xAI has AI employees on it's org chart now. Probably many other large corps do as well. Scrub to 6:45 for that info. @mzjacobson.bsky.social : Knowing this field well IMO we need projections for different AI futures. Along with projections for AI data centers in space. youtu.be/MRLt90GMvOg?...

Integrated rechargeable batteries are actually causing fires in trash trucks and at the dump. A trash fire creates REALLY dangerous fumes for the entire community! Some good advice here, make sure the batteries are not charged. Better yet dig them out of the appliances and dispose of them properly

Au revoir coastal #nuclear. "We can't keep defending coastlines for the next 20, 30, 40 years. Unless we start casting the whole coast in concrete, we have to start retreating." www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Just arrive! I plan on going through "Still No Miracles Needed" by @mzjacobson.bsky.social in detail to see if I missed anything new. Will probably be posting a good bit about this book in 2026.

A bill has been introduced in California which will allow for plug-in solar. I guess Germany has a lot of this. It allows people to just plug-in (like an appliance) solar panels to offset usage. I know this field a bit. I support it. Details below @mzjacobson.bsky.social solarrights.org/plug-in

New study uses satellite and ground measurements to show electric vehicles reduce NO2 air pollution over cities. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

This sounds to me like they're able to compress refrigerant to very high levels and gain improved efficiency. Could save a lot of GHGs (it would seem). www.slashdot.org/story/451790

U.S. would reach 100% renewable energy across all sectors by 2148 at recent pace-China by 2051 Main barriers to the US achieving a buildout as fast as China’s “are social and political, not technical or economic” pv-magazine-usa.com/2026/01/09/u... Paper pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

I didn't realize that conventional drilling techniques can drill that deep in a cost efficient manner (3-5 km). Geothermal might actually be quite drone resistant as well. I wonder how much of the machinery could be buried with the pipe? DoD backing for an electricity grid could propel it forward.

New paper: China's current rate of Wind-Water-Solar (WWS) installations puts it on a trajectory to transition to 100% WWS across all energy sectors by 2051 US & India won't get there until past 2130 pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

11/ Major insight: ALL energy transition studies have been wrong for batteries & the system impact, as the used Reference scenario has used the least cost battery cost for the previous five years. The battery cost decline has been much faster than expected www.pv-magazine.com/2025/11/11/t...

According to EIA data, increases in BTM output have exceeded decreases in grid demand, indicating that BTM PV can account more than 100% of the decrease. This doesn't mean other factors don't also contribute to decreases in demand (e.g., weather changes). bsky.app/profile/mzja...

Grid demand is down because the growth of behind-the-meter PV (rooftop PV) electricity production has avoided people's needs to use grid electricity. This is an obvious solution to the growth of grid demand in other states due to datacenters and EV and electric heat pump adoption.

Not looking good for US EV makers if they retreat from EVs because of the expiration of EV subsidies. They become very vulnerable to Chinese EV alternatives. At some point only import restrictions can save them as they may not be able to compete. www.slashdot.org/story/450631

Wow! This is really bad news for Florida. A current circulation breakdown caused rapid hurricane expansion. Seems like a localized feedback loop (what scientists have been warning about). Might have devastating affects on insurance (I guess). www.slashdot.org/story/444840

Daily biomass satellite mapping is within reach. www.slashdot.org/story/445006

FYI, Demand Response for data centers is taking shape. As a software guy it seems to me that we can move most data center loads to RE if we pass some laws around it. When I purchase cloud compute most of the time I don't care if it runs in CA vs Washington or Nevada. bsky.app/profile/berm...

Computer software (including AI workloads) can be pushed to locations where RE is available. Or even temporarily suspended. Demand Response at its finest: www.slashdot.org/story/445200

The Trump Regime seems to think that destroying climate monitoring equipment will reduce home insurance and home mortgage rates. I challenge anyone to find an insurance/mortgage broker who will lower rates for lack of information. www.slashdot.org/story/445246

This is one of the reasons why it won't make much sense to build non-local grid storage in the future. Local storage will be plentiful and transmission line maintenance is priced at inflation+. www.slashdot.org/story/445384

I guess the math works out for Google to build what sounds like compressed air batteries. www.slashdot.org/story/450461

Food nutrients will be changing with higher levels of CO2. Not for the better. @mzjacobson.bsky.social "The results, she said, were a shock: although crop yields increase, they become less nutrient-dense. While zinc levels in particular drop, lead levels increase." www.slashdot.org/story/450383

So shady... '...cited a study estimating that "electricity prices have increased by as much as 267 percent in the past five years" in "areas located near significant data center activity."' www.slashdot.org/story/450291

Ford basically gave-up on EV trucks I guess. I bet China hasn't!: www.slashdot.org/story/450231

Yet another reason why data centers for LLMs may go into space: www.slashdot.org/story/450213

How do we eliminate emissions from steel and cement? Here's how www.youtube.com/shorts/-EQdS... More info web.stanford.edu/group/efmh/j...

I've probably spent 3 hours looking into EV trucks (so not much time), but the Silverado seems like possibly the best truck on the market. www.slashdot.org/story/445386

China has a MAJOR new hydro plant in the works. www.slashdot.org/story/445432

This is a creative business model for converting FF wells into geo engineering opportunities. www.slashdot.org/story/449935

So tell me how safe nuclear energy is again 🤦‍♂️ www.slashdot.org/story/449903

"California's network of home batteries can now add 535 megawatts of electricity in an emergency" "Over time, you would get the full payback for your system and basically get your backup for free," hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/08/...

I think this quote is just referring to China: "The British research firm BMI forecasts electric trucks will reach nearly 46% of new sales this year and 60% next year" @mzjacobson.bsky.social www.slashdot.org/story/449297

What could possibly go wrong 🤦‍♂️ Follow-up post in 5 years: "Radioactive stream finds a way out of plugged underground nuclear bore hole contaminating aquifers" If they're going to dig that deep why not just use geothermal? www.slashdot.org/story/449431

China’s diesel trucks are shifting to electric "In 2020, nearly all new trucks in China ran on diesel. ...electric trucks will reach nearly 46% of new sales this year and 60% next year." www.hotsr.com/news/2025/no...

I wonder if this is why migrant caravans started forming over the last decade or two... It's become too hot to live in high humidity deforested environments without air conditioning. Heat index math is pretty brutal. @mzjacobson.bsky.social www.slashdot.org/story/446040

Another waste of a billion dollars. People wonder why prices keep going up. Maybe it's because their government is investing their money into projects that don't provide the services they need at the most affordable price (ie corruption). www.slashdot.org/story/449253

"400,000 new solar installations every month across Africa" www.slashdot.org/story/449118

Nice 👍 www.slashdot.org/story/449126

Who said wind turbines can't be recycled? A decommissioned wind turbine destined for the trash has been transformed into a tiny house with a wooden interior & integrated solar system en.clickpetroleoegas.com.br/A-decommissi...

Step 1 of afforestation to reduce GHGs: Use electricity to pull water from the air. This guy is doing great research on using plasmas to convert electricity into water. youtu.be/-wa2JEYl9jU?...

The REAL state of sodium batteries. In summary, they have issues. They could be cheap in the long term, but currently they're not worth it: youtu.be/AOlO5413pPM?...

This video outlines how Roman self healing concrete has survived for 2000 years, yet modern concrete only lasts around 100 years. Modern concrete lifespan has a huge impact on global warming. I verified the video premises with Google Flash 2.5. @mzjacobson.bsky.social youtu.be/lJdNvX8WTVs?...

"...the tipping point that makes an Amoc shutdown inevitable is likely to be passed within a few decades, but that the collapse itself may not happen until 50 to 100 years later." www.slashdot.org/story/446154

"Since 2005, generation costs have fallen by 35 percent... But the costs of the huge wires that transmit that power across the grid, and the poles and wires that deliver that electricity to customers, are skyrocketing." Local generation and usage would solve this. www.slashdot.org/story/448332

So Exxon doesn't want to publish their GHG stats because it'll be embarrassing 🙄 I guess they're embarrassed that their product is destroying the planet. Exxon: Maybe the stats will be used to further understand the scope of the destruction your product creates? www.slashdot.org/story/448386

Let's stop pretending about 1.5C. Start planning for AT LEAST 3C (Bill Gates's high end prediction). www.slashdot.org/story/448408

Nice, so the government is guaranteeing huge amounts of money for nuclear contacts in. What a waste... I bet most of that money doesn't even generate a single watt of electricity. www.slashdot.org/story/448428

Gates mentions 2C-3C by 2100. From what I'm seeing the peak might be 5C or 6C at edge latitudes (as I've been guesstimating for years). It's funny when a guy with common sense out-predicts well funded groups dedicated to these types of predictions. www.slashdot.org/story/448436

Data centers will probably be cost effective off of curtailed electricity in 5 years or so. Like rooftop solar makes virtual power plants, VRE powered data centers will probably lead to virtual data centers. @christianonre.bsky.social @mzjacobson.bsky.social www.slashdot.org/story/448400

Another 6 days straight and 208 of 300 in 2025 with WindWaterSolar powering CA's main grid for part of the day CA 54.24% in-state WWS for all of 2025, 3.87% higher than last year's 50.37%. At this rate, CA will be 100% WWS 24/7/365 by 2036. Gas down 18.5% v '24 & 37.4% v '23