Big Data Analytics Enhances Renewable Energy sector
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The sun doesn’t send bills, but energy companies using renewable energy do. And to keep those bills lower for everyone, green energy had to harness not just wind and sun, but data too. Renewable energy used to operate almost blindly. Wind blows when it wants, the sun hides behind clouds without warning, and energy companies […]
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Enabling small language models to solve complex reasoning tasks
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As language models (LMs) improve at tasks like image generation, trivia questions, and simple math, you might think that human-like reasoning is around the corner. In reality, they still trail us by a wide margin on complex tasks. Try playing Sudoku with one, for instance, where you fill in numbers one through nine in such […]
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New MIT program to train military leaders for the AI age
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Artificial intelligence can enhance decision-making and enable action with reduced risk and greater precision, making it a critical tool for national security. A new program offered jointly by the MIT departments of Mechanical Engineering (Course 2, MechE) and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Course 6, EECS) will provide breadth and depth in technical studies for […]
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Decommissioning Offshore Oil and Gas: A Conversation with Former Regulators
A 2024 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that over 2,500 wells and 500 platforms in the Gulf of Mexico were overdue for decommissioning (i.e., the process whereby wells are permanently plugged and associated infrastructure removed). Others have estimated that over 32,000 offshore wells in U.S. waters are either abandoned or idle, and […]
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The Energy Justice Resistance: How States Can Counteract Federal Attacks on Community Benefits Plans
The Biden Administration tied historic federal clean energy funding in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Law (IIJA) and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to a local benefits framework through the Department of Energy’s Community Benefits Plan (CBP) requirements. The Trump Administration’s rapid rescission of CBP requirements, however, has removed the primary […]
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DeBriefed 12 December: EU under ‘pressure’; ‘Unusual warmth’ explained; Rise of climate boardgames
Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed. An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change. This week EU sets 2040 goal CUT CRUNCHED: The EU agreed on a legally binding target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90% from 1990 levels by 2040, reported the EU Observer. The publication said that this agreement is […]
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‘Cali Fund’ aiming to raise billions for nature receives first donation – of just $1,000
A major biodiversity fund – which could, in theory, generate billions of dollars annually for conservation – received its first donation of just $1,000 in November. The Cali Fund was created under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at the COP16 nature negotiations in Cali, Colombia, last year. On 19 November, nine months after […]
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New method improves the reliability of statistical estimations
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Let’s say an environmental scientist is studying whether exposure to air pollution is associated with lower birth weights in a particular county. They might train a machine-learning model to estimate the magnitude of this association, since machine-learning methods are especially good at learning complex relationships. Standard machine-learning methods excel at making predictions and sometimes provide […]
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China Briefing 11 December 2025: Winter record looms; Joint climate statement with France; How ‘mid-level bureaucrats’ help shape policy
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 Record power and gas demand DOMESTIC TURBINES: China’s top economic planning body, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), expects both electricity demand and gas demand […]
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Q&A: Five key climate questions for China’s next ‘five-year plan’
China’s central and local governments, as well as state-owned enterprises, are busy preparing for the next five-year planning period, spanning 2026-30. The top-level 15th five-year plan, due to be published in March 2026, will shape greenhouse gas emissions in China – and globally – for the rest of this decade and beyond. The targets set under the […]
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Climate Skeptics Rush to Misuse Texas v. BlackRock
Texas v. BlackRock (E.D. Tex.) (BlackRock), a case in which 11 states claim that the institutional-investor defendants colluded to profit through coordinated output reductions at coal companies they partially owned, remains in its early stages, with discovery continuing through 2027. Already however, opponents of climate-risk mitigation have rushed to extract specious theories of antitrust harm […]
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£6.23 million funding package will support new biorefinery in Grangemouth
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Celtic Renewables’ commercial demonstrator biorefinery in Grangemouth Scottish green chemicals firm Celtic Renewables, has secured £6.23 million in new funding from the Scottish Government to scale its business producing green chemicals made from by-products and waste from the food and drink industry. Celtic Renewables will put the funding towards the planning and construction of a […]
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The deadly trade-off of electronic waste recycling in Ghana
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An informal settlement called Agbogbloshie has sprung up near an informal electronic waste recycling site in Accra, Ghana (image credit: Brandon Marc Finn/University of Michigan) People in Ghana and across the Global South who recycle electronic waste face a difficult paradox: earning livelihoods to ensure survival comes at the cost of severe long-term exposure to […]
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Study shows promise for acid mine drainage recycling
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Image credit: Vhahangwele Masindi A novel method for converting hazardous acid mine drainage into a valuable resource for drinking water treatment offers hope for communities living near polluted mining areas. Acid mine drainage (AMD), a toxic byproduct of mining, is notorious for contaminating rivers and groundwater with high concentrations of metals such as iron, aluminium, […]
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Plastics dominate UK litter as rural and outdoor spaces emerge as pollution hotspots
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A new study by the University of Portsmouth shows that plastic items make up more than seven in ten pieces of litter recorded across the UK, with countryside locations and public recreation areas carrying some of the heaviest burdens. The research draws on ten years of citizen science data collected between 2015 and 2024, using […]
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Autonomous drifting robot survives under East Antarctic ice shelf to take first-of-its-kind measurements
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Aerial view of the Denman Glacier (image credit: Pete Harmsen, AAD) A robotic float has been used to measure the temperature and salinity within a hitherto mysterious realm of the ocean, underneath massive floating ice shelves in East Antarctica. This kind of Argo float – a free-drifting, torpedo-shaped autonomous robot – is normally used in […]
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New materials could boost the energy efficiency of microelectronics
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MIT researchers have developed a new fabrication method that could enable the production of more energy efficient electronics by stacking multiple functional components on top of one existing circuit. In traditional circuits, logic devices that perform computation, like transistors, and memory devices that store data are built as separate components, forcing data to travel back […]
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Net-zero scenario is ‘cheapest option’ for UK, says energy system operator
A scenario that meets the “net-zero by 2050” goal would be the “cheapest” option for the UK, according to modelling by the National Energy System Operator (NESO). In a new report, the organisation that manages the UK’s energy infrastructure says its “holistic transition” scenario would have the lowest cost over the next 25 years, saving […]