Dirty Business stars launch petition calling for national referendum on water ownership
by
-
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 […]
-
SMEs ‘willing but unsupported’ on net zero, London programme finds
by
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 […]
-
Firms partner on floating data centre concept using repurposed vessels
by
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 […]
-
A philosophy of work
by
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, […]
-
Welsh Greens’ anti-nuclear stance draws criticism amid wider energy debate
by
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 […]
-
New technique makes AI models leaner and faster while they’re still learning
by
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 […]
-
How Mica Connects AI Workloads to Cleaner, Lower-Carbon Power
by
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 […]
-
Iran war analysis: How 60 nations have responded to the global energy crisis
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 […]
-
Cropped 8 April 2026: Iran war drives up food prices | Two nature talks conclude | Return of UK’s tallest bird
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 […]
-
War-time fall out: Cut fertilisers to improve UK security and benefit nature, says charity
by
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: […]
-
Project turns recovered car battery acid and plastic waste into clean hydrogen
by
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 […]
-
Ganges River pollution study: standard monitoring identifies only 1% of organofluorine contamination
by
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 […]
-
Sixteen new START.nano companies are developing hard-tech solutions with the support of MIT.nano
by
MIT.nano has announced that 16 startups became active participants in its START.nano program in 2025, more than doubling the number of new companies from the previous year. Aimed at speeding the transition of hard-tech innovation to market, START.nano supports new ventures through the discounted use of MIT.nano shared facilities and a guided access to the […]
-
Analysis: How Chinese media is covering the Iran energy crisis
As the closure of the Strait of Hormuz wreaks havoc on fossil-fuel supplies across the world, a prominent narrative in western media has been that low-carbon energy has helped mitigate the worst of the impact on China. While Chinese-language media has featured similar arguments, it has also highlighted China’s coal industry and broader energy security […]
-
Heat networks fund accepting applications from Welsh projects
by
The Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF)1 will open to Welsh projects from Round 12, unlocking new opportunities for clean heat and accelerating Wales’ path to net zero by 2050. The Welsh Government shares Westminster’s goal to reach net zero by 2050 and has committed to decarbonising all public sector buildings by 2030. In Cardiff, a […]
-
Introducing Carbon Brief’s 2026 cohort of contributing editors
Carbon Brief’s editorial team is supported by an international group of academics, each specialising in various areas of climate science, biodiversity, energy and policy. As contributing editors, they help to keep Carbon Brief up-to-date with the latest scientific and policy developments, as well as providing advice, when required, on matters of scientific accuracy. The contributing […]
-
Helping data centers deliver higher performance with less hardware
by
To improve data center efficiency, multiple storage devices are often pooled together over a network so many applications can share them. But even with pooling, significant device capacity remains underutilized due to performance variability across the devices. MIT researchers have now developed a system that boosts the performance of storage devices by handling three major […]
-
Working to advance the nuclear renaissance
by
Today, there are 94 nuclear reactors operating in the United States, more than in any other country in the world, and these units collectively provide nearly 20 percent of the nation’s electricity. That is a major accomplishment, according to Dean Price, but he believes that our country needs much more out of nuclear energy, especially […]