CCC: Slow electrification leaving UK households exposed to higher energy bills
by
-
The Climate Change Committee (CCC) published its annual assessment of the government’s progress in reducing emissions on 24 June. It warns that households are facing higher energy bills because the UK is not electrifying fast enough. Overall emissions fell 1.8% in 2025. There has been good progress in a range of areas, and the UK […]
-
Waste plastic converted into highly crystalline graphite could aid lithium-ion battery production
by
Natural graphite (pictured) is the benchmark anode material for lithium-ion batteries. The Penn State team produced a synthetic graphite from waste PET with a similarly highly ordered crystalline structure. Discarded PET plastic bottles could become a source of high-quality graphite for lithium-ion batteries. A seemingly noteworthy advance in this direction has been announced by researchers […]
-
Street-level mapping tool targets England’s environmental inequalities
by
The new indices combine environmental, health and socio-economic data to help identify neighbourhoods where multiple pressures accumulate. A new set of mapping tools launched by the Environment Agency and partners promises to help councils, government bodies and environmental organisations identify, at street level, where environmental pressures are combining with social deprivation to create the greatest […]
-
Six charts show how clean power was world’s largest source of new energy in 2025
Clean power added more to global energy supplies than any other source in 2025, according to the latest Energy Institute statistical review of world energy. Outside the Covid pandemic, it was also the first year ever in which wind and solar, when combined, contributed more new energy than any of the individual fossil fuels. The findings […]
-
Inaugural Music Technology Research Showcase celebrates work of new graduate program’s initial students
by
The MIT Music Technology and Computation (MTC) Graduate Program — launched in fall 2024 as a collaboration between the Music and Theater Arts Section in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS), and the School of Engineering (SoE) — presented its inaugural MIT Music Technology Research Showcase on May 13. The event played […]
-
3 Questions: Beyond data-driven aesthetics
by
“Beyond Data-Driven Aesthetics,” by MIT Architecture alumnus and researcher Alexandros Haridis, on view at the MIT Keller Gallery through June 30, examines 20th- and 21st-century efforts to transform computing into a medium for creative production and aesthetic judgment in architecture and the applied arts. Drawing on philosophy, mathematics, computer science, and design computation, the exhibition […]
-
Guest post: Climate change has caused one-fifth of Pine Island glacier retreat
The Pine Island glacier in West Antarctica is one of the fastest-changing glaciers in the world. Alongside its neighbour, the Thwaites glacier, it is responsible for almost half the sea level rise caused by melting ice sheets in Antarctica. Scientists know the West Antarctic ice sheet – which includes Thwaites and Pine Island – is […]
-
David Autor named head of the Department of Economics
by
David Autor, the Daniel (1972) and Gail Rubinfeld Professor in the MIT Department of Economics, has been named head of the Department of Economics, effective July 1. “David is a world-class labor economist,” says Agustín Rayo, the Kenan Sahin Dean of the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. “He is also an individual of […]
-
DeBriefed 26 June 2026: Heat records broken across Europe | London climate action week | Introducing ‘Project Cosmos’
Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed. An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change. This week Record Europe heat HOTTEST EVER: The UK broke its temperature record for June twice this week, while France recorded its hottest day ever two days in a row, reported the Guardian. The Times reported that temperatures reached […]
-
Q&A: What change of power in Colombia could mean for world’s fossil-fuel transition
Over the last four years, Colombia has emerged as one of the most vocal advocates for the world to transition away from fossil fuels. Under the leadership of leftist politician and economist Gustavo Petro, it became the first major oil-and-gas producer to commit to halting all new fossil-fuel expansion. In April, the nation hosted a […]
-
LLMs help robots understand vague instructions and focus on key details
by
Imagine working at a warehouse or office sometime in the near future, and you’re asked to help a new trainee learn the basics of their job. The catch: It’s a robot. To teach them, you might want to play a game of “show and tell” — that is, physically showing how to do something a […]
-
Media reaction: How climate change intensified Europe’s record-breaking June heat
For the second time in two months, western and central Europe has been hit by a record-breaking heatwave. Temperature records have toppled in multiple countries, with France seeing its “hottest day ever” for two days running and the UK, Spain and Switzerland breaking records for June. A rapid-response attribution study has concluded that “climate change […]
-
MIT in the media: Exploring how curiosity-driven science is an essential ingredient in America’s success
by
Over the past 80 years, America’s bold, sustained investment in scientific research, and the discoveries, ideas and innovations that flowed from it made America a world leader. The nation’s scientific leadership has been essential to our shared prosperity and national security, and delivered real benefits for all Americans. On June 16, Scientific American released a special […]
-
Agentic Workflow vs. Autonomous Agent: What’s the Difference?
by
In this article, you will learn how to distinguish agentic workflows from autonomous agents by focusing on who owns control flow — a human writing…
-
China Briefing 25 June 2026: Five-year plans passed | Critical-mineral tensions | Industrial decarbonisation plan
Welcome to Carbon Brief’s China Briefing. China Briefing handpicks and explains the most important climate and energy stories from China over the past fortnight. Subscribe for free here. Key developments New five-year plans GENERATION TARGET: China today released its 15th five-year plan for building a “new-type energy system”, according to finance news outlet Cailianshe. It said […]
-
Livestock heat deaths in transit doubled in UK record-hot summer of 2025
Twice as many animals died due to heat stress en route to slaughterhouses during the UK’s record-hot summer in 2025 compared to 2024, according to new Carbon Brief analysis. Government figures showed that nearly 6,600 animals – mostly chickens – died in transport as a result of the sweltering summer heat in England and Wales […]
-
Analysis: UK sales of electric vehicles just overtook petrol cars for the first time
For the first time in the UK, more new electric vehicles (EVs) have been sold over a 12-month period than petrol cars, according to Carbon Brief analysis. The news comes amid a battle over the future of the UK’s “zero-emissions vehicle” (ZEV) mandate, which the car industry and some unions are pushing to water down. […]
-
Guest post: How US renewable-energy growth persists despite federal policy uncertainty
Despite recent shifts in federal energy policies, our analysis shows that the US transition to renewable energy is continuing. The current administration has enacted a range of changes to prioritise fossil-fuel energy and environmental deregulation in the US, while withdrawing support for renewables. Yet solar, wind and battery storage accounted for over 90% of new […]