Before recent high-profile hacks raised the specter of AI possibly “killing all humans,” our energy systems were already disturbingly vulnerable to cyberattack – and the risk is growing. “We were always prey. We were just kind of surviving at the appetite of our predators,” Joshua Corman, executive in residence for public safety and resilience at […]
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger ordered the state government to take steps that could empower local communities to have a larger say in data center development and slow down approvals in a state that is already home to the data center capital of the world. Executive Order 22 bans executive branch officials from signing nondisclosure agreements […]
The Environmental Protection Agency announced its plans today to kill any remaining standards on how much greenhouse gas pollution power plants are allowed to emit in the US. The move will only make electricity dirtier as AI, electric vehicles, and a revival of domestic manufacturing drive up power demand. The EPA’s proposal today is a […]
If you’re in the market for a tiny power station that punches well above its size and weight then have a look at EcoFlow’s new fourth-generation River series. The River 260 Gen4 features a 256Wh capacity battery while the 520 Gen4 packs in 512Wh – storing about 2.5x and 5x the energy of the largest […]
This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on e-bikes, power stations, and how to work anywhere, follow Thomas Ricker. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started With a deep breath, I took […]
Bluetti doesn’t want you to call the Pioneer 5000 a solar generator (SoGen), even though that’s what it is. What makes it slightly different from other large power stations that can be charged off solar – aka, a SoGen – is the dolly cart and up to 18KW of instant surge power available to start […]
As he steps down from his post as Apple CEO today, Tim Cook leaves behind a mostly positive environmental record. As far as billionaire tech moguls and the environment go, Cook will likely be remembered as one of the better ones – certainly far from the worst. But it will become harder for the company […]
Just as new data centers face growing backlash from neighboring communities, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is about to make it harder for people to weigh in on any pollution those centers create. The EPA plans to toss out a federal rule requiring public notice and an opportunity to comment when certain industrial sites […]
Tesla has discontinued Solar Roof, its solar panels designed to look like regular roofing tiles, Electrek reports. Sources “close to the program” told the publication that Tesla has informed its third-party installer network that Solar Roof is no longer available to order, and that only conventional solar panels will be supplied going forward. While Tesla […]
Solar energy, at any time of day or night – that’s the dream of space mirror projects. Futurists have been imagining satellite mirrors that could reflect the sun’s light onto the Earth’s surface for over a century. Russian scientists experimented with the concept in the ’90s with the Znamya project. The idea is to put […]