Climate Change

Datacenters have a public image problem, industry confesses to The Reg

'Most people are f**king scared of AI, like we're feeding a monster'

On-Prem05 Jun 2025 | 39

Datacenter biz wants to turn heat and carbon waste into biomass for sale

From bit barn to algae farm?

On-Prem23 May 2025 | 28

Estimating AI energy usage is fiendishly hard – but this report took a shot

And it gets even harder when you try to estimate CO2 emissions

AI + ML21 May 2025 | 11

Hydrotreated vegetable oil is not an emission-free swap for diesel in datacenters

Biofuel lowers pollutants, but won't eliminate 'em, and could mean DCs compete for supplies

On-Prem25 Apr 2025 | 31

Sustainability still not a high priority for datacenter industry

Extreme weather is such a problem when building bit barns... hmmm, wonder what could be causing that?

On-Prem24 Apr 2025 | 24

Global datacenter electricity use to double by 2030, say policy wonks. Yup, it's AI

Analysis No worries, just use neural networks to optimize systems powering neural networks

AI + ML12 Apr 2025 | 18

Brit telcos ask suppliers to clean up emissions mess – politely, with no teeth

Digital Connectivity Forum lays out climate goals, but enforcement is strictly optional

Networks07 Apr 2025 | 1

Euro businesses flummoxed by Scope 3 emissions

Measuring all the dirty work of the supply chain and other indirect influences? Ugh, just give us the fine

On-Prem21 Mar 2025 | 14

Here's the ugliest global-warming chart you'll ever need to see

Analysis Earth is running a fever. That's not news. What's surprising is exactly how fast its temperature is rising

Science23 Feb 2025 | 261

Our world faces 'unprecedented' spike in electricity demand

And it's not just datacenters driving the need for 3,500 TWh of new energy generation by 2027

On-Prem14 Feb 2025 | 106

Humans brought the heat. Earth says we pay the price

Special report Amid wildfire death and destruction, there are solutions, workable smart solutions, but who wants to talk about that?

Science02 Feb 2025 | 227

Los Angeles wildfires force tens of thousands to evacuate, NASA JPL closed

Updated Crews battle to keep people, homes, science safe

Science08 Jan 2025 | 62

Google thinks the grid can't support AI, so it's spending on solar for future datacenters

Deal with Intersect Power will see gigawatts of compute capacity come online

Off-Prem12 Dec 2024 | 59

Day after nuclear power vow, Meta announces largest-ever datacenter powered by fossil fuels

Louisiana facility's three natural gas turbine plants to churn out 2,262 MW

On-Prem05 Dec 2024 | 42

Abandoned US Army 'city under the ice' imaged in serendipitous NASA find

Camp Century could spill millions of gallons of sewage, diesel fuel, and nuclear waste as climate warms

Science25 Nov 2024 | 78

Euro execs extend net zero timescales amid energy cost and supply crunch

Environmental, social, and governance? Cutting money spent on power is CEOs' priority

On-Prem07 Nov 2024 | 37

Musk, Bezos need just 90 minutes to match your lifetime carbon footprint, says Oxfam

Between jets, yachts and investments in destructive companies, billionaires are speed running the apocalypse

Off-Prem30 Oct 2024 | 87

Datacenter developer says power issues holding up new builds

'The single biggest constraint is access,' says exec looking to invest 'hundreds of millions'

On-Prem29 Oct 2024 | 49

GenAI's dirty secret: It's set to create a mountainous increase in e-waste

New modelling shows tech could massively increase current volumes of electronic landfill by 2030

AI + ML28 Oct 2024 | 26

Energy companies told to recharge for AI datacenter surge

Demand for electricity to outstrip supply soon, warns Bain

On-Prem11 Oct 2024 | 34

Eric Schmidt: Build more AI datacenters, we aren't going to 'hit climate goals anyway'

Perhaps the power-draining tech is the solution after all, posits former Google CEO

AI + ML08 Oct 2024 | 80

If you're excited by that $1.5B Michigan nuke plant revival, bear in mind it's definitely a fixer-upper

Analysis Activists, ex-insider sound the alarm as operator says all is under control

On-Prem04 Oct 2024 | 22

Uncle Sam lends $1.5B to reignite Michigan nuclear plant in 2025

Up and atom!

Public Sector01 Oct 2024 | 52

NASA, IBM just open sourced an AI climate model so you can fine-tune your own

Prithvi, Prithvi, Prithvi good

Science25 Sep 2024 | 23

Nvidia's latest AI climate model takes aim at severe weather

That tornado warning couldn't possibly be a hallucination... could it?

Science19 Aug 2024 | 8

The secret to better weather forecasts may be a dash of AI

Google adds machine learning to climate models for 'faster forecasts'

Science27 Jul 2024 | 93

Legendary Glastonbury farm using bovine excreta power plant adds graphene boffinry

This is not BS, it's cutting-edge material science

Science11 Jun 2024 | 35

White House hopes $180M will solve science, tech gaps in commercial fusion power

Researchers get 4 years, a small pot of cash, and long row to hoe before making tech practical by next decade

Science07 Jun 2024 | 19

High-flying drones on a leash could blow traditional wind turbines away

Bristol researcher granted £375K to improve airborne wind energy systems

Science05 Jun 2024 | 40

Energy buffs give small modular reactors a gigantic reality check

Too expensive, slow, and risky for investors, and they're taking focus off renewables, say IEEFA experts

Science03 Jun 2024 | 122

Microsoft's carbon emissions up nearly 30% thanks to AI

Company will require certain suppliers to run on 100% carbon-free electricity ... by 2030

On-Prem16 May 2024 | 38

Italy's climate super computer, Cassandra, to combine HPC with AI

CPU-heavy big iron boasts Intel's HBM-packed Xeons and a tiny complement of Nvidia H100s

HPC10 May 2024 | 11

Asia's hyperscalers hustle for juice as datacenters drain grid

Power shortages are driving the industry to once-unthinkable places

On-Prem09 May 2024 | 3

Tech industry sheds some light on the planet's situation via LinkedIn

Comment Kyndryl exec ponders 'fragility of the planet,' as Intel and Amazon offer advice

Offbeat01 May 2024 | 14

Crypto conferences liquidated after biblical flooding in Dubai

There's something nice about seeing Web3 fanatics in ankle-deep water

Bootnotes17 Apr 2024 | 17

Digital Realty ditches diesel for salad dressing in US to cut datacenter emissions

Hydrotreated vegetable oil to power bit barns stateside after successful Euro trial

Systems11 Apr 2024 | 17

UK awards £1.73M to AI projects to advance net zero goals

Great! Just ignore the energy needed to train them, process queries, keep the lights on in datacenters ...

AI + ML20 Mar 2024 | 35

Caffeine makes fuel cells more efficient, cuts cost of energy storage

Boffins show less platinum may be needed for long-lived power source

Science14 Mar 2024 | 58

Google searches for boss to get grip on climate, energy costs of this AI hype cycle

Hyperscalers increasingly looking over shoulders as workloads grow

AI + ML12 Mar 2024 | 3

Climate change means beer made from sewer water, says North Carolina brewery

Water? Like from the toilet?

Offbeat11 Mar 2024 | 79

Water worries flood in as chip industry and AI models grow thirstier

Mega makers already operate in water-scarce areas, and worry is they'll drink us dry

Systems29 Feb 2024 | 32

With $1B to burn on green tech, HSBC seeks Google’s help

The clock's ticking on those 2030 net zero climate goals

Systems08 Feb 2024 | 7

Think tank funded by Big Tech argues AI’s climate impact is nothing to worry about

Sure, datacenters consume lots of energy. But maybe they'll invent stuff that helps

Off-Prem07 Feb 2024 | 12

US starts 'emergency' checks on cryptocurrency power use, citing winter power demands

Up until now watchdogs say they've just been guesstimating consumption

Public Sector02 Feb 2024 | 81

Affordable, self-healing power grids are closer than you think

Feature They're just an algorithm away, national lab engineer tells El Reg

Public Sector01 Feb 2024 | 114

US cities are going to struggle to green up their act by 2050

Instead of 100% renewables, most will reach around a tenth of that

Public Sector19 Jan 2024 | 53

Stripe commuters swap traffic jams for hydrofoil glam

SF employees set sail on exclusive six-seater sea shuttle – the rest will have to stick to roads

Offbeat18 Jan 2024 | 18

Deep Green gets £200M from power supplier to scale waste heat reuse

Octopus Energy wants to back server-cooling, district heating projects

On-Prem16 Jan 2024 | 17

Road to Removal: A blueprint for yanking billions of tons of CO2 out of our atmosphere

It'll also cost billions, but perhaps a price worth paying?

Science07 Jan 2024 | 156

Japan to test datacenter powered by reused hydrogen fuel cells

The source? Repurposed parts from electric vehicles

On-Prem03 Jan 2024 | 13

Scientists mull Solar Radiation Management – a potential climate-change stop-gap

In-depth As we argue over freeing ourselves from fossil fuels, can SRM buy us time to develop green energy we need?

Science30 Dec 2023 | 246

Shame about those wildfires. We'll just let the fossil fuel giants off the hook, then?

Comment As world heads into 2024, scientists are asked: When will Big Oil face the heat?

Science16 Dec 2023 | 198

Bitcoin's thirst for water is just as troubling as its energy appetite

A single transaction chugs 6.2 million times more than a credit card swipe

Personal Tech30 Nov 2023 | 41

Virgin Atlantic flies 'world's first fossil-fuel free' transatlantic commercial flight

Sustainable kerosene-alt is hot right now as low-emission aviation takes off

Bootnotes28 Nov 2023 | 40

Intel chips away at carbon footprint but skims over thirst for water, chemicals

Semiconductors are a dirty business

Systems15 Nov 2023 | 3

Now we can blame spacecraft for polluting the atmosphere

'My god, it's full of aerosolized metals!'

Science18 Oct 2023 | 12