Via the Thomson Reuters Foundation, a look at how Brazilian President Lula bet big on mega dams in the 2000s to expand clean energy. Now climate change is hurting Brazil’s green ambitions: Amazon mega dams running well below capacity as river levels low Underperformance not new but worsened by record-setting drought Brazil turns to polluting […]
Read more »Via Sustainability by Numbers, a look at how much energy does desalinisation use? Is it “absurdly cheap”? Elon Musk has said several times recently that desalinisation is “absurdly cheap”.1 This was surprising to me. When I was younger I was taught the mantra that desalinisation “uses lots of energy and is really expensive”. And to be honest, […]
Read more »Via Grist, a look at how one company’s pledge to conserve water at its data centers doesn’t account for the thirsty power plants that keep them running: Earlier this year, the e-commerce corporation Amazon secured approval to open two new data centers in Santiago, Chile. The $400 million venture is the company’s first foray into locating its data facilities, […]
Read more »Via Water Education.org, a look at the increasing use of solar-powered canopies over canals: A solar-paneled canopy now under construction over the Casa Blanca Canal near Phoenix is on track to be the first project of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. Source: Tectonicus Constructs LLC An intensifying but unseen force is stealing precious water […]
Read more »Via Bloomberg, a report on China’s advances in pumped hydro: Fengning station in Hebei province fully operational on Sunday Nation seeking to expand capacity to 120 gigawatts by 2030 State Grid Corp. of China has completed the world’s biggest pumped hydro plant as the nation ramps up its green energy capabilities. The ast of 12 […]
Read more »Via Inside Climate News, a report on the impact that growing exploration for lithium is having upon water resources: Lithium needed for batteries that power electric vehicles and store electricity from renewable energy projects is likely to deplete—and in some cases, contaminate—local water supplies, according to a new paper published this week. From mining the […]
Read more »