research Europe and Ireland & UK, explained the model is trained on both Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 (HLS) data and Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA-2) data.

Using HLS data allows users to fine tune specialized models capable of detecting flooding, wildfires, and landslides, as well as quantifying biomass, classify specific crops, measure canopy heights and track land usage.

The MERRA 2 model is capable of tracking weather, hurricanes, and turbulence, alongside specific capabilities in climate model precipitation, weather modelling, and temperature mapping. Bernabe-Moreno notes IBM hopes to have a climate prediction model released in 2025.

What's more, Prithvi 2.0 has expanded capabilities such as Multi-Temporal Cloud Gap Imputation that allow the model to reconstruct areas of satellite imagery that are covered by clouds, which helps improve accuracy when monitoring environments, planning agricultural changes, and estimating crop yields.

IBM also hopes to take the lessons learned from the development of Prithvi 2.0 and use them to create an open source model aimed at managing power infrastructure and sustainable energy called GridFM. The project, in collaboration with LF Energy and Hydro Quebec, looks to build a model capable of predicting power loads and renewable energy generation, track distribution and transmission of power, and simulate future power usage to help forecast pricing and demand.

The future of climate prediction

“The global south is at the forefront of climate change,” says Ambassador Philip Thigo, Special Envoy on Technology for the Republic of Kenya, noting it is especially hard for areas affected by climate change in Africa to address the challenges they face without the right technology.

By being able to access tools such as Prithvi 2.0, it is now possible for countries with less resources to address the effects of climate change and help to preserve their ecosystems.

In 2023, IBM announced a partnership with the Government of Kenya with the aim of assisting reforestation efforts in areas that have seen large levels of biomass decline caused by human activity. Ambassador Thigo states that IBM’s geospatial models have allowed the Kenyan Government to not only accurately track their reforestation efforts, but also attract project funding by being able to provide detailed information on their efforts.

Additionally, Prithvi 2.0 and its data has been used to track and predict flooding patterns, allowing the Kenyan Government to issue 48 hour warnings during periods of heavy rain for communities at risk of flooding.

For Matthew Chersich, Research Professor in the Climate and Health Directorate at Wits RHI, heat is a significant area of concern. Chersich focuses on urban heat islands - urban areas that are markedly hotter than surrounding areas due to infrastructure, human activity, and reduced green space.

Geospatial AI has been a key tool in mapping variations of heat in African urban areas, and has allowed researchers to model health risks based on heat islands, flooding, and other climate issues - being especially useful as an early warning system. The 30m x 30m resolution provided by Prithvi 2.0 allows for highly localized temperature readings which can be cross referenced with drought data to provide specified warnings to residents in and around heat islands and drought-risk areas.

GridFM could make the path to sustainability more sustainable

“By 2050, power production will need to double in order to meet decarobonization goals,” François Mirallès, Researcher at Hydro Québec, points out, further stating by 2035 around 60tWhs of sustainable energy will be added to the energy grid. The difficulty in managing and predicting supply and demand is exacerbated by the lack of consistency, when it comes to sustainable energy sources such as solar, wind, and tidal.

The long term goal in the development of GridFM is to provide the energy industry with a model that can be trained to perform highly specialized tasks to address and handle these multiple variables to not only provide long-term energy forecasting, but also hourly predictions and anomaly detection.

Dan Brown, Head of Marketing at LF Energy Foundation, adds to Mirallès’ point stating that addressing climate change and decarbonization “requires change from the ground up.” The complexity of sustainable energy makes it difficult to scale, but open source models and research are helping to fuel innovation and address the key challenges of creating a sustainable future, especially for tasks such as load forecasting and expansion prediction.

One particular challenge faced in the training of AI to predict energy usage and peak loads is that energy data is regulated creating governance issues in its usage. Brown notes that tools such as OpenSynth are especially useful in these circumstances, as it is trained on real data but provides synthetic data in its outputs.

IBM and its partners in the AI Alliance are demonstrating that open source is the future of research and innovation, allowing trust in AI models to be built and demonstrated in transparency and collaboration.

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• A group that lobbied on behalf of Exxon Mobil has been implicated in a hack-and-leak campaign
• The campaign targeted environmental groups critical of the oil and gas industry
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A report by Reuters has claimed a group lobbying on behalf of energy giant Exxon Mobil is allegedly being investigated for its targeted hack-and-leak operations against critics of the oil industry.

The report stated critics were targeted in a prolonged campaign between 2015 and 2018 which saw over 500 email accounts hit by attacks that were in an apparent effort to stifle investigations and lawsuits being filed against Exxon Mobil.

Now, two Democratic senators and numerous environmental groups are calling for an investigation into the hacking and for greater accountability to be levied against Exxon Mobil for its potential involvement.

Greater oversight

In response to the report, Exxon Mobil denied having any involvement in the attacks, further stating, “if there was any hacking involved, we condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”

The report stated the DCI Group, who was working on behalf of Exxon Mobil at the time, was investigated by the FBI for hacking into oil industry critics and leaking their emails to the press. DCI responded to the report in a statement saying the company “has not been involved in nor commissioned others to hack or to obtain information unlawfully.”

Groups named as victims in the report include the Center for International Environmental Law and The Union of Concerned Scientists, alongside several other environmental organizations such as Oil Change International, SKD Knickerbocker, and Earthworks.

Senate Budget Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse voiced his concern at the implications in the Reuters report stating that the Department of Justice, who have not yet commented on the allegations, should “take a good, long look at Exxon and its fellow fossil fuel flunkies.”

Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden echoed these concerns, emphasizing that cyberespionage “threatens the very core of America's democracy and fundamentally undermines our justice system.”

Via Reuters

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A new partnership between Google, energy firm Intersect Power, and climate solutions organization TPG Rise Climate, will look to to provide clean power for the company's future data centers.

As the demand for AI grows rapidly, tech companies are expanding their capabilities - but Google is making a positive step towards a sustainable future with on-site renewable energy sources for its data centers.

Data centers are notoriously causing energy consumptions to skyrocket, and at the current rate, are soon set to use more energy than we currently produce. This means that firms are having to weigh up the accelerated consumption and their sustainability goals.

A ‘power first’ approach

To help tackle this issue, Google is hoping to connect its data centers directly to solar and wind farms, instead of the existing power grid which overwhelmingly uses fossil fuels. This would also ease the burden on the already weakened power grid, and would improve reliability for energy customers.

The first phase of this infrastructure development is expected to be operational by 2026, and amounts to a $20 billion investment in all. In future, where possible, Google will build data centers on campuses equipped with their own clean power, in ‘co-located industrial parks’.

Google hopes this will be a ‘blueprint for the future’, and allow the firm to expand its digital infrastructure in a sustainable way. It looks unlikely that AI will be any less power-intensive for the foreseeable future, so creating sustainable solutions will be key.

“To realize AI’s potential, the growth in electricity demand must be met with new, clean power sources.” said Amanda Peterson Corio, Global Head of Data Center Energy at Google.

”The scale of AI presents an opportunity to completely rethink data center development — by co-locating them where possible with the grid-connected carbon-free energy that keeps them up and running,”

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Nvidia is deploying its GH200 chips in European supercomputers, and as HPCwire reports researchers are already releasing the first performance benchmarks from these systems with impressive results.

In a paper titled Understanding Data Movement in Tightly Coupled Heterogeneous Systems: A Case Study with the Grace Hopper Superchip, published on the arXiv pre-print server, researchers tested the GH200, which integrates both a CPU and GPU, to demonstrate its speed and benefits for AI and scientific applications.

The Alps system at the Swiss National Supercomputing Center, which is still in the process of being upgraded, was one of the testbeds for these benchmarks. Researchers found the GH200 showed strong performance in AI tasks, especially in leveraging unified memory pools for large memory footprint applications. Each quad GH200 node in the test setup had 288 CPU cores, four Hopper GPUs, and a total of 896GB of memory, comprising 96GB of HBM3 and 128GB of LPDDR5 per superchip.

Climate change modeling

In terms of raw power, the GH200 achieved 612 teraflops using HBM3 memory in certain AI tasks, vastly outperforming DDR memory, which managed 59.2 teraflops. When tested for inference tasks on Llama-2, the GH200 was up to four times faster with HBM3 memory than with DDR.

Another paper spotted by HPCwire on the arXiv server, Boosting Earth System Model Outputs and Saving PetaBytes in their Storage Using Exascale Climate Emulators, compared GH200 clusters with AMD’s MI250X and Nvidia’s A100 and V100 chips in supercomputers like Frontier, Leonardo, and Summit. The GH200 showed impressive results for climate simulations, a notoriously data-heavy workload, with the Alps system topping out at 384.2 million petaflops.

The research highlights the GH200’s ability to handle mixed workloads - combining AI and scientific simulations - while outperforming older chips. These first studies point to Nvidia's GH200 as a crucial step in advancing performance in high-performance computing environments and it will be interesting to see how this new technology evolves as more systems integrate Nvidia's superchips and additional benchmarks emerge.

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Right off the back of announcing that Google Workspace admins can now track their company’s electricity usage, Google has revealed another trick up its sleeve as it works towards its goal of being carbon-free by 2030.

The company has announced a deal with Direct Air Capture (DAC) company Holocene to produce carbon removal credits for $100 per ton of C02 removed from the atmosphere, which Google claims is the cheapest price negotiated for use of DAC technology.

Google hopes the credits will be delivered by ‘the early 2030s’, although it was keen to emphasize the technology is very much in the early stages of development, and faces a number of obstacles, including cost and capacity.

Direct air capture - what is it, and why isn’t it ready yet?

Direct air capture works by using chemical or physical extraction to capture C02 from ambient air for it to be stored underground or re-used in products. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s 2022 report claims that billions of tons of C02 will need to be removed from the atmosphere by 2050 to halt climate change, and cites DAC as one of the most promising ways to meet that target.

Carbon removal credits, earned via DAC, are incentives for companies to work towards becoming carbon free; credits have a value, and can then be sold in bulk.

Google is mitigating the cost barrier chiefly by providing upfront financial support to Holocene and accepting carbon removal credits from its lowest-cost facilities. Holocene itself combines liquid and solid-based removal systems, which Google believes will bring the cost of DAC operations down over time.

Additionally, the U.S. Government has crafted the 45Q tax credit - incentivising DAC development and investment by giving eligible suppliers like Holocene $180 per ton removed.

Perhaps the biggest roadblock to DAC is its present lack of scale. As of today, DAC plants cannot produce more than 2000 carbon removal credits per calendar year. Google estimates that Holocene will capture 100,000 tons of C02 by the early 2030s deadline; but also says that this is not nearly enough needed to meaningfully tackle climate change.

It does believe that achieving low-cost DAC at a smaller scale is key to giving confidence to ‘the carbon removal market’, which is important, even if it seems profoundly exhausting to watch such an important goal reduced to the terminology stocks and shares and holders.

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Following on from the introduction of Carbon Footprint for Google Workspace at Google Cloud Next ‘23, admins can now use the service to monitor and analyse their electricity usage.

The announcement comes via a partnership with Electricity Maps, a company providing an API offering readouts of “real-time and predictive electricity signals” to customers.

Previously, only top-level admins could access carbon footprint information, but now the ability to assign a custom role with the ability to do so is baked into Workspace.

Carbon emissions on the rise

Google is right to note in the announcement that cloud computing - and AI - have drastically increased carbon emissions from the tech industry.

However, while the incorporation of the Electricity Maps API will help companies know what needs to be done to keep emissions down, the announcement fails to address the fact of the matter; that, as one of the best cloud storage and AI tool providers, and largest companies in the world, Google is probably more responsible as a contributor to climate change than any of its customers.

The announcement does include a mention of Google’s intent to be “carbon-free” by 2030, by both cutting down and moving to “nature-based” solutions, while sharing these with companies worldwide, which is honourable, and, providing it actually achieves this, does mean that Carbon Footprint for Workspace isn’t just Google passing the buck to others.

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A new AI chatbot can help you understand climate change and how it's causing a global crisis. The Washington Post has introduced Climate Answers, which is designed to respond to your questions directly using the newspaper's climate journalism. 

The AI draws from the publication's extensive archive on the subject to compose its response in everyday language, along with links to the pieces it is using as sources. 

"The rise of chat interfaces powered by generative AI got us thinking: How could we offer an experience that leaned into the expertise and high-quality reporting produced by The Washington Post?" Washington Post chief technology officer Vineet Khosla explained in a blog post. "This experiment leverages artificial intelligence to help our users discover and explore our authoritative climate reporting."

Climate Answers turns to articles published by the Washington Post Climate & Environment and Weather sections since 2016 to respond to queries. The AI has some strict guardrails on it to prevent hallucinations or misinformation. If the tool doesn't surface any useful articles to use as sources for an answer, it will just say it can't answer rather than provide an incorrect or irrelevant answer. 

Interactive AI Journalism

Accurate and accessible climate information is increasingly crucial. The effects of climate change are impossible to ignore for anyone paying a slight bit of attention, but greater awareness of what's happening and how to combat it are crucial to actually mitigating the deadly future we all face. Utilizing AI to streamline access to climate reporting is a useful way for the Washington Post to contribute. That said, while the paper didn't cite the specific AI models involved, some of them are quite high in energy costs, lending some irony to the project.

Khosla pitches Climate Answers as a way to personalize reader experiences and tailor how they absorb the paper's reporting to their preferences. The idea is to make the Washington Post's journalism more interactive and accessible through conversational AI. Khosla said he hopes this specific project will deepen the public's understanding of climate issues.

Climate Answers is a major step in the Washington Post's larger plans for integrating AI into its operations as part of its "Build It" program. The newspaper has already introduced AI-written article summaries in some cases and employs a synthetic voice created by AI to read newsletters out loud.

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It's been more than 15 years since Exeger began its attempts to create a new way to power your electronic devices and not only has the Swedish startup been successful in inventing solar cells that are powered by both natural and artificial light sources, but it's also managed to partner with several leading consumer brands to add the tech to their products.      

But what exactly is this new solar power tech? How does it work? And which devices currently use it? Exeger's CEO Giovanni Fili speaks to TechRadar this World Earth Day (April 22) about inventing 'Powerfoyle', a patented solar cell material that transforms everyday products into self-powered machines. 

With the ability to convert any indoor and outdoor light into clean, endless energy, there are countless environmental benefits to creating more sustainable electronic solutions that cut down on e-waste. We caught up with Exeger CEO Giovanni to hear more about how it works. 

How does Powerfoyle work? 

"Powerfoyle is based on a lab scale discovery called 'dye-sensitized solar cells', which we have both reinvented and scaled to match the demands of global companies like 3M, adidas and Vusion Group. 

With over 300 patents, I am proud to say that Exeger is a deep tech company that has taken a fundamental scientific breakthrough from idea to successful product launch, and we are now scaling with some of the world’s largest brands as customers. 

Our solar cell technology mimics photosynthesis. [To put it simply] just like plants convert light energy into usable energy through the colour of their leaves, Powerfoyle converts any light energy, both artificial indoor light and natural light, into electricity through the dye.

Once photons are turned into electrons, they are then transported throughout the cell in our proprietary electrode, which is 1000x better at conducting electricity than what is traditionally used. The electrons then can be used, often to recharge a battery. 

Unlike batteries, which only store energy, Powerfoyle produces energy, and now, for the first time since portable consumer electronics first appeared in the 1950's, we see a power source directly integrated into the products we use."

Where is indoor solar tech being most used? 

"There are no other solar cell companies that are working in the indoor [solar cell] space with the scale, design and customer base that we have. Since the first products with Powerfoyle were launched in 2021 [such as Urbanista Miami
and Urbanista Los Angeles headphones], there have been a handful of companies finding their segment of the market. 

We have identified three key markets in the indoor solar cell tech space: digitization of retail, computer peripherals [including various audio products such as wireless earbuds and even Bluetooth speakers] and remote controls [like Samsung's solar powered smart remote]."

What's unique about Powerfoyle? 

"There are really three key factors that not only set us apart from all the other technologies, but will also lead to Powerfoyle becoming a new standard in consumer electronics.

One. Design is essential for any product that you hold in your hands, especially in consumer electronics. Powerfoyle can be made to look like most materials, like brushed steel, leather, carbon fibre and many more. It is also made in any shape, is thin and flexible, and is very durable. These characteristics allow Powerfoyle to be seamlessly integrated into any product.

Two. The usable power from our cells is unmatched. The key difference here is that as an integrated solar cell in products, Powerfoyle delivers as much as when tested standalone. What’s interesting is that other technologies, especially glass based solar cells, lose up to 50% efficiency due to numerous factors. The easiest to understand is that a glass cell cannot be a structural part of a product while Powerfoyle actually is.

And third, we can cater to the world's largest companies thanks to the scale of our operations. We have over 200 employees, 300 granted patents and two fully operational factories with a production capacity of 2.5 million square meters once fully scaled."

Where can you buy Powerfoyle-powered devices? 

"The 3M Peltor headset, which hit the market just last month, is one of the products that excites me the most with an incredible partner. 3M is a truly innovative company, and our values align so well that working together is effortless. 

Our very first customer, Urbanista, has also been at the forefront of the audio industry, launching a whole lineup of audio products with the very first Powerfoyle product, the Urbanista Los Angeles, followed by the Phoenix earbuds, and last December, the Malibu portable speakers. Urbanista is actually coming out with the second generation of both the Los Angeles and Phoenix, with a sleek updated design. 

And lastly, we have the adidas RPT02, launched in 2022, which was also a great success. In terms of technological excellence, Powerfoyle enables all the products mentioned to be completely self-powered, meaning that the typical user never has to charge any of these products. All they need to do is use them the way they normally would, and Powerfoyle will convert the light that is there anyway into energy for a completely seamless experience with zero hassle.

Powerfoyle has been extremely well received on the market, and all our customers are putting our brand on the products, a lot like Gore-tex and Intel Inside. The reason our customers have chosen to showcase Powerfoyle is the added brand value associated with our technology. Any product with the Powerfoyle name means ultimate convenience for users, and it’s done in an environmentally friendly way.

As a user, just look for 'Powerfoyle' and you’ll know that product has a power source directly integrated into it! Other than that, the beauty of Powerfoyle is that it can be seamlessly integrated into any product, so for now, the products you find on the market with our technology are so well integrated that there is no way to know there is a solar cell on the products, except of course our brand name."

What's next for Powerfoyle? 

"We are in the process of scaling Stockholm II, our second factory, to match the customer demand we saw last year. In 2023, Stockholm II became operational, which in turn led to Exeger signing four major contracts with the world leader in each of their respective markets. That was followed by a €35 million [about $37 million / £30 million] loan granted by the European Investment Bank as part of a larger fund raise to swiftly scale our manufacturing capacity. 

In the second half of this year, we will start shipping to several of the customers we signed last year. It’s an extremely important and exciting time for Exeger! This is the tipping point for the mass adoption of Powerfoyle."

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IBM has announced a collaboration with NASA to develop a foundation model trained on geo-spatial data provided by the agency to help advance earth science.

This model will be developed to be tunable and reusable, focusing on tackling climate change using new technologies and help advance weather forecasting, especially when it comes to extreme weather events.

IBM hopes to develop this foundation model in a fully open source environment and, upon completion, release it as a free to use tool for all communities to use.

New ways to learn

Machine learning is old news compared to foundation models. Previously, the data required to ‘teach’ a machine a certain task had to be labeled in a very laborious manner by researchers so that the machine knew, for example, that a zero is a zero and that a one is a one.

In very simple terms, foundation models can ‘self-supervise’ their learning by training its algorithm on a corpus (set of data) using masking or completion tasks - a very basic example of this could be removing a verb from a sentence, or removing the last word of a sentence - and then the algorithm completes the sentence and uses context from the corpus to see if it is right or wrong.

The data provided by NASA, such as the Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 (HLS), includes over 40 years worth of weather data alongside readings from satellites and sensors. So just how far ahead, and how accurate, could we expect this model to be able to predict? Who better to ask than Juan Bernabe-Moreno, Director of IBM Research Europe for Ireland and the UK.

“If we think of the time scale, then you have narrowcasting, which is very, very immediate, almost, and you don't need much [data] to do a good job there. Then you have weather where you have days - the next seven days, next 10 days - where the difficulty starts, and then climate is a way longer process. We talk about months, even years.

“What's going to be the performance? That's something that's in the making.  But the first results, they look very promising. We're in the process of defining the right architectures for the learning, and we have some encouraging results already.”

Extreme weather events are one of the main challenges facing this project, as artificial intelligence tends to stick closer to the predictable norms within the data, and extreme weather events such as El Niño tend to be outliers. Moreover, extreme weather events have been rarer in the past and are rapidly becoming more common, so using historical data that doesn’t reflect today's reality is another issue. According to Bernabe-Moreno, there are three perspectives.

“The idea is to use the technology to detect a pattern. This pattern is constituted by repetition. So the more extreme weather events we have, the easier it is to find the pattern. Then what we do is we try to analyze this window within when this particular weather event is happening. 

“The third [thing] that we tried to do is to also understand and to put some constraints on top of the model. For example, can we use some physics to learn or to predict or to keep the boundaries of our prediction? Or do we need to train it in a particular way so that we don't remove the outliers in particular data points. So there's a lot of tasks that we have in our scope to try to tackle this strong weather event prediction.”

 Endless applications

In a demonstration at the IBM Research Laboratory in Zurich, one of the use cases was for insurance, particularly around flooding detecting and identifying flood-risk areas for insurance. The foundation model has the potential to be used to predict the potential flooding impact in advance so that mitigation controls can be put in place.

“Also [you can] use this information to start taking some adaptation measures, and obviously that's something that insurance companies can acknowledge in terms of, well, in the event that it happens, I'm more comfortable. Given the coverage here, if I know that this measure has already been put in place.

“So that's one scenario, very particular, but just to show you the potential of this particular geospatial analytics.”

Even outside of insurance, the applications are seemingly endless. If your business or organization is threatened by any kind of weather, this foundation model can be used to identify those risks, simulate scenarios, and help plan for the worst case scenario.

“For example, for property development. So it's very important to understand how land use is evolving, how, again, we go to climate adaptation measures. Which climate adaptation measures are important? Which ones are in place?

“There are some very beautiful visual simulations on what the impact of the climate is if we didn't do anything in terms of adaptation, but we keep with the current, steady increase of temperature; the 1.5 scenario; the 2 scenario; the 3 scenario. You really get to see how these things happen. So, for property development it's very important.

“You have another way for agriculture. How is land use evolving and what are the consequences? And what's the right type of crop? And what's the right irrigation strategy? So there are many. That's the beauty about this foundational model.”

Climate collaborations 

IBM recently announced its collaboration with the Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) and Royal HaskoningDHV to identify how climate change and extreme weather could affect aviation operations in the future. It is hoped that the foundation model will be able to automate and scale climate risk assessment processes.

“Royal HaskoningDHV is a great engineering company, and they were very keen on engaging with us when they saw what we were doing with NASA, because they have great engineering skills, but they needed some help in terms of understanding, for example, the operations of  an airport, right?  Extreme weather events might affect, in the short term, the operation of an airport and how much does it cost?

“So they can quantify and they can take some measures, for example, understanding the flooding effect there. But also something very interesting that we are doing with them is trying to project the long term effect of climate change. 

“So we are trying to understand the effects of climate change, using these product projections, on particular infrastructure. That's very new because you see that end to end. You see the effect of climate or weather, extreme weather events, and you see the monetary effect or the operational effect on something as essential as an airport.”

"A game changer"

One of the most exciting parts about this project is that the final product will be available totally open source and free to use for anyone. The main philosophy behind this decision is that research communities or communities local to a climate initiative should have the tools available to identify the impact of climate change and the steps being taken to mitigate its effects. This is what most excites Bernabe-Moreno.

“We are making these efforts quantifiable. So we could quantify the measures that the Kenyan government implemented with a number, in terms of, that's the above ground biomass this particular year, then there were some interventions in terms of putting in the fence, planting more trees here, and then we took another picture of the above ground biomass a few years later, and you can compute the delta and you can really compute also how much more carbon you can capture because you have a positive delta.

“It's a way for the community, for everyone, to have a tool where they can really track at community level things like, ‘We promised to invest so much in deforestation.’ Now you can really track that.  And that's really encouraging because one of the problems we have with climate change is it is very abstract. 

“It's very difficult to say ‘We planted so many trees.’ But where are they? What's the effect? How many did we lose, right? And now, actually we can measure, and that's for me a game changer.”

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Ahead of COP28, IBM has today announced a collaboration with NASA, Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, the Government of Kenya, and the United Kingdom’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Hartree Centre to throw its weight behind efforts to combat climate change.

The collaboration will see enhanced research and development into geospatial mapping and AI, in the hopes of developing a multi-modal foundation model for weather prediction.

Alongside weather prediction, the model will help combat climate change and its effects through analyzing heat islands, mapping reforestation efforts, and predicting the impact of extreme weather events.

 A rainy renaissance 

In the fight against climate change, new technologies can provide an edge in predicting and tackling extreme weather, alongside analyzing the impact of projects such as reforestation.

With this collaboration, IBM hopes to produce a tunable foundational model to help with weather and climate prediction that, when finished, will be open-source and publicly available to allow unhindered global research to take place.

Last year, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting began using AI emulators with historical data to generate forecasts more accurately than ever before.

It is worth noting that AI emulators are developed with the intention of performing one specific task from one data set, but provide the benefit of not requiring high performance computing (HPC) solutions. Instead, these AI emulators can be run on a desktop computer in a matter of minutes.

Therefore, by creating a foundational model trained on the 40 years of weather observations within the MERRA2 dataset, pre-trained AI emulators can be developed and distributed to researchers, resulting in faster scientific discoveries.

“Climate change is a real and pressing issue that we must find new ways to address as quickly and efficiently as possible, including through today’s most advanced AI technologies,” said Alessandro Curioni, IBM Fellow and Vice President, Accelerated Discovery at IBM

“AI foundation models utilizing geospatial data can be a game-changer because they allow us to better understand, prepare and address the many climate-related events effecting the health of our planet in a manner and speed never before seen.

“We are hopeful these technologies can help accelerate the rate at which we derive and apply solutions for a safer and healthier planet for future generations.”

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A new report from the Carbon Trust (a UK not-for-profit company that provides energy-saving and carbon-cutting advice to businesses) has highlighted challenges that the games industry faces when it comes to cutting down on carbon emissions and is urging gamers and those in the industry to do their part to hit climate targets. 

The report is also encouraging further research into next-gen console development, and what can be done there to reduce environmental impact. 

According to a press release, the report - titled Untangling the carbon complexities of the video gaming industry - was commissioned in support of the Playing for the Planet alliance and supported by UK trade body UK Interactive Entertainment (Ukie - which helped scope out the project and bring in engagement with the games industry). 

The report aims to provide “practical advice” to businesses within the industry when it comes to knowing the scale of the ‘scope three’ emissions (indirect emissions that are a consequence of a company’s activities) they produce. Using this advice, they can get an accurate picture of their total emissions, enabling them to set targets in order to align with climate goals set by the Paris Agreement - an international treaty that aims to limit the increase in mean global temperature 1.5°C (2.7°F) above pre-industrial levels.

Elsewhere, the report encourages further research into the design of the next generation of consoles in order to encourage developers, manufacturers, and publishers to consider decarbonization goals and environmental performance in the production of future hardware. It also provides a list of steps that gamers can take to do their own bit, such as checking out their system settings and enabling energy-saving modes.

“Video games are unique in that they combine interactive storytelling, artistic expression, and the latest technologies to create fun, challenging, and engaging experiences,” the report’s lead author, Matt Anderson, said in a statement. “All of this combines to make a complex landscape for video game businesses to understand and apply carbon accounting frameworks in a critical first step towards taking climate action. 

“We hope that this report serves as a helpful way for businesses to level up to hit speed and scale in their climate action goals with players also engaged on this agenda.”

If you’re looking for some fantastic new game recommendations, look no further than our lists of the best PC games, best PS5 games, and best Xbox Series X games.

A trio of Google Maps Platform APIs have been announced in a bid to help developers tap into up-to-date environmental information that could prove vital to public health, trade, and more.

As the world continues to reduce and eliminate global warming, the climate is changing around us and for many, it can pose a serious risk.

The mapping giant has now launched AI-assisted tools to help map solar, air quality, and pollen in a bid to guide decisions that impact climate change.

Google Maps solar, air quality, and pollen APIs

Google is overlaying its existing aerial imagery and environmental data with new AI and ML technologies to provide developers, businesses, and organizations to work with nature rather than against it.

Building on 2015’s Project Sunroof, the Solar API serves as a tool for businesses to estimate the potential solar energy that could hit panels placed on top of buildings around the world. From launch, 40 countries will be able to access the tool including the US and France.

Google’s Vice President and General Manager for Geo Sustainability, Yael Maguire, explained how factors including roof geometry, trees, and shade are considered to present potential solar concentration.

The second offering, its Air Quality API, simultaneously pulls data from government monitoring stations, meteorological data, sensors, and satellites together with live traffic information in over 100 countries to unlock real-time indicators amid events like wildfires.

Finally, the Pollen API considers specific plant geolocations with meteorological factors like wind speeds and directions to create visualizations across more than 65 countries. In the announcement, Maguire said that global warming is allowing plants to grow in new places and sufferers are being faced with new allergens.

While all of these features have been available to a lesser degree in Google Maps products, giving developers access to tap into the information via APIs has the potential to get this increasingly important information into the hands of millions more.

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Amid concerns over emissions and a reliance on other countries for energy supplies, many European nations are turning to existing technology to heat homes. 

The continent is already home to numerous data centers run by some of the biggest technology firms, which consume vast amounts of energy to keep hot computers and servers cool.

The enormous amount of heat generated as a byproduct of storing our growing bank of data  is typically dissipated through the use of air conditioning units or cooling towers, which means that the heat is wasted. However, a growing number of data centers are now using this excess heat to warm homes and buildings.

Data centers for heating

In Denmark, Meta has been recovering excess heat from its Odense data center since 2020, and hopes to be able to heat the equivalent of 11,000 homes in the next year. 

Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon have all started to plan similar actions, while Alphabet has also committed to exploring the related opportunities.

Ten Dutch data centers are already connected to district heating systems, which distribute the excess heat to nearby homes and buildings, with another 15 in the pipeline.

The use of data centers to heat homes has numerous benefits. It reduces the demand for fossil fuels, which are typically used to heat homes in Europe. Then, there’s the potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, as data centers are often already powered by renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power.

In France and Denmark, national and local governments are reported to have introduced tax incentives for the smarter use of excess heat, while some building permits require the recapturing of additional heat.

In addition to heating homes, data centers are also being used to heat greenhouses, which allows farmers to grow crops year-round. According to Jeroen Burks (via Wholegrain Digital), the founder of a Netherlands-based data center, a 180kW data center would be able to heat up to 5,000m2 of greenhouse space in the winter months: enough to produce 250 metric tonnes of tomatoes.

The use of data centers to heat homes and buildings is becoming increasingly popular in Europe, and it is expected to expand in the coming years. It is a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way to heat homes and other buildings, and it demonstrates the many ways in which technology can be used to address some of the recent challenges that the continent, and indeed the world, is facing.

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Via Wall Street Journal

Sometimes it's easy to forget that we have the greatest power source in the universe merrily burning away a mere 150 million kilometers above us.

With blackouts, increasing energy bills and controversy over fossil fuels becoming more and more widespread, why did just 5% of global electricity come from solar power in 2021?

On a domestic level, cost and complexity are the twin barriers to powering our homes with sunlight. But they're no longer as insurmountable as you might think.

The heart of the system is Bluetti tech's EP600 power station, with form as simple and striking as its function. Traditionally this kind of kit comes encased in the same sort of injection molded, ruggedly masculine plastic as power tools, but the Bluetti model resembles nothing so much as a handcrafted piece of designer luggage. No terminals or wires, just nice rounded corners and a subtly stenciled logo.

Just plug a solar panel (either one of Bluetti's own or your model of choice) into one end and your home appliances into the other. That's it. The EP600's 6000W bi-directional inverter takes care of the rest and is powerful enough for pretty much any domestic use.

So that's power. Now let's talk storage. As a wise man once said, the sun can't shine all the time, so the second part of the puzzle is the Bluetti B500.  

No mysteries here either. It's just a battery. A massively capacious battery with 99.9% MPPT for the highest charge efficiency. It stacks seamlessly under the EP600 and can hold almost 50kWh worth of juice.

There's more. Fifteen more to be exact. You can stack a total of sixteen B500 batteries under the EP600 power station, storing up to 79.3kWh, or enough energy to run a standard home for around three days.

That's a lot of episodes of 'The Walking Dead'. But you don't need to be preparing for disaster to make the most of your very own fully expandable solar powered power grid.

Protection against blackouts and brownouts, reducing your energy bills and cutting a few toes off your carbon footprint are just a few of the other reasons to take the step towards energy independence.

And, if you're more of a rolling stone, the EP600 weighs in at just 40kg. Not exactly pocket-sized but it'll fit nicely into your campervan for the ultimate mobile home experience.

Drive electric? A B500 in the boot can extend your range considerably, adding around an extra 150 miles depending on your make and model.

Wherever you are, you can manage everything from your smartphone via Bluetti's bespoke app (available on Google Play and the App Store).

And the sticker price for the power of the sun?

The latest price for an EP600 power station and a pair of B500 stackable batteries is only £8,100, €8,999 or $8,650, available to pre-order from here soon (included is an impressive ten year warranty).

With solar power now within the economic reach and technical grasp of domestic users, we think things are about to change.  

Whether you’re thinking about a career change or just want to know what’s in store for future generations, the landscape is changing and there are new jobs on the way. From the more mundane to the downright crazy, we’ve rounded up five of the most exciting jobs that could be here by the end of the decade.

1. Holoportation workers

It’s no secret that the future is digital; in fact, we’ve already seen how virtual reality can transport us to never-before-been places. What we’ve already seen is merely the tip of the iceberg, and Microsoft is already working on the next generation of mixed reality. Its so-called holoportation technology will see real-time, 3D holograms of people being brought to reality, allowing you to interact with somebody distant on an almost physical level.

We’ve already written about this technology here, but it’s still unknown what hardware is required to generate holograms. That said, we do know that Microsoft - and other companies in due course - will be able to capture the body moving, so it won’t be like looking at a portrait.

Holoportation is a broad term for an industry that will likely include tens of roles in varying capacities. Jobs will range from research and development to the actual implementation, which may be seen in stores that require specially trained workers.

2. Artificial Organ Farmer

Onto health now: a market that has seen significant development throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. People are now living longer than ever, but our drive for longevity hasn’t slowed down. We’re already capable of donating organs to those in need, but the number of people prepared to donate isn’t keeping up with the demand.

Scientists are already making groundbreaking discoveries with regards to organ donation, which builds on our genetic similarity to pigs. This could save lives, but benefiting from other animals raises immense moral concerns owing to the fact that pigs in particular are highly sentient.

Scientists are already creating embryos that will not fully develop into fetuses, but only to a stage where their cells can be recognised as organs. According to IFLScience, the world’s first “synthetic” mouse embryo was created in August 2022 which lays the foundations for further work.

Beyond this, the healthcare industry as a whole is likely to experience a big shift. The automation of tasks that do not require human input, such as storing and moving parts around hospital buildings, is one example in which humans will be required to monitor, deploy, and maintain robots.

It’s likely that we’ll begin to see even smaller robots being used, this time inside our bodies, doing work that would otherwise require surgeons to create large incisions, helping to improve recovery.

3. Smart Home Consultants

Many of us already have some smart technology in our home, whether that’s a smart TV that works with screen casting or voice activated smart speakers. In fact, with Apple and Google’s respective Home apps, we’re seeing more and more smart technologies used in our homes, from lights and outlets to heating and ventilation. 

Up until now, the untrained individual has been faced with tens if not hundreds of brands offering similar products with different levels of interoperability, and the landscape is only going to get more confusing as more categories become smart. Much like an interior designer, a smart home designer’s job will be to curate the perfect combination of technologies to facilitate daily life.

An article by Business Wire suggests that the smart home security market alone is expected to grow to $6.81 billion by 2026, compared with an estimated $3.27 billion in 2022.

4. Work from Home Facilitator

We’ve written countless pieces on hybrid working trends, which have seen more and more people turning to working from home since the pandemic. Our guides include the best webcams, the best headsets, the best video conferencing software, and the best productivity tools.

According to a Growmotely survey, via Forbes, a huge 97% of respondents didn’t want to return to the office on a full-time basis, and a further 61% of employees prefer being fully remote.

The truth is that, while working from home sounds like a dream, there are some important considerations to make. Aspects worth further research aren’t just limited to employees’ work-based activities, though. Their own health and wellbeing, as well as the financial implications of working from home, are just some of the things that need to be considered. Work from home facilitators will likely be employed by most companies worldwide, though we can’t guarantee that the role will actually involve working from home!

5. Disaster Forecaster

Recent history will stick with many of us for a long time, whether that’s the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, or a potential financial disaster. We’ve already been warned that there could be more to come, but the fact is that it is inevitable. It’s just a case of what exactly, and when.

Ransomware attacks on businesses are more of a threat than ever, and cyber security has become a key priority for many organizations. Having a trusted team of developers will of course help to remedy any attacks, but a team dedicated to forecasting cyber attacks could help programmers to prepare fixes in advance - or even stop attacks in their tracks.

Beyond technology, we have the continuing pressure to preserve the environment. Exceptional heat and drought has been witnessed in many countries in 2022 alone, and with many scientists indicating that this could become more commonplace, forecasting disasters to ensure utmost preparation is vital. NASA has already reported a global average temperature increase of more than one degree Celsius as a result of human emissions.

Whatever industry you work in, your role will almost certainly be adapting to a new way of living in 2030, but if you’re ready to take on the next challenge, start brushing up on your skills for one of these five roles now.

In April we celebrated Earth Day, which saw people around the world take part in protests, marches and clean-up initiatives to raise awareness around the importance of sustainability and demonstrating support for environmental protection. It was a stark reminder of the climate crisis we currently face. 

Businesses are also under immense pressure from consumers and investors to take affirmative action to minimise their environmental impact. Despite this, 91% of SME owners in the UK say they struggle to be sustainable due to a lack of guidance (42%), efficient carbon footprint data (37%) and time (37%). This is where public web data collection can play a key role in helping businesses meet their environmental goals.  

What is public web data collection?

 In 1993, the term ‘web crawling’ first popped up. This turned out to be a significant year for this technology, as in June, Matthew Gray developed the World Wide Web Wanderer Offsite Link to measure the size of the Internet. 

Later that same year, this was used to generate an index called the ‘Wandex’, which enabled the first web search engine.  Prior to the advent of JumpStation's web scraping technology, public web data collecting was handled manually by an administrator who would collect and arrange data sets in the hopes that they would match what customers were looking for. 

We take web scraping technology for granted nowadays, with major search engines delivering a plethora of results in an instant, saving us long manual hours.  

Knowledge is every industry's superpower

Firstly, it’s important to establish what public web data collection is. It’s defined as the collection of any publicly available data on the internet that can be used to create a dataset. This is done through data intelligent technologies and advanced web data collection products. These sets of data provide businesses with new insights to help them make more strategic decisions that align with their business goals. The type of data businesses collect varies according to their business objectives and what they wish to accomplish. For example, one of the most common use cases in the e-commerce industry is comparing competitors’ public pricing data to gain a competitive edge. 

However, public web data collection isn’t just for maintaining a competitive advantage. More and more businesses are now using it to train AI systems for analytical and operational needs, to discover variable data points that influence the purchasing decision process and more crucially, to help organisations shape their sustainability and environmental goals. 

How might web data assist businesses in achieving their environmental objectives? 

Being more sustainable and environmentally friendly is a number one priority for most businesses. However, over half of businesses (55%) don’t have access to the right data to make the necessary decisions when it comes to environmental considerations. Having access to the right data is crucial if businesses are to establish and meet their environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) related objectives. 

There are an abundance of data sources available to businesses which can sometimes be overwhelming when trying to draw conclusions and inform decision making. According to a recent survey from Bright Data and Vanson Bourne, businesses use a range of data sources with over two thirds (69%) of organisations using big data generated by their own business operations, 59% using official statistics from publicly accessible sources and 48% using public web data collected and structured by a collector platform. 

Public web data can be used in conjunction with the other data sources listed above to help bridge gaps in their knowledge and improve their ESG performance. For example, if a clothing brand was looking to launch a new range of organic cotton garments, they would need to find a supplier of organic cotton. Through public web data collection, the clothing brand would be able to gain insights into the environmental footprint of potential suppliers – water footprint of cotton consumption, fertiliser and pesticide use and carbon emissions from transportation. Using this public web data, the clothing brand can then make an informed decision on the most environmentally friendly supplier and bolster its ESG credentials. This is just one of many examples of how businesses can harness the power of public web data collection to advance their environmental objectives. 

What does the future hold?

The global climate emergency is the biggest threat modern society has ever faced. It is essential we do everything we can to limit the damage and preserve our planet. Data is one of the most powerful resources that can be deployed to tackle the climate emergency. Although significant progress has been made across many sectors to improve sustainability practices, there’s still more to be done. In order to enhance efficient decision making and promote a culture of data-first, businesses must ensure they dedicate adequate time and budget to investing in the right data collection software and tools to achieve their sustainability goals and play their part in tackling the climate emergency. 

There is no room for complacency when it comes to protecting our planet. All businesses should be making a conscious effort to take advantage of the insights public web data can offer to make better decisions - the time is now. 

Find out more on Bright Data's range of offerings here.

A new and expansive coral reef system has been discovered off the coast of Tahiti on the border of the ocean's "twilight zone," and shows encouraging signs of resilience against global climate change.

The new reef was found at a depth between 30 and 65 meters beneath the surface of the ocean, with its deepest parts approaching a depth where light struggles to reach. 

The reef stretches roughly three kilometers long and varies between 30 and 65 meters across. Its rose-shaped corals can stretch as wide as two meters.

What makes this reef particularly special is that it is the deepest reef we've ever found, with nearly all known reefs reaching 25 meters at most. It is also one of the healthiest coral reefs on record, according to UNESCO.

Between 200 and 1,000 meters, there is so little light getting through that a kind of twilight condition exists before dropping off into total darkness below 1km. This "twilight zone" is an unexplored borderlands of sorts where all kinds of bizarre marine life live.

You don't have to go that far down to get into unexplored waters, though. Researchers are rarely able to dive below 25 meters even with modern equipment, though new technologies and unmanned marine drones are opening up these unexplored spaces.

Still, 70% of the Earth is covered by oceans, and we've only mapped a small fraction of it, so there is a lot out there that we simply haven't reached yet.

"To date, we know the surface of the moon better than the deep ocean," Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-General, said in a statement. 

"Only 20% of the entire seabed has been mapped. This remarkable discovery in Tahiti demonstrates the incredible work of scientists who, with the support of UNESCO, further the extent of our knowledge about what lies beneath."

Analysis: new corals bring good news on the climate change front, for once

Most remarkable about the new coral reef is that it appears largely undamaged from the kind of climate-change-induced acidification that is expected to kill up to 90% of all known coral in the next two decades.

While that still means vast amounts of corals will be killed off by human activity – along with the marine life that depends on them – there is at least some resiliency in the ocean against it. How long that holds true is another question though.

"French Polynesia suffered a significant bleaching event back in 2019 however this reef does not appear to have been significantly affected," said Dr. Laetitia Hedouin, of France’s National Center of Scientific Research. 

"The discovery of this reef in such a pristine condition is good news and can inspire future conservation. We think that deeper reefs may be better protected from global warming," added Dr. Hedouin. 

The coral reef isn't entirely immune, and increasing acidification of the ocean could soon do to these deep water coral reefs what it has already done to their shallow-water counterparts. 

In other words, don't take this as a sign that human activity isn't posing a threat to marine ecosystems. Instead, it should be seen as a warning that there is still time to turn things around, but that window is closing. When that will happen isn't known, so the sooner we act, the better off our oceans will be.

• Researchers film rare deep sea fish with transparent head

Don’t Look Up, which lands on Netflix this Christmas Eve, is supposed to be a comedy.

From the mind of The Big Short director Adam McKay, it tells the story of two astronomers, Dr Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence), who discover a planet-killing comet headed towards Earth. The pair set out to convince the world of the existential threat it faces, but have a predictably hard time selling the science to a society more interested in memes than meteorites.

A star-studded cast – so busy that the likes of Meryl Streep and Cate Blanchett are condemned to second billing on the movie’s poster – keep the jokes rolling for more than two hours, though viewers may find it hard to ignore the unsettling reality that simmers beneath the surface. 

Don’t Look Up is a comedy, but it’s also a damning indictment of the political, economic and sociocultural climate in which the world finds itself in 2021. Put it this way: by the time the credits roll, you may find yourself wanting to detox from anything with a news feed. 

Of course, existing McKay fans will know that uncomfortable satire is the director’s forte – The Big Short, Vice, and Succession (on which he’s an executive producer) all take a microscope to the messy politics of American capitalism – but in Don’t Look Up, he’s dealing in a different currency entirely. 

To navigate the unfamiliar worlds of space and science, McKay enlisted the help of Dr Amy Mainzer, a professor of planetary science at the University of Arizona and lead scientist on NASA’s asteroid-hunting NEOWISE mission. 

Ahead of Don’t Look Up’s digital release on December 24, we sat down with Mainzer to talk comets, comedy and her role in creating the movie’s bitter aftertaste. 

Too little too late

“I think a lot of [Don’t Look Up] speaks to the reaction most people have when scientists have bad news to deliver,” Mainzer tells us over Zoom. “The movie is a parody, obviously, but it's taking a really satirical look at our unwillingness to listen to that bad news, even when we really need to.”

Meryl Streep plays President Orlean in McKay’s latest feature, a thinly-veiled caricature of today’s politicians, who often favor fans over facts. Upon hearing the warnings of DiCaprio’s Dr Mindy, she simply advises that the government “sit tight and assess” – which forces Lawrence’s Dibiasky into more drastic action.

“That [reaction] happens on all kinds of different topics,” Mainzer says, “not just asteroids and comets, but the pandemic, climate, severe weather, and so on.

“Science is telling us that if we take the following steps, we can significantly blunt the effect of whatever's happening. If we get on it and are proactive about responding to [bad news] using science-based approaches, we actually can avoid some of the worst outcomes.”

Mainzer won’t admit to being the real-life inspiration for Lawrence’s passionate astronomer, but there’s more than a hint of the former in the latter. “You know, I think Kate and I have a lot in common,” she tells us. “She is meant to represent one of the two strategies of scientific activism in the movie – [that desire to] get out and protest when you're not seeing governments or politicians taking action based on findings. 

“The other style is represented by Dr Mindy, which is more like, ‘okay, you can protest, but these are the people over here who actually have the levers of power in their hands, so we have to try to work with them’. It's a struggle [between the two]. There's not always a clear cut answer, but we wanted to show the debate and the difficulties scientists face when trying to get the word out, to get people to take action.”

“And obviously, I'm a huge fan of Jennifer Lawrence,” she adds with a smile.

Scripted science

It would be remiss of us to not ask the celebrated astronomer on the other end of the line whether a planet-destroying comet could actually call time on humanity in the near future. 

“The great news is that it’s a very, very, very unlikely scenario,” Mainzer says. “And we know this to be true because the last impact of this class was 65 million years ago – the one that wiped out the dinosaurs. It can't happen very often or we wouldn't be here, right? It's very unlikely that human life would have evolved if the planet was constantly getting pummelled by these big impactors.”

Well, that’s good to hear – although Mainzer is quick to add a caveat.

“The less good news is that there are plenty of objects out there that are large enough to cause what I would call severe regional damage, and we still haven't found most of those,” she says. “We have a lot more work to do there. So from my standpoint, the sensible thing to do is to just go look for these asteroids and comets.”

As well as advising McKay on “the role of science and society” for Don't Look Up, Mainzer was also tasked with designing the comet itself, and ensuring that the method of its discovery was portrayed as accurately as possible. 

“I wanted [the comet] to be pretty realistic,” she explains. “I mean, the comet shown in the movie is fairly similar to the ones we've discovered in real life, and it's loosely modeled after comet NEOWISE, which we discovered last year.”

To the horror of Dr Mindy and Dibiasky, the object heading towards Earth in Don't Look Up is between five and 10 kilometers wide, and on course to strike the planet in around six months’ time. 

“Obviously [in terms of its discovery], we compress the timeline. But it's perfectly plausible [to see a comet that late] – we discover comets all the time with only months before they make their close approach to the sun. But in terms of our ability to build spacecraft, usually it takes us longer than six months to put something together,” Mainzer says. 

“So, what we would do depends a lot on the circumstances of the discovery. If we can find the objects when they're two decades away from any impact, we have lots of options, and our chances of being able to successfully move something out of the way are greatly increased. But you would have to use some pretty heavy duty explosives – and you would need time.”

Evidently, time isn’t abundant in McKay’s story – but that doesn’t stop opportunists attempting to take advantage of the situation. Mark Rylance plays eccentric tech investor Peter Isherwell in Don't Look Up, an eye-wateringly wealthy ‘visionary’ whose social media platform, BASH, has put the eyes of the world in his pocket.  

After learning that the comet contains trillions of dollars-worth of precious minerals, Isherwell prioritizes its monetization over its destruction – though Mainzer explains that this plotline is a little too far removed from reality right now. 

“It is true that asteroids and comets do tend to have a somewhat higher fraction of rare-earth elements in them,” she says, “and that's because of the way planets, asteroids and comets are formed. So yes, there’s been interest in trying to mine these objects for a long time.

“Unfortunately, that’s still pretty far in the future. It's not an easy thing to do. We actually have two missions that are in the process of bringing back samples, but these are like coffee can-sized samples, right? And each of these spacecraft cost a billion dollars. So it's just very hard to do.”

Sorry for the bad news, Elon.

Forward planning

Don’t Look Up is a rare breed of McKay film, then, in that it places the limelight on events that could happen, and are happening, rather than those that already have. The butt of the joke here isn’t a politician or business executive of yesteryear – it’s us, and how our behaviour right now is affecting our future. 

Its climate change allegory is as unsubtle as it is pressing, and it's no wonder the movie's comedy so often borders on the uncomfortable. But Mainzer is more hopeful about the message behind Don’t Look Up.

“From my perspective, the film is saying: the future is up to us. We do have the power to choose the better outcome. We can make science-based decisions that will help us avoid the worst outcomes and select the best ones. So to me, the movie is actually very hopeful – we have the power to change things.

“You know, the very best art gets people thinking and creates conversations,” she adds, “and that's what we hope the movie will do. It should make you laugh, but it’s also a really powerful tool for helping us to reflect on ourselves a little bit and our behaviour. It's important to be able to laugh at ourselves, because that's the basis for humility and recognizing that we need to do better.”

For scientists like Mainzer – and the film’s fictional counterparts – the real threat comes from inside the Earth’s atmosphere. Discovering these existential risks is the easy part of their job; it’s up to society to then embrace their findings with an open mind and willingness to change. 

“Something that I think is important is for people to know scientists as human beings,” Mainzer concludes. “In other words, talk to your friends, talk to your neighbors, talk to your family, because getting to know the people who are the bearers of this information is the basis for trust.”

The final moments of Don’t Look Up are all about talking. Dare we say it, the earnest break in McKay’s relentless commitment to comedy might even make you a little emotional.

However you respond to the director’s disaster satire, though, take comfort in the knowledge that, as Mainzer says, we still have the power to change our ways. There isn’t really a comet heading towards Earth (yet), and we should be grateful that the end of days remains, for now, the plot of a Netflix comedy. 

But it's on us to keep it that way. 

Don’t Look Up will be available to stream on Netflix from December 24.

• These are the best Netflix shows to stream right now

A new collaborative project in Tasmania is planning to build a "black box" for the planet, observing and recording data on the worsening climate crisis -- as well as our efforts to avert climate change, or our lack thereof.

Called Earth's Black Box, the project is a joint effort between the University of Tasmania; Clemenger BBDO, a communications firm; and Glue Society, an art and directing collective. 

The collaboration is preparing to begin construction on the eponymous black box in early 2022, which is designed to "record every step we take towards this catastrophe," according to the project's website.

"The purpose of the device is to provide an unbiased account of the events that lead to the demise of the planet, hold accountability for future generations, and inspire urgent action."

The black box itself is a 10 x 4 x 3 meter monolith than looks like it was tipped over onto its side, with one corner jutting out and up, exposing a face of the black box that is covered in solar panels to the sun.

Those solar panels will help power the silent collection of data in the lead up to a global catastrophe. 

According to ABC News in Australia, the box will have a 7.5-centimeter-thick steel shell protecting a small warehouse of mass storage drives and communication equipment, as well as some battery backup hardware in the event that solar power isn't available. It will also have internet connectivity so it can carry out its work of archiving the coming end.

Or, hopefully, how we rallied to avert disaster.

In addition to data like land and sea temperatures, ocean acidification, species extinction, and CO2 levels in the atmosphere, it will monitor human population numbers, each nation's reported military expenditures, and other relevant political figures.

The black box will also scrape the web for news and social media posts related to climate change and climate policy. All of which it will save for posterity in the event of a civilizational collapse – a posthumous indictment of sorts.

If that sounds extreme or hyperbolic to you, the black box might be saving that tweet in its mass storage, preserving our lack of understanding of the crisis we faced, as well as the cynical calculations many are making that they will be the ones to ride out the climate crisis because of some measure of privilege they think will offer protection from geological forces powerful enough to move nine trillion gallons of water out of the ocean and into our coastal communities during a single hurricane.

It will record it all, presumably, for whoever comes after the great famines and droughts and mass migrations to learn how humanity could have been so selfish in the face of this crisis.

The plan calls for Earth's black box to be built on a rocky outcrop on the western coast of Tasmania, selected for its political and geological stability.

"How the story ends is completely up to us," reads a statement on Earth's Black Box's homepage. "Only one thing is certain, your actions, inactions, and interactions are now being recorded."

TechRadar has reached out to the Earth's Black Box project for details on the storage capacity and expected recording life of the black box, as well as its hopes and expectations of success in inspiring more aggressive climate policy. We'll update this story when we hear back from the project. 

Analysis: it's important not to give into climate fatalism

It is easy to despair right now in the face of climate inaction, but that doesn't do much to help anyone. Some measure of climate change is already locked in, but there is still time to avert the worst effects that come with 2.5 degrees or three degrees of warming.

Time is short though, so it's important to not consign humanity to its fate just yet and to continue the work necessary to bring average global temperatures below the two degrees of warming climate scientists say will lead to an endurable disaster, if not a manageable one, but which will leave civilization intact.

Giving up now ensures that the 2.7 degrees of warming or higher that we're on target for will be locked in within a couple of decades. A world with that much warming is simply impossible to comprehend, as humanity has never lived in such a world, though it is likely to be one where Earth's Black Box may stand as the last testament of our failure.

• Well, that was depressing. Cheer yourself up with this fish with a transparent head

For the last century, the woolly mammoth has been a species of endless fascination and debate, especially around what drove this hairy cousin of the elephant to extinction. New research now hopes to settle the debate once and for all in favor of climate change, not human activity.

The research, published today in the journal Nature, argues that even though woolly mammoths made up an important staple in early humans' diet and were an important cultural touchstone for our ancestors, we weren't the culprit when it came to mammoth extinction as one side of the extinction debate has argued.

Mammoths were important prey for early humans since even as mammoth meat kept ancient hunter-gatherer bands of humans alive, their skeletons were used as building material in human shelters, their tusks were carved into harpoons, and the earliest human musical instrument ever found was a flute carved out of a mammoth bone. 

But we weren't responsible for hunting the famous megafauna out of existence. For that, we should blame melting icebergs coming out of the last ice age, which ended about 12,000 years ago.

"Scientists have argued for 100 years about why mammoths went extinct," said Professor Eske Willerslev, director of The Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre, University of Copenhagen, and a Fellow of St John’s College, University of Cambridge. 

"Humans have been blamed because the animals had survived for millions of years without climate change killing them off before, but when they lived alongside humans they didn’t last long and we were accused of hunting them to death.

“We have finally been able to prove was that it was not just the climate changing that was the problem, but the speed of it that was the final nail in the coffin – they were not able to adapt quickly enough when the landscape dramatically transformed and their food became scarce."

• Invasive cane toads too deadly even for Australia turn to cannibalism
• Animals likely ‘shape-shifting’ in response to climate change
• Dog-sized scorpion once roamed the waters off prehistoric China

In order to do this, the research team, led by professor Willerslev, used a technique that breaks up a genome into smaller DNA samples to be sequenced individually on plant and animal remains taken from soil samples collected over a 20 year period from Arctic sites where mammoth remains had been previously found.

They discovered that as the world came out of the last ice age, the plants that mammoths relied on for food became more scarce as wetlands replaced snow covered tundra.

“We zoomed into the intricate detail of the environmental DNA and mapped out the population spread of these mammals and show how it becomes smaller and smaller and their genetic diversity gets smaller and smaller too, which made it even harder for them to survive," said Dr Yucheng Wang, a research associate at the Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, and first author on the new paper.

“When the climate got wetter and the ice began to melt it led to the formation of lakes, rivers, and marshes. The ecosystem changed and the biomass of the vegetation reduced and would not have been able to sustain the herds of mammoths."

"We have shown that climate change, specifically precipitation, directly drives the change in the vegetation – humans had no impact on them at all based on our models," Dr. Wang added.

Analysis: this doesn't let humans off the hook in the slightest

While some might be tempted to pat humanity on the back for not completely annihilating the woolly mammoth, our species has had a bloody hand in the extinctions of countless species in our relatively short time on this earth.

Fossil records show that once humans landed in Australia, the population of the continent's megafauna plummeted and eventually went extinct from a combination of human hunting and climate change. There's evidence that other human species like Homo Neanderthal were also victims of prolonged interaction with Homo Sapiens.

Then, of course, there's the modern era, with human activity since the Industrial Revolution being blamed for the so-called Anthropocene extinction event, which is just the sixth mass extinction event in the history of life on this planet.

“[Wolly mammoth extinction from climate change] is a stark lesson from history and shows how unpredictable climate change is," professor Willerslev said, "once something is lost, there is no going back. Precipitation was the cause of the extinction of woolly mammoths through the changes to plants. The change happened so quickly that they could not adapt and evolve to survive.

“It shows nothing is guaranteed when it comes to the impact of dramatic changes in the weather. The early humans would have seen the world change beyond all recognition – that could easily happen again and we cannot take for granted that we will even be around to witness it. The only thing we can predict with any certainty is that the change will be massive.”

• Three-eyed 'dinosaur shrimp' emerge by the hundreds from Arizona desert

It would be easy to adopt a fatalistic attitude in the wake of the IPCC’s report into climate change, that the changes necessary are too big for any individual or enterprise to tackle. But the lesson that should be learned is that while the crisis is dire, we can and should make every effort to limit our effects on the environment.

This includes hosting. We think of cloud computing as emission-less. Everything happens out of sight. But it actually isn't emission-less at all. Cloud computing now contributes to 2% of global CO2 emissions. 

That might seem small, but another way to think about it is that for every 50 tonnes of CO2 emissions, one of those is from online hosting.

• We've compiled a list of the best green hosting providers
• These are the best small business web hosting services 
• Also check out our roundup of the best managed web hosting

But there are reasons to embrace green hosting that go beyond just saving the planet. 

One simple way to reduce emissions, though it’s not comprehensive, is to use money as a proxy: if you're spending money on something, it is most likely contributing to emissions. 

Reducing spending can be a reasonable target for any business that wants to emit less. One way to approach this is through the use of high-density services.

High density services

One common feature of modern life is that we use tools that are designed for a far more powerful job. We commute or take short shopping trips in vehicles designed to travel way over the speed limit, deal with extreme off-road conditions, or move tonnes of stuff. We wear jackets that claim to deal with arctic temperatures when it starts to get a little autumnal, and sports gear for elite athletes when out for a light jog.

Computers are no different, whether it’s personal computing - a top-of-the-range gaming PC used to idly browse the web, say - or the equivalent in the enterprise. Computers often have boring lives given how powerful their processors are, the size of their storage, and their high-speed internet connections. 

Often, they are given a small task that they only need to do part of the time, or with a fraction of their processing power. This unused computing power of deployed computers could be used more efficiently by increasing service density - simply put, using fewer computers to do the same tasks.

With hosting, service density is key to reducing the carbon footprint of any workload and the energy efficiency of a data center. Every application has resources allocated to it whenever it needs them but also when those resources are unused, they can be allocated to another application or service. 

We’ve seen this work in action. In one case, a university was able to replace sites hosted on 2,000 devices, scattered across their university campus with dense, containerised hosting - creating an immediate 30% reduction on hosting costs. 

Fewer computers in action being used means both saving money and cutting emissions by reducing energy use - not to mention reduced e-waste when components need to be replaced.

Moving green hosting up the agenda

Businesses are keen to do more to reduce the environmental impact, but green hosting is often quite far down the list of things that are being considered. Hosting is very much “out of sight”, unlike, for example, the waste that a business might produce.

Green hosting has the potential to be an easy win, reducing emissions and saving costs at the same time. Many businesses and organisations have built their IT in an ad-hoc and DIY manner, leading to inefficiencies - not just in density but in how IT and development teams work with this infrastructure. 

Consolidation and higher density can mean increased efficiencies in these teams, too. There is also the opportunity to consolidate infrastructure into a single bill, and even move to a more efficient data center if this is possible - moving cloud to the Nordics can mean even greater savings in emissions.

When businesses are looking for ways to be more eco-friendly, whether it’s buying offsets, considering more hybrid working, or any number of disruptive or expensive options, it’s important to consider the quick wins. 

Green hosting may be less visible than many other options, but it has the potential to both slash emissions and save money. Every business should consider it.  

• Here is a list of the best web hosting providers on the market

BT has brought forwards its target of becoming a net zero carbon business from 2045 to 2030 and for the same to apply to its supply chain by 2040.

The company says the move is in recognition of the recent UN climate change report which warned urgent action was required and that some elements of global warming were now irreversible. However, it also reflects changes made by BT already.

Since 2016, BT has reduced emission across its own operations by 57% and has done the same across its supply chain by 19%.

• These are the best business SIM-only deals around today
• And the best business broadband deals
• Here are the best business mobile phone deals

BT net zero

The firm also switched to 100% renewable energy across its network, offices, and retail stores in 2020 and will shift its fleet of 33,000 vehicles to electric or zero carbon by the end of the decade.

BT says it will work closely with suppliers and customers as it switches off analogue networks such as 3G by 2023 and PSTN by 2025, and believes the rollout of full fibre and 5G will help businesses and consumers make the changes required to be a net zero carbon economy.

The company is also launching a campaign to raise awareness and information about actions its customers can take to reduce their environmental impact.

“As the world looks to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, we must remember that the global climate emergency hasn’t gone away,” said Andy Wales, Chief Digital Impact & Sustainability Officer at BT. “BT is committed to climate action and today’s announcement will see us not just deliver on our public commitments to date but exceed them.

“Getting our own ‘BT’ house in order isn’t enough though. We must broaden the conversation around climate change by getting households up and down the country talking about it and helping them understand what they can do to help. That’s why I’d encourage all of our customers, colleagues and communities to get involved, by holding their own Sofa Summit, looking at the small, sustainable changes they can make.” 

BT, which owns EE, is one of several telcos to have embarked on a sustainability drive with others also touting the positive benefits of mobile networks in tackling the issue.

• Here are the best broadband deals right now

The million-plus acre Dixie Fire in California is closing in on the Allen Telescope Array, threatening the facility's search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI).

The SETI Institute, which operates the Allen Telescope Array (ATA), said in a statement that the Dixie Fire now tearing across northern California is just 12 miles from the facility. Given the Dixie Fire's northward movement, Alex Pollak, ATA's Science and Engineering Operations Manager, said that the facility has been evacuated as a precaution and that threat mitigation efforts around the facility's 42 antennas are underway.

"Anticipating the possibility that [the Dixie Fire] might reach the antennas, the observatory staff contacted the U.S. Forest Service’s Fire Department to prepare the site against eventual damage," SETI's statement says. "Two teams from the Forest Service, about a dozen people in total, removed brush from near the antennas. Trees in the area were pruned of any branches lower than ten feet above the ground."

ATA is the only facility of its kind whose primary mission is to search for radio signals from extraterrestrial life. Since the types of microwave radio signals monitored by the ATA are not affected by the Earth's atmosphere, its facility does not need to be located at a higher elevation such as mountaintops or mountainous plateaus like mirror-and-lens optical telescopes do.

What it does need, however, is a very radio-quiet region, typically low-population rural areas that are often surrounded by natural pasture and forests. The kind of region that makes detecting the presumably faint radio signals of an alien civilization possible are also the most susceptible to wildfires, unfortunately.

Analysis: no matter what you're doing, climate change is going to disrupt it

Its sometimes difficult to predict how climate change is going to affect our lives because we tend to see the big picture problems like rising temperatures and sea levels, but those big, top line effects have granular, downstream consequences for just about everybody.

If someone said that climate change was going to disrupt the search for alien life, people may not make the connection that California wildfires – exacerbated by the climate crisis – would disrupt the telescope arrays we use to search among the stars.

When we talk about flooding in coastal regions, we don't think about the disruption to industry resulting from essential supply chains being cut off by washed out roads, or the disruption to factories or commercial centers by downed powerlines, line we're seeing in Louisiana right now.

If you think you know how climate change is going to upend your life, you don't; not totally. And you ultimately won't know until something happens and its too late to do anything about it, like watching your farm or property get washed away by higher than expected snow or glacier melt or burned to the ground in an uncontrollable wildfire.

A lot of climate change is already locked in, but there is still time to keep things from getting even worse. We should all probably get on that.

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New evidence suggests some warm-blooded animals are evolving with larger appendages, likely as a response to climate change.

A new study concludes that climate change likely sparked these morphological changes in warm-blooded animals. Birds’ beaks and mammals’ ears are two examples of recorded changes coinciding with rising temperatures.

The reason behind this “shape-shifting” is Allen’s rule. Coined by Joel Asaph Allen in 1877, the rule states that animals that evolved in colder climates will have shorter limbs and appendages than those in warmer climates. 

Larger beaks, ears, and legs allow animals to regulate their body temperatures better, making them an evolutionary boon to surviving the heat.

One of the study’s most significant changes was in Australian parrots, which averaged a 4% to 10% increase in bill size since 1871. The growing bills coincided with the average Australian summer temperature in the years preceding the changes.

In North America, the junco songbird also saw a correlation between rising temperatures and a more prominent beak. The examples cited in the paper cover a wide array of geographies, from the Arctic to tropical regions of Australia.

More research needed

The paper’s authors do caution that more research is needed. For example, most findings focused on endotherms – most typically, birds – with much less research on other types of animals. The researchers suggest that studies like this one should be complemented by studies on natural selection and genetic evolution. They also want to see research using data from broader geographic scales and more diverse animals.

“As we reckon with the effects of current anthropogenic climate change, the capacity to predict the future is crucial,” the paper states. “In order to do this, continued study that combines multiple information sources, such as long-term field data, analysis of museum specimens, molecular data, and temporal trends, needs to be prioritised.”

Evolving doesn’t necessarily mean coping 

One of the paper’s authors, Sara Riding of Australia’s Deakin University, cautions not to conclude that evolution can work quickly enough to save species from climate change’s catastrophic effects.

“It means animals are evolving, but it does not necessarily mean that they are coping with climate change,” Riding told CNN. “We can see that some species have increased in appendage size so far, but we don’t know if they will be able to keep up as the climate crisis worsens.”

“We also don’t know whether these shape-shifts actually aid in survival (and therefore are beneficial) or not. This phenomenon of shape-shifting shouldn’t be seen as a positive, but rather it is alarming that climate change is pushing animals to evolve like this, under such a relatively short timeframe.”

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The Covid-19 pandemic saw a surge in online streaming as the world was forced to stay indoors as part of lockdown measures put in place to keep people safe.

According to Ofcom’s annual study into UK media habits, at the height of the pandemic, people spent twice as much time watching subscription streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video.

With newcomers like Disney+, Discovery+, and NBC’s Peacock all entering a highly competitive market, digital services monetization company Vindicia found that the average US household subscribed to more media services than ever  last year.

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However, entertainment value aside, another narrative has been circulating, regarding data usage, power consumption and the effects of streaming on the environment. 

A recent article from MIT analyzed the increase in emissions caused by working from home during the pandemic, with researchers predicting that if remote work continues through the end of 2021, the global carbon footprint could grow by 34.3 million tons in greenhouse gas emission - caused by streaming and video conferencing. 

And a research paper from Simon Fraser University in Canada put it even more bluntly: "Streaming large files in large quantities ... ethically implicates spectators in the warming of the planet." But just how much of a negative impact does streaming have on the environment?

Emma Fryer, Associate Director and Susanne Baker, climate, environment and sustainability associate director at non-profit think tank techUK, both highlighted that contrary to what you might think, the rates at which we stream videos is having a relatively small impact on climate change. They both challenged the assumption that streaming video is by definition harmful.  

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“Yes, streaming uses energy but it is replacing consumption models that were much more carbon intensive; previously we travelled to the cinema physically to watch new releases and for video on demand we had to go out and buy or rent physical media – DVDs or, for those who remember them, VHS tapes,” Fryer and Baker told TechRadar Pro.

“Streaming video is a much more efficient way to consume content than traditional approaches, but the result is that we consume much more – a classic rebound factor.”

Bad streaming

A white paper published in June 2021 by the Carbon Trust concerning online streaming concluded that the amount of carbon emitted per hour of video streaming in Europe is actually relatively small compared to other use cases. The two biggest factors impacting the amount of carbon generated were the electrical grid’s carbon intensity and the kind of devices used to stream the content.

“In Europe, it is estimated that 56g of carbon are emitted per hour of streaming, while in the UK, as we are slightly more advanced in bringing renewables on to the grid, 48g of carbon is emitted,” Fryer and Baker added.

“The lowest was in Sweden and France (3g and 10g respectively), due to their decarbonised and efficient electricity grid. So, the more we decarbonise our electricity sector, the lower the emissions associated with streaming will become.”

For the average user in Europe, an hour of video streaming is approximately 55gCO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent), which is comparable to boiling an electric kettle three times, the report found.

With this in mind, tackling the emissions associated with streaming continues to be on the world's agenda. Earlier this month, world leaders gathered in Cornwall for the G7 Summit, where the UK government launched a new partnership on infrastructure investment aimed at boosting global green economic growth as part of a commitment  to increased international climate finance.

Fryer and Baker note that the most important thing the world can do is continue to decarbonize electricity grids to limit the carbon associated with streaming (and any other activity that uses electricity). 

Reducing carbon emissions 

Streaming giants, tech leaders and many countries around the world have all made pledges to become carbon neutral, however their deadlines and the scope of their ambitions vary widely.

Netflix promised to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2022,  Microsoft pledged back in January 2020 to be completely carbon neutral by 2030, Amazon set a target for 2040, and the EU gave itself till 2050 to be climate neutral.

Meeting these ambitious targets will eventually require complete decarbonization and getting to net-zero requires significant abatement of greenhouse gas emissions across all sectors of the economy to ultimately reduce carbon dioxide emissions. 

Steven Chung, President, Worldwide Field Operations at software company Delphix, said: “Sustainability is a mandate and without having that mandate as an organization, I don’t think they will be viable in the future. Nobody wants to do business with or be part of an organization that is short sighted.

“The pandemic has helped organizations rethink how they operate moving forward for the benefit of sustainability.”

Globally, 36% of network operators have now signed up to the UN’s Race to Zero campaign and committed to net zero emissions by 2050 at the latest – judged to be a breakthrough moment by the UNFCCC, when sufficient momentum is generated by a critical mass of key actors to enable the whole sector to break away from business as usual.

Fryer and Baker both found that data center operators are actively exploring options such as power purchase agreements, which stimulate additional utility scale renewable generation, and are positioning themselves as anchor customers for green hydrogen and industrial scale battery storage when those markets mature. 

“But we can also do lots at an individual level. Since the majority of the impact of streaming relates to the use of green energy and end user devices individuals can really make a difference: switching to renewable power in the home is a great start, watching on smaller devices, extending the life of those devices and not being profligate in consumption of content,” they added.

“And as consumers we can exert power through personal choice: we can check out the carbon credentials of our streaming service providers and our device manufacturers, we can choose our content and how it is delivered accordingly and we can continue to demand that our government decarbonise the electricity sector.”

They explained that, for data centre operators, it is pretty easy to be transparent about energy and carbon, both to customers and at sector level.

“However, it gets a lot more complicated when you look at cloud services, but we are seeing good progress here in providing more transparency,” they noted.

“Netflix has recently commissioned third party research and reported publicly on the carbon impact of streaming which sets a great example.”

From HD to 4K 

In 2018, around 31% of U.S. television households made use of 4K Ultra HDTV products. Since first becoming commercially available in the early 2010s, ultra-high-definition products have transitioned from a luxury good to a standard for household devices.

HD-quality video uses about 0.9GB (720p), 1.5GB (1080p) and 3GB (2K) per hour and a 4K stream uses about 7.2GB per hour. With 4K resolution containing four times the information of a regular HD frame, the push for cost-effective and environmentally friendly solutions to accelerate video delivery will also continue to rise. 

However, the Carbon Trust report pointed out that it’s not the quality of the streaming but how you view it which is important. 

It’s perhaps no surprise that watching something on a big TV vs a laptop or smartphone will require more energy. The smaller the device, the smaller the energy needed to power it, added Fryer and Baker.

Assume that on average, a person watches TV for six hours every day and their LED TV uses 50 watts of electricity - this would mean that the TV is using a total of 300 watt-hours per day. However, phones and tablets are more energy efficient because they are designed to run on a battery for a long period of time. Phones typically use 2-6 watts when charging, while a charger left plugged in without a phone will consume 0.1-0.5 of a watt.

“We need to keep an eye on system boundaries – what are we not doing, what consumption can we avoid by streaming? Secondly, buy renewable energy tariffs and support the government in decarbonising the electricity grid. Third, whilst grids are being decarbonized, stream content on smaller devices if you can,” they added.

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A solution

Andie Stephens, Associate Director at the Carbon Trust and lead author of the white paper, commented: “Our white paper shows that the carbon footprint of watching an hour of streamed video content is minor compared with other daily activities.”

“As the electricity grids continue to decarbonize, and telecoms network operators increasingly power their networks with renewable electricity this impact is set to reduce even further. By undertaking this research with the support of the industry and academic experts, we hope to help inform discussions about the carbon impact of video streaming and of wider ICT use, and address some misunderstandings and outdated estimates that have been previously reported.”

With the population consuming a lot more content through streaming, the amount of content streamed will have an impact if peak demand cannot be met. This will require an increase in green infrastructure capacity.

And until grids are decarbonized, minimizing the carbon impact associated with streaming by signing up to a renewable energy tariff is a step in the right direction. 

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The UK Meteorological Office has announced a new deal with Microsoft to build the world’s “most advanced” weather and climate supercomputer.

According to a Microsoft blog post, the new supercomputer will help improve the accuracy of everyday weather forecasting, but also provide advanced warning of extreme weather events. 

The Met Office will also utilize additional computing resources for more advanced climate change modelling, which will inform UK government policy in its quest to reach “net zero” by 2050.

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Once up and running, the supercomputer is expected to fall within the top 25 most powerful in the world and will outstrip the next most powerful supercomputer in the UK by a factor of two.

Climate supercomputer

Situated in the south of England, the new supercomputer will be built using the $1.67 billion in government funding announced last year. It will leverage a combination of technologies, including HPE Cray EX supercomputers, high-performance data archive systems from Microsoft and other Azure cloud technologies.

In line with the UK’s environmental commitments, the new supercomputer will also be powered entirely by renewable energy and optimized for efficient energy usage.

“We are delighted to be working in collaboration with Microsoft to deliver our next supercomputing capability,” said Penny Endersby, Chief Executive at the Met Office. “Working together, we will provide the highest quality weather and climate datasets and ever more accurate forecasts that enable decisions to allow people to stay safe.”

This sentiment was echoed by Clare Barclay, CEO at Microsoft UK, who said: “To make progress with the ecological challenges we face requires innovation, technology and partnerships.”

“The potential of the deep expertise, data gathering capacity and historical archive of the Met Office, combined with the sheer scale and power of supercomputing on Microsoft Azure will mean we can improve forecasting, help tackle climate change and ensure the UK remains at the forefront of climate science for decades to come.”

The new capabilities are expected to directly benefit a wide range of associated industries, such as aviation, while other businesses will be able to build new services on top of the newly available climate data.

Assuming there are no delays, the Met Office will spin up the new supercomputer in the summer of 2022.

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As mining for bitcoin requires a great deal of energy, a group of researchers have warned China that it must implement stricter regulations and policy changes immediately or risk undermining global sustainability efforts.

In a new study published in the journal Nature Communications, researchers Shangrong Jiang, Yuze Li, Quanying Lu, Yongmiao Hong, Dabo Guan, Yu Xiong and Shouyang Wang claim that both the energy consumption and carbon emissions associated with mining bitcoin have rapidly accelerated in China.

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This is because the country has become a haven for bitcoin miners due to the fact that they are within close proximity to manufacturers of ASIC devices, mining rigs and other specialized hardware along with access to cheap electricity.

Environmental impact

In the abstract to their study, the researchers provided further insight on their investigation and the implications that increased bitcoin mining in China could have on carbon emissions, saying:

“By investigating carbon emission flows of Bitcoin blockchain operation in China with a simulation-based Bitcoin blockchain carbon emission model, we find that without any policy interventions, the annual energy consumption of the Bitcoin blockchain in China is expected to peak in 2024 at 296.59 Twh and generate 130.50 million metric tons of carbon emission correspondingly.”

To put the potential emission output of China's bitcoin mining operations by 2024 into perspective, they would exceed the total annualized greenhouse gas emission output of both the Czech Republic and Qatar. The study also claims that between January 1, 2016 and June 10, 2018 that up to 13m metric tons of CO2 emissions were generated by the bitcoin blockchain.

In order to limit the carbon emissions of mining bitcoin in China, the researchers recommend that the country moves away from the current punitive carbon tax policy to a site regulation policy. This would bring about changes in the energy consumption structure of mining activities to help limit the carbon emission of the bitcoin blockchain.

TechRadar is supported by its audience. TechRadar does not endorse any specific cryptocurrencies or blockchain-based services and readers should not interpret TechRadar content as investment advice. Our reporters hold only small quantities of cryptocurrency (under $100 in value), as is necessary to perform wallet and exchange reviews, and do not hold shares in any publicly listed cryptocurrency companies.

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Via ZDNet

The global data center industry is set to grow exponentially, with the International Data Corporation (IDC) estimating that over 175ZB of data will be stored by 2025. Sustainability and environmental considerations are priorities amid this growth, particularly as climate change-related extreme weather poses challenges for facilities worldwide.

Ambitious climate change targets are being rolled out by governments and businesses to reduce emissions and create a more sustainable global economy. With a critical industry like the data center market, promoting sustainability and implementing renewable facilities is important to reaching this. In fact, many key players have set themselves net zero and even carbon neutrality goals for the future.

The data center climate change challenge is not merely to become ‘greener’, however. Extreme weather patterns have a grave effect on facilities worldwide, posing a multitude of issues for the servers, critical power and cooling infrastructure. Should these not be mitigated ahead of time, providers and operators risk huge costs and reputational damage from downtime or construction delays.

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Power cuts

Grid supply failure is a prominent risk to data centers and most have backup generators in place for situations where power is lost. These are designed for short power cuts, so if grid supply is lost for prolonged periods, further temporary power may be required to provide more reliable backup power than the built-in backup generators.

As could be seen last year in North America, forest fires, tornadoes and other serious storms have been becoming more frequent and devastating with climate change. For data centers, such weather can cut off grid supply, meaning backup power has been needed for much longer periods. While onsite generation can be used for a short period of time, more extensive temporary backup power may be required.

Temporary power solutions can provide a reliable replacement for the grid while power is restored. Rental equipment can be more cost effective than implementing more extensive permanent backup generators, while hybrid solutions using energy storage and generators can reduce emissions. Employing plans for more extensive temporary backup generation for these periods of stormy weather are therefore vital to reduce the potentially costly effects of extreme weather.

Keeping dry

Flooding and heavy rain also causes grid supply issues for data centers, yet it can also damage server equipment and critical cooling and power infrastructure. Especially for data centers in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region where heavy rain is commonplace, most operators have planning in place should their data center become flooded. Often, as part of contingency planning, companies are on hand to enact flood recovery procedures for removing surface water.

A study by the University of Reading found that climate change is set to increase the likelihood of flood and torrential rain in Europe, particularly in key data center regions like the UK, Germany and other parts of Northern Europe. For operators and providers who may be experiencing torrential rain and flooding for the first time, these procedures may not be on standby. It is therefore vital that they have plans in place to deal with flooding, and the effects it has on power and equipment, as quickly as possible.

This includes where critical temporary equipment can be introduced in the event that flooding incapacitates parts of buildings. For instance, if a basement plant room with cooling equipment and power generation becomes flooded, there needs to be connection points higher up in the building so that supplementary generators or coolers can be introduced while water is removed. These considerations must be made in the contingency planning stage for any facility so that downtime and its ensuing costs are avoided.

Humidity is rising

Rising temperatures also account for increases in humidity across the globe as a hotter atmosphere allows for more water vapour to be absorbed. According to the Met Office, relative humidity – the percentage of moisture in the atmosphere – is rising particularly in high latitude regions such as India, a key data center hub for APAC. Not only can humidity damage computer equipment, but it can also cause persistent mould and damp issues that damage the building’s fabric and pose a health risk to occupants working there.

This is especially challenging in the construction phase of a data center and can come from a variety of sources. Whether from humid air outside or from building materials and equipment brought into the site, if not dealt with correctly, costly problems can persist in the future. When relative humidity is above 60%, building materials can be damaged irreparably, concrete and paint will not set or dry correctly, and damp and mold issues can begin to take hold early on. Costs for replacing martials and further labour can then stack up, while delays to projects with strict deadlines may end in further spending and even fines.

A common mistake is that introducing large amounts of heat will dry a space, where as in actuality, this expands the atmosphere allowing for the energised water particles to be drawn into the air. When the heat is removed, the moisture returns. To bring the relative humidity to optimum, a combination of heat, air movement, and moisture removal with a dehumidifier is needed. To ensure a space is correctly dehumidified, providers can consult a temperature and moisture control specialist such as Aggreko, who use environmental conditions monitoring to reach optimum conditions safely.

Heating up aging data centers

Many data center facilities will be reaching a working age of over 15 years and as the sector grows and will have had more equipment installed to keep up with demand. While in their initial working life the critical cooling and powering infrastructure may have been able to keep up with equipment levels with the server halls, longer serving data centers are now starting to see the strain.

In the UK and continental Europe, the increasingly hot summers that have been recorded in the past few years are furthering pressure on the cooling capability of ageing facilities. Server room temperature can be dangerously high and cause massive outages when the older cooling system is unable to keep up. In the likely event that temporary cooling is required, connections points need to be available on mechanical coolers or cooling towers, to allow equipment to be introduced immediately. This is another aspect that must be picked up and implemented as part of a contingency plan.

This isn’t necessarily a problem limited to older facilities, but can also affect newer facilities using free cooling. Free cooling is an effective way to control temperature, however it can often struggle when temperatures remain high over prolonged periods. Europe has seen extended spells of hot weather which leaves such data centers at risk. If temperatures remain higher than 25oC over a prolonged period, it can cause facilities to overheat, meaning temporary equipment may be required. In these instances, there must also be established connection points for supplementary cooling for quick integration when hot weather strikes.

Planning for anything

Climate change will continue to affect data centers globally in the coming years and planning for extreme weather will allow providers and operators to mitigate any delays, costs, and reputational damage from downtime or construction disruption. Some of the impact brought by storms, flooding, extreme heat and even forest fires are unavoidable. However, there are processes and temporary equipment available that can be quickly implemented to alleviate issues when such plans are in place.

As different regions face these challenges, operators and providers can consult experts in contingency planning and temporary critical equipment.

In the midst of supply chain issues and delays caused by Covid-19, this local expertise and equipment can keep data centers operational and construction and maintenance on track. At a time where digital infrastructure is keeping the world moving, downtime is not an option and so it pays to be prepared for anything, especially with uncontrollable variables such as weather in the mix.

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Amazon has made a significant pledge towards developing clean energy with the launch of a multi-billion dollar investment project.

The company has announced its new $2 billion Climate Pledge Fund to invest in sustainable technologies and services, as well as its aim of getting businesses around the world to commit to greener working.

The fund will look to target suppliers and firms across a wide number of industries, including the likes of transportation and logistics, energy, storage, manufacturing, and agriculture, as Amazon aims to cut its impact on the wider world.

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Amazon Climate Pledge Fund

Amazon delivers billions of items to shoppers around the world through its extensive logistics operation, but remains a significant contributor to climate change.

Employees and environmental activists have often taken aim at Amazon's perceived lack of action, particularly the carbon footprint left by its huge Amazon Web Services data centre business.

Amazon has previously declared it is aiming to be net carbon neutral in its operations by 2040, and alongside the Pledge Fund announcement, also revealed its own sustainability report, showing it to be on a path to reach 100% renewable energy by 2025.

“The Climate Pledge Fund will look to invest in the visionary entrepreneurs and innovators who are building products and services to help companies reduce their carbon impact and operate more sustainably,” Bezos said. 

“Companies from around the world of all sizes and stages will be considered, from preproduct startups to well-established enterprises. Each prospective investment will be judged on its potential to accelerate the path to zero carbon and help protect the planet for future generations.”

Earlier this year, Bezos announced he was pledged $10 billion to fund a wide-ranging scheme supporting environmental causes, with scientists, activists, non-profits and other groups all set to benefit.

In its sustainability report, Amazon also noted that its $100 million Right Now Climate Fund has contributed to two major reforestation projects, and how it was reducing outbound packaging by 33%, helping to eliminate more than 880,000 tons of packaging material.

The news also comes the day after Amazon announced support for small businesses and startups looking to get up to speed following the global pandemic. The Amazon Small Business Accelerator will help enterprises with a free online training program, as well as discounts and offers on Amazon Business, Amazon Web Services and other services provided by the company.

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Via Reuters

When most people think about innovative companies, they tend to reference the tech giants such as Apple, Google and Amazon.  Innovation is part of the DNA of these companies.  But for me, some of the most interesting innovation comes from smaller companies with big ideas.  

My attention was drawn to the Innovator of the Year category, as part of the Amazon Growing Business Awards.  What strikes me about many of the companies shortlisted is both the simple genius of some of the ideas and the impact that they could have on society.   

Redefining parking in cities 

Take combatting climate change.  Research has shown that as many as 30% of all cars in cities are looking for parking spaces – essentially travelling unnecessarily because of friction in the marketplace between available parking spaces and cars seeking parking.  The winner of the award, Just Park, has created an app that helps people find parking spaces more quickly.  This will positively impact pollution levels and emissions in cities.

Helping people to remain independent

Another finalist was Alcove, which offers 21st century telecare for older people.  The company aims to use technology to help people live independently for longer.  With the World Health Organisation reporting that average global life expectancy grew by more than five years between 2000 and 2016 alone, Alcove looks to have a bright future ahead of it.

Zapping weeds

Rootwave is using electrical power to kill weeds, aiming to reduce the world’s dependency on chemical herbicides.  The company combined visual recognition that identifies weeds in crops and electrical power to precisely kill them.  This reduces the risk of herbicides being used inappropriately as well as removing some of the environmental side effects of spraying crops.

Turbo charging

Perhaps my favourite company on the shortlist was Zap & Go.  The company is a spin out from the University of Oxford which has a simple vision – to produce better batteries.  The vision is to obliterate charging times – for a mobile phone this would mean reducing charge time from hours to seconds.  The company promises electric vehicle batteries that charge in the same time it currently takes to fill up a car with fuel.  The potential of this technology is immense.  One of the limiting factors for electric vehicle take up is the limited number of people that have space at their home to install trickle charge power units.  Imagine a world where your electric car simply pulls up at a charging point (like a fuel station today) and shortly afterwards is ready to go.

I have written extensively about how innovation is changing: technology is enabling smaller businesses to compete on a more level playing field with the traditional business titans.  Another key aspect of successful innovation is the positive impact it can have – on people and on the planet.  Significant global issues need to be addressed now and in the future – from climate change to the ageing population.  Innovators are ready, willing and able to take them on. 

Simon Webster CEO of CPA Global 

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Google’s solar mapping tool Project Sunroof, which uses Google Maps’ satellite imaging software to gauge the suitability of individual homes for solar panels, is now available in the UK. 

‘Project Sunroof’ was first launched in the US in 2015, originally covering Boston and San Francisco Bay before being rolled out to include tens of millions of homes across the country. It also launched in Germany earlier this year.

Now Google has partnered with UK energy supplier E.ON to bring the online tool to the UK. Homeowners visiting the E.ON website are able to diagnose the suitability of their roof for panel installation, based on the roof’s size, pitch, and nearby obstacles such as other buildings or trees that could block sunlight.

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In one or two minutes you can be looking at a cross section of your roof tagged with your estimated ‘solar yield’ per year, and the predicted costs for standalone panels or those with in-built battery storage.

All your friends are doing it

For an accurate quote, users are asked to input the number of residents in their home, as well as their average power usage and peak usage periods in the day. 

The mapping service can also show you which buildings nearby already have solar panels installed – possibly to prod your sense of social obligation.

Unsurprisingly, E.ON is unable to install panels on rented properties, though you’re still able to get a quote for your home if you’re curious.

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The Earth is a pretty amazing thing. Every year, it regenerates an enormous amount of the environmental resources – water, soil and clean air – that we humans use up. But in the last few decades we've started using substantially more of those resources than can be replaced every year.

That's why, in 1986, environmental groups began calculating the day each year on which we go over our limit and start living on credit. This year, the day falls on August 2. "By August 2, 2017, we will have used more from nature than our planet can renew in the whole year," the WWF and Global Footprint Network said in a statement.

"In other words, humanity is currently using nature 1.7 times faster than ecosystems can regenerate. This is akin to using 1.7 Earths. This means that in seven months, we emitted more carbon than the oceans and forests can absorb in a year, we caught more fish, felled more trees, harvested more, and consumed more water than the Earth was able to produce in the same period."

Earlier and earlier

The milestone arrives earlier and earlier every year. In 1987, the first year it was calculated for, it fell on December 19. In 1995 it was November 21. In 2007 it was October 26. About 60% of humanity's ecological 'footprint' comes from burning coal, oil and gas. 

Individual countries have their own Overshoot Days. Australia hits it on March 12, the United States a couple of days later, and the UK on May 4. You can find data for your country on the Overshoot Day website.

There is a silver lining to this bad news, though. The rate at which Earth Overshoot Day is moving up the calendar is slowing down, the groups say. To slow that rate further, we (meaning: you) need to eat less meat, burn less fuel and cut back on food waste.

The full details of how the date is calculated, and lots of solutions to the problem, can be found on the Earth Overshoot Day website.

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When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. But what happens when life gives you carbon dioxide emissions? Chemists at George Washington University say: "Make carbon nanotube wool". 

A team of researchers led by Stuart Licht have a vision for turning CO2 emissions from a pollutant into a valuable resource, and perhaps even a substantial business opportunity. In a study just published in Materials Today Energy, they described how CO2 sucked out of the atmosphere can be combined with solar energy to produce large amounts of carbon-nanotube (CNT) wool.

What's that? Glad you asked. It's millimetre-length fibres that can be woven into textiles to make metals, cement replacements and other things. The production process can be done at a cost of $660 per tonne, the researchers say. But the market value of the substance is currently between $100,000 and $400,000 per tonne.

"We have introduced a new class of materials called 'Carbon Nanotube Wool,' which are the first CNTs that can be directly woven into a cloth, as they are of macroscopic length and are cheap to produce," Licht told Phys.org. "The sole reactant to produce the CNT wools is the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide."

Strength-to-mass

The team has been working on the process since about 2010. Previously, they were only able to create very short-length nanotubes - less than 100 micrometres long, which can't be woven. 

They solved that problem by replacing a key component made of copper or steel with one made of Monel - a nickel-copper alloy. With subsequent tuning, they were then able to produce much longer fibres.

"Inexpensive, weavable CNT wools are preferred replacements for conventional steel and aluminum applications, due to the CNT wool's lightweight, strength-to-mass advantage," Licht said. 

"In addition to textiles, CNT wools serve as preferred additives to formulate blast- and fracture-resistant cement and ceramics. Other applications of stronger-than-steel, highly conductive CNT cloth are bullet-proof CNT suits and taser-proof suits."

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It probably hasn't escaped your attention that there's too much carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Human industrial activity pumps it into the air and natural systems aren't able to disperse it fast enough.

So it's building up in greater and greater quantities, which is a problem because it traps heat like a giant blanket. The Earth's temperature is slowly rising. But a team of engineers in Finland believe they might have the beginning of a solution that could kill two birds with one stone.

They've built a pilot plant that can not only suck CO2 out of the atmosphere, but then subsequently turn it into renewable fuels and useful chemicals so that we don't have to use as many fossil fuels.

How it works

The system is divided into four different parts. The first is a solar power plant which generates the energy to power the process. The second pulls CO2 and water out of the atmosphere and stores them separately. The third splits the water into hydrogen using electrolysis. The fourth uses that hydrogen, combined with the CO2, to produce a substitute for crude oil.

The neat thing about the plant is that it's small-scale and fits into the distributed, networked power grids of the future. Production capacity can be increased by simply adding more units.

The plant will be put through its paces between May and September 2017. If the pilot is a success, then additional units will be built and used in a number of EU projects in the coming years.

"The concept we are exploring is an example of how the chemical industry could be electrified in the future", said Jero Ahola of the Lappeenranta University of Technology, where the plant is located. 

"The burning of fossil fuels must end by 2050, but people will continue to need some hydrocarbons."

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What's the leading cause of deaths in the world today? I'll give you a hint. It's not obesity or malnutrition. It's not HIV, malaria, bird flu or any other infectious disease. It's not war, and it's definitely not terrorism.

It's air pollution - responsible for 5.5 million deaths in 2015. Toxins and particles suspended in the air contribute to an enormous range of conditions and diseases, from heart attacks, to stroke, to mental illness, to neurological and respiratory disorders. Almost half of the world's population, rising to 80 percent of people living in cities, breathe air that is unsafe for humans.

But it's hard to tell, if you live in a city, where the most dangerous areas are. That's why, for the last year, Google has been driving its Street View cars around Oakland, California, with air pollution sensors on the roofs. And now the company has released its first map of the results.

In partnership with the University of Texas, the search company mapped 78 square miles of Oakland over an entire year, collecting readings every 30 metres or so. That's an extremely high level of detail - substantially greater than is possible with traditional static air quality monitors. Most large urban areas have one air quality monitor for every 100-200 square miles.

Incredible detail

"Air pollution varies very finely in space, and we can't capture that variation with other existing measurement techniques," said Joshua Apte, an assistant professor at the Cockrell School of Engineering and lead author of a paper describing the results that was published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

"Using our approach and analysis techniques, we can now visualize air pollution with incredible detail. This kind of information could transform our understanding of the sources and impacts of air pollution."

What surprised the researchers in the data is that there are locations that can be six times more polluted on one end of a city block than on the other. Hotspots included the port, busy traffic intersections, restaurants, warehouses, industrial plants and car dealerships.

"You could use this information when you're picking a school for your kids. Is there a school with a playground that might have better air quality because your kid has asthma?" Apte said. 

"This hyper-local information about consistent air quality can be really useful for people, especially those who are vulnerable because of age or health condition." 

• Your smartphone's compass can protect you from voice hacks

Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has spoken with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to discuss the future of battery technology and the possibility of a 100 megawatt battery farm in South Australia, according to ABC’s morning radio program AM.

This news comes after Musk’s electric car manufacturing company Tesla offered to install a multi-million dollar battery solution to SA’s recent power issues, and promised it “will get the system installed and working 100 days from contract signature or it is free.”

According to AM, Elon Musk was “very impressed” after having spoken to South Australian premier Jay Weatherill, who himself described the discussion as “positive”, although it seems Musk’s latest talk with Turnbull only “touched on” the specific solution for SA's problems,and instead took the form of a broader discussion regarding battery technology and its future.

While Tesla’s battery proposal isn’t the only one on the table at the moment, we can hope the high-profile nature of this offer and the added exposure it's produced will give the government a good reason to consider all alternatives before regressing to a coal-fired power solution.

• Here's a look at Tesla's recent solar roof tiles and home battery packs.

With skin-searing sun and 1.5 million homes already hooked up to solar power, Australia is a perfect candidate for Tesla Energy's Powerwall. And now pre-orders for the device have finally opened.

Starting from today, anyone looking to trim their power bill can buy the sleek wall-mounted battery from Natural Solar or Origin Energy, but will have to wait until next year for delivery and installation.

Natural Solar has opened pre-orders for the 5kWp Powerwall to customers in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide, but says the rest of Australia will follow in a nationwide rollout.

And after all, you're my Powerwall

Origin is offering the Powerwall as both a stand alone unit ready to be integrated into existing solar systems, or as part of a package. These packages include Trina solar panels and a Solar Edge inverter, both of which have been approved by Tesla Energy to pair with the Powerwall.

According to Fairfax Media, Origin's packages will start from $16,500.

Natural Solar just pips Origin at the post in terms of installation, promising to get Powerwalls rolling out by January, while Origin customers will have to wait until February for installations to commence.

Electric dreams: There's over 500 Teslas on Australian roads

The transportation industry plays a huge role in climate change - it's responsible for about 23% of global energy-related emissions. But a new study shows that with mass adoption of electric cars, emissions could be slashed in half by 2050, even when taking the motorisation of China and India into account.

Previously, it had been thought that the transport sector would be one of the most tricky to decarbonise, given the rapid growth in car ownership in Asia.

However the study, published in the journal Science, shows that's not the case and a large emissions drop is achievable with a large-scale shift to electric cars and more public transport in cities.

High Voltage

That's good news for companies like Tesla, Nissan and BMW, all of which have electric cars on the market. It's thought that Apple is developing its own, too. Tesla's affordable Model III, due in 2017, is already expected to have a massive impact on electric car ownership.

Electric technology has a head start over competing technologies like biofuels or hydrogen as battery costs are dropping dramatically.

The price per kilowatt-hour of electricity from batteries more than halved between 2007 and 2014, and are expected to drop by at least another third by 2030.

"Large-scale electric mobility could be crucial to halving CO2 emissions of the transport sector by 2050," said Felix Creutzig, the lead author of the report. "Efficiency gains will be very difficult to achieve with the conventional automobile fleet from 2025 on. A fuel shift will be the only remaining option to advance decarbonization."

• Holograms can now be printed on an ordinary inkjet printer