Here is some literal new shiny.

Our SPARC tokamak's donut-shaped vacuum vessel will hold a superhot plasma, the machine's fusion fuel. Here's how we got the first half of that vessel to our HQ in Devens, Massachusetts. This was a design, engineering, fabrication, and transportation feat.

#FusionEnergy #Electricity #Science #Logistics #SPARC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvruKRhy5aE

"From 2010 to 2023, wind power delivered a benefit of £147.5 billion — £14.2 billion from lower electricity prices and £133.3 billion from reduced natural gas prices. If we offset the £43.2 billion in wind energy subsidies, UK consumers saved £104.3 billion compared with what their energy bills would have been without investment in wind generation.
UK wind energy production has transformed over the past 15 years. In 2010, more than 75% of electricity was generated from fossil fuels. By 2025, coal has ceased and wind is the largest source of power at 30% – more than natural gas at 26%."
https://theconversation.com/wind-power-has-saved-uk-consumers-over-100-billion-since-2010-new-study-266702
#electricity #windPower #renewables
@pluralistic

"From 2010 to 2023, wind power delivered a benefit of £147.5 billion — £14.2 billion from lower electricity prices and £133.3 billion from reduced natural gas prices. If we offset the £43.2 billion in wind energy subsidies, UK consumers saved £104.3 billion compared with what their energy bills would have been without investment in wind generation.
UK wind energy production has transformed over the past 15 years. In 2010, more than 75% of electricity was generated from fossil fuels. By 2025, coal has ceased and wind is the largest source of power at 30% – more than natural gas at 26%."
https://theconversation.com/wind-power-has-saved-uk-consumers-over-100-billion-since-2010-new-study-266702
#electricity #windPower #renewables
@pluralistic

Exclusive: #US Dept of #Energy forms $1B #supercomputer & #AI partnership with #AMD

The US has formed a $1 billion partnership with Advanced Micro Devices to construct 2 supercomputers that will tackle large scientific problems ranging from #NuclearPower to #cancer treatments to #NationalSecurity, Energy Secy Chris Wright & AMD CEO Lisa Su told Reuters.

#science #law #EnvironmentalLaw #electricity #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-department-energy-forms-1-billion-supercomputer-ai-partnership-with-amd-2025-10-27/?utm_source=braze&utm_medium=notifications&utm_campaign=2025_engagement

The plans call for the first #supercomputer called #Lux to be constructed & come online within the next 6 months. It will be based around AMD's MI355X #ArtificialIntelligence chips, & the design will also include central processors & networking chips made by #AMD. The system is co-developed by AMD, #HewlettPackard Enterprise, #Oracle Cloud Infrastructure & Oak Ridge National Laboratory ( #ORNL).

#science #law #EnvironmentalLaw #AI #tech #energy #electricity #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis

"My hope is in the next 5 or 8 years, we will turn most cancers, many of which today are ultimate death sentences, into manageable conditions," Wright said.

[that sounds great, but #Trump has defunded #CleanEnergy, he actually wants to use #coal & other #FossilFuels which will increase #cancer rates!]

#science #law #EnvironmentalLaw #AI #tech #energy #electricity #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis

…"We're going to get just massively faster progress using the computation from these #AI systems that I believe will have practical pathways to harness #fusion #energy in the next 2 or 3 years."

Wright said the #supercomputers would also help manage the US arsenal of #NuclearWeapons [Skynet anyone?] & accelerate #drug discovery by simulating ways to treat #cancer down to the
molecular level.

#science #law #EnvironmentalLaw #tech #electricity #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis

#Energy Secy Wright said the systems would "supercharge" advances in #NuclearPower & #fusion energy, #technologies for #defense & #NationalSecurity, & the development of #drugs.

Scientists & companies are trying to replicate fusion, the reaction that fuels the sun, by jamming light atoms in a plasma gas under intense heat & pressure to release massive amounts of energy.

#science #law #EnvironmentalLaw #AI #tech #electricity #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis

The US is building the 2 machines to ensure the country has enough #supercomputers to run increasingly complex experiments that require harnessing enormous amounts of data-crunching capability. The machines can accelerate the process of making scientific discoveries in areas the US is focused on.

#science #law #EnvironmentalLaw #AI #tech #energy #electricity #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis

Exclusive: #US Dept of #Energy forms $1B #supercomputer & #AI partnership with #AMD

The US has formed a $1 billion partnership with Advanced Micro Devices to construct 2 supercomputers that will tackle large scientific problems ranging from #NuclearPower to #cancer treatments to #NationalSecurity, Energy Secy Chris Wright & AMD CEO Lisa Su told Reuters.

#science #law #EnvironmentalLaw #electricity #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-department-energy-forms-1-billion-supercomputer-ai-partnership-with-amd-2025-10-27/?utm_source=braze&utm_medium=notifications&utm_campaign=2025_engagement

Here's How #Japan Is Turning #Footsteps Into #Electricity

By Samyak Goswami, Aug. 16, 2025 6:15 pm EST

Excerpts: "While Japan's implementation of #piezoelectric tiles is new, the underlying technology itself dates back to the late #19thCentury. The Curie brothers discovered that pressing substances like quartz, topaz, sugarcane, and more induced a voltage across the substance, known as the piezoelectric effect. The converse is also true, as piezoelectric materials also change shape or vibrate when an electric current is passed through them. Due to these properties, piezoelectric substances find use in numerous applications like quartz watches, sonars, and electricity-producing sidewalks. Common kitchen lighters, too, use a piezoelectric material to produce their characteristic spark from the pressure applied to the trigger.

"Piezoelectric substances generally produce a low voltage that depends on various factors. Japan's implementation of the piezoelectric sidewalk generated around 0.1W of power when a 60kg person stepped on a tile, back in 2008. The power from one footstep isn't substantial, but the figure quickly grows when millions of people take a step in crowded places like Tokyo's Shibuya Station. Moreover, the technology has evolved, and more efficient tiles can generate up to 30W of power with each step."

[...]

"The biggest roadblock that has limited piezoelectric tiles to niche applications is the high upfront cost associated with them. The cost depends on their efficiency and can range from $50 to $100. Installing a wide network of such tiles over a large area can quickly shoot up the initial investment. However, research shows that crowded areas such as subway stations are best suited for piezoelectric tiles, despite the high cost. A 2017 research even claimed that these tiles can result in up to 99.93% lower cost of electricity over the tile's lifespan, taking Cairo's busting Elshohadaa station as an example.

"That said, low power output is another big factor that makes piezoelectric tiles economically unfeasible. Conventional renewable energy sources, like solar panels, have evolved over time and can generate more electricity at a much lower cost. Additionally, power generation takes a nosedive in lightly populated areas, restricting the technology to only a few busy spaces. Moreover, higher maintenance costs and frequent repairs due to enormous stress in crowded areas are other factors stopping piezoelectric tiles from becoming mainstream. That said, a high-output tile with greater durability could make its adoption economically feasible in the future."

Read More: https://www.slashgear.com/1937672/how-japan-generating-electricity-with-piezoelectric-sidewalks-explained/

#SolarPunkSunday #SolarPunk #FootTraffic #ElectricityGeneration #19thCenturyTechnology #TechnologyAdaptation

Interesting Globe piece on electricity prices and datacenters, and how they're often not related the way everyone wants you to think, according to a new study.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/25/business/reason-electricity-prices-rising/

The anti-datacenter wave is really fascinating to me. Is it just because "AI Datacenters" are so rapidly expanding that people are against them, or is there an undercurrent of something about the "AI" itselr?

This article does nothing to answer that question, but you can!

#datacenters #Electricity #prices

Here's How #Japan Is Turning #Footsteps Into #Electricity

By Samyak Goswami, Aug. 16, 2025 6:15 pm EST

Excerpts: "While Japan's implementation of #piezoelectric tiles is new, the underlying technology itself dates back to the late #19thCentury. The Curie brothers discovered that pressing substances like quartz, topaz, sugarcane, and more induced a voltage across the substance, known as the piezoelectric effect. The converse is also true, as piezoelectric materials also change shape or vibrate when an electric current is passed through them. Due to these properties, piezoelectric substances find use in numerous applications like quartz watches, sonars, and electricity-producing sidewalks. Common kitchen lighters, too, use a piezoelectric material to produce their characteristic spark from the pressure applied to the trigger.

"Piezoelectric substances generally produce a low voltage that depends on various factors. Japan's implementation of the piezoelectric sidewalk generated around 0.1W of power when a 60kg person stepped on a tile, back in 2008. The power from one footstep isn't substantial, but the figure quickly grows when millions of people take a step in crowded places like Tokyo's Shibuya Station. Moreover, the technology has evolved, and more efficient tiles can generate up to 30W of power with each step."

[...]

"The biggest roadblock that has limited piezoelectric tiles to niche applications is the high upfront cost associated with them. The cost depends on their efficiency and can range from $50 to $100. Installing a wide network of such tiles over a large area can quickly shoot up the initial investment. However, research shows that crowded areas such as subway stations are best suited for piezoelectric tiles, despite the high cost. A 2017 research even claimed that these tiles can result in up to 99.93% lower cost of electricity over the tile's lifespan, taking Cairo's busting Elshohadaa station as an example.

"That said, low power output is another big factor that makes piezoelectric tiles economically unfeasible. Conventional renewable energy sources, like solar panels, have evolved over time and can generate more electricity at a much lower cost. Additionally, power generation takes a nosedive in lightly populated areas, restricting the technology to only a few busy spaces. Moreover, higher maintenance costs and frequent repairs due to enormous stress in crowded areas are other factors stopping piezoelectric tiles from becoming mainstream. That said, a high-output tile with greater durability could make its adoption economically feasible in the future."

Read More: https://www.slashgear.com/1937672/how-japan-generating-electricity-with-piezoelectric-sidewalks-explained/

#SolarPunkSunday #SolarPunk #FootTraffic #ElectricityGeneration #19thCenturyTechnology #TechnologyAdaptation

PUDL v2025.10.0 is out. It updates monthly EIA-860M data & also happens to include final EIA-860 data for 2024, newly integrated EIA-923 financial data (schedule 8B), and (finally!) PHMSA natural gas data. See the release notes for details

#Energy #OpenData #OpenSource #Electricity #EnergyTransition

https://catalystcoop-pudl.readthedocs.io/en/latest/release_notes.html#v2025-10-0-2025-10-14

PUDL v2025.10.0 is out. It updates monthly EIA-860M data & also happens to include final EIA-860 data for 2024, newly integrated EIA-923 financial data (schedule 8B), and (finally!) PHMSA natural gas data. See the release notes for details

#Energy #OpenData #OpenSource #Electricity #EnergyTransition

https://catalystcoop-pudl.readthedocs.io/en/latest/release_notes.html#v2025-10-0-2025-10-14

Weather forecasters are finding a lucrative niche in Japan’s power-trading boom, selling hyper-specialized data to firms seeking an edge in one of the world’s most volatile electricity markets. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/10/09/companies/japan-power-trading-weather-services/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #companies #electricity #energy #weathernews

Japan may need to replace almost a sixth of its aging fleet of nuclear reactors or risk missing its 2040 energy targets, an industry organization has said. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/10/01/japan-aging-nuclear-reactors-replacement/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #nuclearenergy #electricity

Major Japanese power and city gas suppliers are set to raise rates in October following the end of the government's subsidy program in September. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/09/27/japan-gas-power-rates-raise/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #energy #gas #electricity #tepco