Industrial Carbon Capture Explained: Long-Term and Short-Term Uses
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Carbon Neutral Regulation in AI Training
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Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) can help reduce emissions across the world’s most difficult-to-decarbonize industrial sectors — but its application should be limited to niche uses[1] that cannot be readily electrified like carbon-intensive feedstocks and some high-temperature heat needs. A range of cheaper and more efficient existing options can reduce emissions for many industrial […]
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Consolidated freight combines shipments from different businesses into one shared truck or container instead of moving each load on its own. In road transport, that usually means groupage or less-than-truckload, LTL. In sea freight, it usually means less-than-container-load, LCL. The environmental case is straightforward. When trucks and containers carry fuller loads, fewer trips are needed […]

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The electrolyzer setup (with refractometers highlighted) Instrumentation firm Vaisala explains how its refractometers have supported the development of electrolysers for the generation of hydrogen, highlighting their role in enabling accurate, real-time monitoring of electrolyte concentration in demanding alkaline electrolysis environments The generation of green hydrogen by water electrolysis represents an exciting decarbonisation opportunity. However, the […]

The number of climate change lawsuits brought before domestic, regional, and international courts is growing at an unprecedented pace, with courts increasingly being asked to hold governments and corporations accountable for the harms associated with our warming planet. Most of the focus in the scholarship so far has been on whether such cases can be brought and how to […]

Tropical cyclones that rapidly intensify when passing over marine heatwaves can become “supercharged”, increasing the likelihood of high economic losses, a new study finds. Such storms also have higher rates of rainfall and higher maximum windspeeds, according to the research. The study, published in Science Advances, looks at the economic damages caused by nearly 800 […]

Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed. An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change. This week Ceasefire causes oil price drop CEASEFIRE SLUMP: Following the announcement on Tuesday of a two-week ceasefire agreement between Iran and the US and Israel, oil prices dropped below $96 per barrel, according to the Associated Press. However, […]

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A screening of the programme. Ash Smith and Professor Peter Hammond of Windrush Against Sewage Pollution — portrayed by David Thewlis and Jason Watkins in Channel 4’s Dirty Business — have launched a formal government petition calling for a referendum on returning the water industry to public ownership. The move follows the broadcast of the […]

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Sustainability and decarbonisation are slipping down the priority list for UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), according to new research and programme findings. SMEs account for 99% of the UK business population,1 meaning any slowdown in their climate action risks undermining the government’s net zero ambitions. Keir Starmer has set the country’s sights on an […]

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Image credit: nitpicker / Shutterstock.com. Japanese industrial and technology conglomerates have signed an agreement to explore the development and commercialisation of floating data centres, positioned as a way to address rising global demand for digital infrastructure while reducing land use and environmental impact. Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), Hitachi, and Hitachi Systems, have signed a Memorandum […]

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What makes work valuable? Michal Masny, the NC Ethics of Technology Postdoctoral Fellow in the MIT Department of Philosophy, investigates the role work plays in our lives and its impact on our well-being. Masny sees numerous benefits to work, beyond a paycheck. It’s a space for people to develop excellence at something, make a social contribution, […]

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Wylfa nuclear power station in Anglesey (image credit: Debra O’Connor / Shutterstock.com) The Welsh Green Party’s opposition to nuclear power has come under renewed criticism from trade unions and industry voices, following the publication of its Senedd manifesto and ongoing debate over the future of energy in Wales. As the politics of nuclear power appears […]

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Training a large artificial intelligence model is expensive, not just in dollars, but in time, energy, and computational resources. Traditionally, obtaining a smaller, faster model either requires training a massive one first and then trimming it down, or training a small one from scratch and accepting weaker performance. Researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial […]
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Mica’s core idea is simple: AI workloads should not be treated as if electricity is invisible. By making power cost and grid conditions more visible, platforms like Mica aim to help organizations place flexible AI workloads in locations or time windows where electricity may be cleaner, less carbon-intensive, or more economical. That matters as data-centre […]

One month into the US and Israel’s war on Iran, at least 60 countries have taken emergency measures in response to the subsequent global energy crisis, according to analysis by Carbon Brief. So far, these countries have announced nearly 200 policies to save fuel, support consumers and boost domestic energy supplies. Carbon Brief has drawn […]

We handpick and explain the most important stories at the intersection of climate, land, food and nature over the past fortnight. This is an online version of Carbon Brief’s fortnightly Cropped email newsletter. Subscribe for free here. Key developments Iran war and food systems PLANTING AT RISK: The war in the Middle East “has hit the […]

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While there is relief at last night’s ceasefire in the US-Israel war with Iran, today’s commentators continue to warn of ongoing uncertainty for fuel supplies and prices; but in the long run, will it be shortages of fertiliser and the knock-on effect on our food security that affect Britain the most in the economic fall-out of the war? Cutting fertiliser use has never made more sense, writes Vicki Hird, strategic lead on agriculture, The Wildlife Trusts. Keys facts: […]

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Image credit: Beverly Low Researchers have developed a solar-powered reactor to break down hard-to-recycle forms of plastic waste – such as drinks bottles, nylon textiles and polyurethane foams – using acid recovered from old car batteries, and converting it into clean hydrogen fuel and valuable industrial chemicals. The reactor, developed by researchers from the University […]

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Standard tests fail to identify 99% of toxic PFAS chemicals in the Ganges River, according to a new study from interdisciplinary research organization The James Hutton Institute, the University of Graz, Warsaw University of Technology and the Indian Institute of Technology. Flowing over 2,500km from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal, the Ganges River […]