Via EcoBusiness, commentary on the Ganga Water Treaty which – signed in 1996 – expires next year, and there are unresolved issues with regards to water sharing arrangements. Both Bangladesh and India will need to negotiate a more thorough, equitable and climate-resilient deal. The Ganga Water Treaty is crucial to India-Bangladesh relations because it guarantees […]
Via The Conversation, a look at China’s plans to build the world’s largest dam – but what does this mean for India and Bangladesh downstream? China recently approved the construction of the world’s largest hydropower dam, across the Yarlung Tsangpo river in Tibet. When fully up and running, it will be the world’s largest power plant – […]
Via AS.com, an article on the concerns that reservoirs could reach deadpool levels in the next few years are very real, with water levels down 20 percent over the past century: The Colorado River is one of the few perennial water supplies for some of the hottest and driest zones of the United States. It provides water for over 40 […]
Via Bloomberg, a report on Saudi Arabia’s plans to build an AI powerhouse: Entity would build on kingdom’s efforts to emerge as AI hub PIF, Google AI partnership may serve as model for project Saudi Arabia is planning a new artificial intelligence project with backing of as much as $100 billion as it seeks to […]
Via the Wall Street Journal a look at Russia’s plans to merge its oil giants into a mega producer which would be the world’s second-biggest crude producer, after Saudi Arabia’s Aramco, pumping almost three times the output of Exxon Mobil: Moscow is working on a plan to merge its biggest oil companies into a single […]
Kazakhstan once harbored grand plans for a high-speed rail network. The Diplomat examines why – while its neighbors have pushed ahead with such projects – HSR fallen out of favor in Astana: High-speed train travel can be a challenging prospect for any nation. To achieve speeds of 250 kilometers per hour, high-speed rail (HSR) requires […]
Via Grist, a report on the weekslong disappearance of Canadian hydropower from New England’s grid exposes risks for the region On March 6, at the start of the still-simmering trade war between the U.S. and Canada, hydropower generator Hydro‑Québec quietly stopped exporting electricity to New England. At a time of year when Canadian hydropower typically supplies up […]
Via BBC, a report on a planned dam in Africa: From a set of roaring rapids, comes a grand vision. There are plans to build a magnificent, multi-billion dollar mega-dam on the Congo River – one that would produce enough renewable electricity to power vast areas of Africa. The structure would be called the Grand […]
Via SciTech Daily, a report on a recent Department of Energy study on the potential for federal reservoirs to generate enough solar energy to power 100 million homes annually: A new study reveals that federally managed reservoirs have the potential to generate enough energy to supply power to around 100 million U.S. homes annually. Federal […]
Via Texas Tribune, a look at how – as the state’s energy demand soars – a pilot program looks to bolster grid with “virtual power plants” fueled by people’s homes On sunny days in the Hill Country, Tom Cook taps open an app on his phone and watches the power generated from the solar panels […]
Via Volts, an interesting interview examining how residential solar is becoming residential solar + storage + VPP: Hello everyone, this is Volts for November 13, 2024. “Residential solar is becoming residential solar + storage + VPP.” I’m your host, David Roberts. Last month, I was in Brooklyn for the third annual DERvos conference celebrating distributed […]
Via MIT Technology Review, an article on efforts to connect the U.S.’s grids: Michael Skelly hasn’t learned to take no for an answer. For much of the last 15 years, the Houston-based energy entrepreneur has worked to develop long-haul transmission lines to carry wind power across the Great Plains, Midwest, and Southwest, delivering clean electricity […]
Via Bangkok Post, commentary on growing Thai concerns around Chinese land purchases: The latest report on Chinese investors buying protected forest land to expand their durian plantations is worrying. This is more than just an illegal land grab, however. Soon, the whole durian supply chain will feel the impact. As such, these blatant land grabs […]
Via Associated Press, a report on North Dakota’s efforts to limit Chinese land purchases in its state: It’s been three years since a Chinese company’s plan to develop a swath of farmland near a North Dakota Air Force base prompted local security concerns and led to a rush of legislation across the country, but calls for restrictions keep coming. If anything, the […]
Via The Economist, a look at how tensions with the West are fuelling China’s anxiety about food supplies American soyabean farmers could draw some comfort from the tariffs that China imposed on an array of American imports on February 10th. Foodstuffs like theirs were not affected by China’s countermeasures against the 10% levy on Chinese imports […]
Via the Wall Street Journal, a report on Electronic Arts’ use of new tech to scan photos for its videogame after securing players’ likeness rights for the first time A character artist works on the new ‘EA Sports College Football 25.’ PHOTO: EA SPORTS It has been over a decade since Electronic Arts released a college football videogame. To […]
Via MIT’s Technology Review, a report on how how AI-powered NPCs that don’t need a script could make games—and other worlds—deeply immersiv First, a confession. I only got into playing video games a little over a year ago (I know, I know). A Christmas gift of an Xbox Series S “for the kids” dragged me—pretty easily, […]
Via Sports Business Journal, a look at how Gym Class VR is building on its popularity with the addition of NBA logos and venues: The mid-range jumper may be a lost art in the NBA game, but I sank one from just inside the free-throw line at the TD Garden, as the PA announcer called out the basket. […]
Via New Scientist, a report that scientists have found a way of using rainfall to create renewable electricity: Water droplets falling through a tube have generated enough electricity to power 12 LED lights. Such an approach could one day be used in roof-based systems to harvest lots of clean power from rain. “Rain falls on Earth every […]
Via Sustmeme, a look at how machine learning helps map solar and green roofs: Data visualisation of roof shapes. Image credit: © Ordnance Survey Brand new roofs data, extracted with the help of machine learning, will benefit sustainability and energy sectors by supporting carbon net zero initiatives and retrofits, plus map solar and green installations. […]
Via South China Morning Post, a look at China’s massive ‘distributed’ solar power generation program on roofs of houses, factories and airports is spreading across country, but curtailment rate is also rising: Former construction contractor Gao Shouguang switched careers last year, abandoning the troubled property sector to become a solar panel distributor – and another example […]
Via Forbes, a look at how Markel’s Chief executive Thomas Gayner has quietly turned insurer Markel into a mini-conglomerate. Meet Richmond’s answer to the Oracle of Omaha: Thomas Gayner gets a kick out of telling the story. It was 1983. He had just graduated from the University of Virginia with a plan to return home to Salem, […]
Via The Economist, a look at a firm which many consider as technology’s Berkshire Hathaway: For older startups these are tough times. The weak recent stockmarket debuts of Arm, a British chipmaker, Instacart, a grocery-delivery group, and Klaviyo, a software firm, have dampened enthusiasm for initial public offerings. Venture capital (vc) has dried up. Data […]
Via Bloomberg, interesting commentary on how many – such as crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried couldn’t survive the comparison – but others who actually invest somewhat like the Berkshire Hathaway chairman fare better: A couple of months ago, crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried was peering out from the cover of Fortune magazine above the words “The Next Warren Buffett?” Now he’s at […]
Via BBC, an article on how AI text alerts help save snow leopards from extinction: Snow leopards cannot growl. So when we step towards one of these fierce predators, she’s purring. “Lovely,” as she’s called, was orphaned and rescued 12 years ago in Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan. After years of relying on staff to feed her, she […]
Via Scientific American, an article on Google’s efforts to develop an LLM that could help us communicate with dolphins: Dolphins are renowned for their intelligence and social skills. These large-brained marine mammals communicate using individualized signature clicks and whistles and even seem to recognize their own “names.” Big advances in artificial intelligence have renewed some scientists’ dream of eventually […]
Via The Guardian, an article on the use of innovative cameras to identify fish species hindering coral reef restoration: Marine scientists in Florida working to help reverse a calamitous decades-long decline in coral reefs caught fishy “porch pirates” in the act with an innovative underwater doorbell-style surveillance camera. The footage showed that three corallivorous species – redband […]