Key Impact Points: From Tornado Chasing to Satellite Tracking In the late 1990s, ecologist Martin Wikelski spent nights chasing migrating Swainson’s Thrushes across Illinois, outfitting birds with transmitters and tracking them via car. “His shift ended when the migrating thrush touched down, often hundreds of miles from where he’d tagged
Key Impact Points: Setting Standards for Marine Carbon Removal Carbon Direct and Microsoft announced a joint initiative to develop new guidelines for marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR). These standards are intended to ensure that ocean-based carbon removal strategies are scientifically robust and effective in significantly reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide. Urgency
Key Impact Points: EPA Greenlights Major DAC Project Occidental Petroleum’s subsidiary, 1PointFive, has received approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to store carbon dioxide captured from its new direct air capture (DAC) facility, Stratos, in Texas. The permits, issued under the Safe Drinking Water Act’s Underground Injection Control
Key Impact Points: Climate Volatility Hits Renewable Energy Renewable energy’s rapid expansion faces growing threats from climate variability. Despite record growth in renewable capacity, extreme weather driven by climate change is increasingly disrupting energy generation. Hamid Bastani from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) highlighted significant impacts: “In Sudan and Namibia,
Key Impact Points: Driving Sustainability with Data The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Zero Waste Foundation have launched a strategic partnership aimed at enhancing global sustainability through innovative waste management solutions. This collaboration falls under UNEP’s “Early Warning and Global Environmental Monitoring Services” initiative, addressing the triple planetary
Key Impact Points: Groundbreaking Early Detection The first satellite of the pioneering FireSat constellation successfully made contact with Earth following its launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-13 mission. This constellation, which will eventually include more than 50 satellites, aims to revolutionize wildfire detection and tracking by using
Key Impact Points: Rising Demand from Big Tech Chevron has entered permitting and engineering phases for multiple U.S. sites to construct data centers alongside dedicated power generation facilities. Daniel Droog, vice president of power solutions at Chevron, emphasized strong market interest: “The customer interest is high. It’s really trying to
Key Impact Points: EV Flexibility: Europe’s Energy Future EY forecasts over 50 million electric vehicles (EVs) on European roads by 2030, representing 15% of total vehicles. Managing EV charging patterns and leveraging vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology—allowing EVs to return power to the grid—can substantially reduce consumer costs, stabilize the electricity grid,
Key Impact Points: Powering Sustainable AI in Data Centers The AI boom is fueling massive data center expansion, creating a surge in energy demand that threatens grid stability and sustainability. As hyperscalers like Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon rapidly build out their infrastructure, the industry faces a pivotal challenge: how
Key Takeaways: Data Center Energy Use is Growing Data center energy consumption in the U.S. has surged from 76 TWh in 2018 to 176 TWh in 2023, representing 4.4% of total electricity use. Globally, energy use ranged between 240-340 TWh in 2022, excluding network activity (260-360 TWh) and cryptocurrency (100-150
