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☆ Brilliant Planet: Growing and burying algae in the Sahara is the latest solution for the climate crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Tom Page | Thomas Page | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Algae absorbs atmospheric carbon dioxide and emits oxygen via photosynthesis, and has been doing so since before the first land plants ever existed. “Nature-based solutions are a great way of removing carbon,” Taylor told CNN, arguing that deserts are an under-utilized environment. Many carbon capture solutions have been proposed, the most headline-grabbing being direct air capture. “There are enormous desert regions in the country that might be converted for carbon capture and storage projects,” she added. courtesy Brilliant PlanetTaylor hopes the tangible, weighable algae flakes will make Brilliant Planet’s model attractive.

Persons: Adam Taylor, Taylor, “, ” Taylor, ”, You’re, Halldor Kolbeins, Fatna Ikrame El Fanne, El Fanne, Robert Höglund, Höglund, ” Höglund Organizations: CNN, US Department of Energy, Getty, Climate, “ Locations: London, Akhfenir, Morocco, Sahara, Reykjavik, Iceland, AFP, Climate Morocco, Namibia, Manhattan

☆ The US government will hand out up to $1.2 billion for companies to suck greenhouse gases out of the air
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Once built, facilities in Texas and Louisiana will suck carbon dioxide pollution from the air. Removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere is crucial to reversing the effects of climate change. Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest on the culture & business of sustainability — delivered weekly to your inbox. How direct air capture differs from carbon capture technologyUnlike carbon capture technology, which captures carbon as its being produced by a facility before it reaches the atmosphere, direct air capture acts like a giant air purifier, separating carbon that is already in the air and pumping it underground or into rocks for permanent storage. The Texas site believes it could store up to 3 billion metric tons of CO 2 in saline formations under the hub.

Persons: Biden, Energy Jennifer Granholm, Granholm, Harris, Joe Biden Organizations: Service, Biden Administration, US Department of Energy, DOE, Energy, South, South Texas DAC, Infrastructure Law, DAC, Clean, Biden Locations: Texas, Louisiana, Cypress, Calcasieu Parish , Louisiana, South Texas, Kleberg County , Texas

☆ How a US government program advocated using nuclear explosions for construction, farming radioactive crops, and blasting holes in the moon
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Most focused on the potential for nuclear explosions to quickly excavate areas for construction projects at lower costs than conventional explosives. (Hamblin is the author of the book "The Wretched Atom: America's Global Gamble with Peaceful Nuclear Technology.") Fly the radioactive skiesUS officials also hoped nuclear energy could be used for transportation. Nicknamed the "pan-atomic canal," nuclear explosions would have carved a sea-level waterway through Nicaragua, Panama, or Colombia, per Forbes. Corbis via Getty ImagesFor Hamblin, the concept of "peaceful nuclear explosions" fell out of favor in the mid-70s.

Persons: Christopher Nolan's, Oppenheimer, Jacob Hamblin, Dwight D, Eisenhower, Alex Wellerstein, Hamblin, you've, Dr Leonard Reiffel, Alaska's Cape Thompson, Edward Teller, detonations, Rio, Iran —, —, Corbis, Wellerstein, Marshall, we're Organizations: Service, White, Nevada . U.S . Department of Energy Office, Scientific, Atomic Energy, UN, United Nations, IAEA Imagebank, United, US Atomic Energy Commission, Technology, Institute of Radiation, Google, NASA, Sputnik, Air Force, U.S . Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, AEC, of Energy, Popular Mechanics, New York Times, Carryall, US Department of Energy, Forbes, Atomic Energy Commission, Getty, IAEA Locations: Wall, Silicon, Suez, Nevada ., United Nations, New York, Hitachiomiya, Japan, Soviet Union, Nevada, Alaska's Cape, inconveniently, Israel, Panama, Nicaragua, Colombia, Pacific, Farmington , New Mexico, Rulison , Colorado, Rio Blanco, , Colorado, Iran, Mercury , Nevada, USA, Cuba, Vietnam, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada —, Marshall

☆ Seven major automakers, including GM and
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Seven major automakers are coming together to create a joint venture that will build out a large electric vehicle fast-charging network in the North America, in an attempt to make electric vehicles more attractive to consumers. The first of the new charging stations will open next summer, the companies announced, first in the US and, later, in Canada. Vehicles made by other manufacturers, not just these seven, will be able to charge at these stations, as well. The new joint venture will rely on funds from the automakers as well as using grants offered by the federal government to build new EV chargers. There are currently about 35,000 NACS and CCS chargers in the US, but many more will be needed as the number of electric vehicles increases in coming years.

Persons: “, Mary Barra, Brian Moody, Biden Organizations: CNN, Seven, Motors, BMW Group, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Benz, GM, Cox, Vehicles, Mercedes, US Department of Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory Locations: North America, United States, Canada

☆ The women behind the Manhattan Project that Nolan's new film 'Oppenheimer' completely ignored
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( Katie Hawkinson | Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Nolan's "Oppenheimer" fails to highlight the women who helped make the Manhattan Project possible. Here are the stories of just six of the hundreds of women that made essential contributions to the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos. Hornig first arrived at Los Alamos after Manhattan Project officials tapped her husband to join the effort. Los Alamos National LaboratoryCharlotte SerberCharlotte Serber first went to Los Alamos with her husband, a physicist, in 1942. Los Alamos National LaboratoryMaria Goeppert MayerTheoretical physicist Maria Goeppert Mayer contributed to the development of nuclear fission while working at Columbia University, Sarah Lawrence College, and visiting Los Alamos from time to time.

Persons: Nolan's, Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan's, J, Robert Oppenheimer, Lilli Hornig, Charlotte Serber, Nolan, Hornig, Lilli Hornig's, Alamos National Laboratory Charlotte, Serber, Charlotte Serber's, Alamos National Laboratory Floy Agnes, Naranjo Stroud, Lee Floy Agnes, Lee, — Lee, Louis Slotin, Joan Hinton Joan Hinton, Hinton, Harry Daghlian, Joan Hinton, Reuters Elizabeth Graves Elizabeth Graves, Graves, Henry Barschall, Elizabeth Graves, Alamos National Laboratory Maria Goeppert Mayer, Maria Goeppert Mayer, Sarah Lawrence, Mayer, Edward Teller, Sharon McGrayne, Marie Curie Organizations: Manhattan, Service, Manhattan Project, Trinity Test, Hornig, Alamos National Laboratory, Sun, University of New, University of Chicago, American Indian Science and Engineering Society, University of Wisconsin, Los Alamos, Trinity, New York Times, Reuters, US Department of Energy, Columbia University, Sarah, Sarah Lawrence College Locations: Wall, Silicon, Los Alamos , New Mexico, Los Alamos, United States, Berlin, Germany, New Mexico, Japan, Santa Fe, University of New Mexico, Santa Clara Pueblo, Hiroshima, Nagaski, China, Beijing, Alamos, Los, —

☆ We can’t air-condition our way out of America’s heat crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

New York CNN —Extreme heat in the summer has become America’s brutal new reality. It would also include building code changes that require multi-family homes provide cooling the same way they do heating. Heat waves and mirage create an impressionistic scene on Sierra Highway during a scorching day on Saturday, July 15, 2023. Cities are warmer than their surrounding areas, a phenomenon known as the urban heat island effect, and they need to be better designed to keep people cool, researchers say. They were designed 40 years ago when summer temperatures were much cooler,” Mark Wolfe said.

Persons: haven’t, ”, Mark Wolfe, hasn’t, ” Wolfe, Myung J, Chun, Rushad Nanavatty, National Weather Service hasn’t, Kelly Turner, “, Turner Organizations: New, New York CNN, National Energy Assistance, ’ Association, Southland, Los Angeles Times, RMI, Cool Coalition, United, US Department of Energy, Centers for Disease Control, Low Income, Energy Assistance, nonpayment, LIHEAP, CDC, National Weather Service, Solutions, UCLA, Environmental Protection Agency Locations: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, United Nations, Washington, DC, Arizona, Maricopa, Yuma, York City, Miami, Dade County

☆ Who was J. Robert Oppenheimer? What you need to know before watching Christopher Nolan's biopic
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Caolán Magee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Director Christopher Nolan’s latest creation concerns an earlier existential threat, telling the story of the atomic bomb through the lens of its creator, J. Robert Oppenheimer – played by “Peaky Blinders” star Cillian Murphy. ullstein bild Dtl./ullstein bild/Getty ImagesWho was J. Robert Oppenheimer? Oppenheimer is widely considered the father of the atomic bomb. He quickly rose to prominence as an internationally renowned physicist, employed by the US government to create an atomic bomb to quell the threat of Nazi Germany. In the post-WWII era, as the world entered the Cold War, Oppenheimer was suspected by US intelligence of having ties with communists.

Persons: Oppenheimer ”, Christopher Nolan’s, J, Robert Oppenheimer –, “ Peaky, Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr, Kai Bird, Martin J, Sherwin’s Pulitzer, Robert Oppenheimer, ” Oppenheimer, Oppenheimer, Fotosearch, Adolf Hitler, Albert Einstein, Leo Szilard, Eugene Wigner, Jennifer Granholm, ” Organizations: CNN, Trinity, Los Alamos National Laboratory, United States Atomic Energy Commission, Manhattan, Institute for, Study, Committee, Atomic Energy Commission, US Department of Energy, ” Locations: New York, Nazi Germany, New Mexico, Alamogordo , New Mexico, Germany, Los Alamos , New Mexico, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Princeton , New Jersey, Spanish

☆ Ford agrees to $9.2 billion US government loan
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Ford and SK’s joint venture, BlueOval SK, would use the funds to build three electric vehicle battery plants, two in Kentucky and one in Tennessee. Also, the loan amount is up to $9.2 billion, but Ford could use less than that. The loan would be part of the DoE’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, a $25 billion program to reduce US dependence on oil and reduce carbon emissions. Ford previously took out a $5.9 billion loan under the program in 2009. General Motors agreed to a $2.5 billion loan under the program last year.

Persons: New York CNN —, Joe Biden’s, Ford, DoE, General Motors Organizations: New, New York CNN, New York CNN — Ford, SK, US Department of Energy, BlueOval SK, Ford, Department of Energy, Technology Vehicles Manufacturing, General Locations: New York, United States, Kentucky, Tennessee

☆ Feds pave the way for cities and nonprofits to get climate-bill tax credits
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

"For the first time, tax-exempt entities will be able to receive a payment equal to the full value of the tax credit for building qualifying clean energy projects," Podesta said. "That's a game-changer for our ability to spread the benefits of clean energy to every community in America." "The Inflation Reduction Act's biggest tools are tax credits, which provide an unprecedent 10 years of policy certainty for the clean energy sector," Podesta said. Conventionally, states, territories, tribes, local governments and nonprofits have not been not eligible for tax credits, because they do not derive profits from which to deduct the value of a tax credit. Taken together, the two bits of guidance stand to grease the flywheel of climate tech investment already being spurred by the Inflation Reduction Act.

Persons: Podesta, John Podesta, Joe Biden, what's, Wally Adeyemo, Adeyemo, Michelle Moore, Moore Organizations: US Department of Energy, U.S . Department of, Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Biden, Washington DC, White, IRS, of, Washington , D.C Locations: Medicine Bow , Wyoming, America, Washington, USA, Washington ,, U.S, Baltimore, of Refuge, , Maryland , Illinois, Georgia, New York

☆ Far-right House Republicans just sent gas stove bills up in flames — and it's a warning shot at Kevin McCarthy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Sarah Gray | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Far-right House members are not pleased with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's debt ceiling compromise. Eleven conservative GOP members nuked McCarthy's bans on banning gas stoves, sending his plans up in flames. The Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act would have barred the Consumer Product Safety Commission from using federal funds to regulate gas stoves or issue safety guidance that would ban them or make them more expensive. To peel back the layers here: The folks who have championed gas stoves versus induction stoves in the culture wars voted against H.Res. 463 — a procedural vote to establish rules on a floor vote for two gas stove-related bills — to punish McCarthy.

Persons: Kevin, —, Kevin McCarthy, nuked, McCarthy, Matt Gaetz, Chip Roy, Matt Rosendale, Rob Bishop, Ken Buck, Lauren Boebert, Eli Crane, Andy Biggs, Tim Burchett, Ralph Norman, Bob Good, Steve Scalise, Caucus —, Gaetz, Farnoush Amiri Organizations: Service, Caucus, Gas, Protection, Product Safety, US Department of Energy, Biden White, H.Res, NBC, North Carolina Rep, Colorado, Colorado Rep, Arizona, Tennessee, South Carolina Rep, House Republicans, Gaetz Locations: Florida, Texas, Montana, Arizona, Virginia

☆ Wind energy has a massive waste problem. New technologies may be a step closer to solving it
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

It’s a problem that’s vexed the wind energy industry and provided fodder for those who seek to discredit wind power. But in February, Danish wind company Vestas said it had cracked the problem. It announced a “breakthrough solution” that would allow wind turbine blades to be recycled without needing to change their design or materials. Wind energy has been growing at a fast pace. It is the world’s leading renewable energy technology behind hydropower, and plays a vital role in helping countries move away from fossil fuel energy, which pumps out planet-heating pollution.

☆ Tesla's market share in California plunged despite slashing prices this year, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Tesla's market share in California plunged in California despite big price cuts, a report says. Data reviewed by Reuters found Tesla's market share in the state fell from 72.7% to 59.6% in a year. Tesla's profits have also plunged since the cuts after Elon Musk promised to focus on market share. The price cuts helped send Tesla's profits down 24% in the first quarter as the company made less on each car sold. While Musk said he planned to prioritize market share over profits, the scale of the decline still spooked investors.

CNN —The US has sensitive nuclear technology at a nuclear power plant inside Ukraine and is warning Russia not to touch it, according to a letter the US Department of Energy sent to Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy firm Rosatom last month. The Energy Department warned Rosatom in the letter that it is “unlawful” for any Russian citizens or entities to handle the US technology. The Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration told CNN in a statement that the letter is authentic. “The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration can confirm that the letter is legitimate,” said Shayela Hassan, the deputy director of public affairs for the National Nuclear Security Administration. She added: “The Secretary of Energy has the statutory responsibility for authorizing the transfer of unclassified civilian nuclear technology and assistance to foreign atomic energy activities.

☆ Tiny homes, big problems
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Daniel Geiger | Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +21 min

Beyond their star appeal, low-cost tiny homes like Casitas have real-world utility. The homes have been seized upon as a solution for cities like Los Angeles to house the homeless. They showed off their homes' transportability by hitching several of them to a Tesla and filming drag races between Teslas and trucks that were hooked to trailers carrying the homes. So far, though, after a little more than a year of building, the company has fabricated only about 400 homes. Even if it were churning out thousands of units, Boxabl hasn't yet received the certifications required to sell them in most states across the country.

☆ Oil prices slide as the US says it will sell millions more barrels of oil from its strategic reserve into the global market
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Carla Mozée | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Oil prices fall Tuesday after the US said it plans to sell more oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The Energy Department will start the sale of 26 million barrels of sweet crude in April. Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, fell 1.5% to $85.40 a barrel but was off lows of the session. The drop in oil prices Tuesday was also taking place as US consumer price inflation data showed prices eased in January, but it was by less than anticipated. OPEC, meanwhile, on Tuesday, raised its 2023 oil demand forecast by 100,000 barrels per day, to 2.3 million barrels, as China reopens its economy after strict COVID-related restrictions.

☆ Remote Workers Are Blowing the Whistle, Employees Exposing Companies
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Britta Lokting | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

The Securities and Exchange Commission — which implemented a whistleblower program in 2011 and where Haugen and others have sent documents — has received a historic jump in complaints over the past few years. How remote work sparked a flood of whistleblowersAs the pandemic spread and workers retreated to their makeshift home offices, employees began to reconsider their relationship with work. MacGann, the Uber whistleblower, told Politico that it wasn't until the pandemic that he "had time on his hands" to really ponder his decision to come forward about the ride-hailing company's treatment of workers. Remote work, she explained, helps to remove some of those barriers to whistleblowing. In addition to the record-breaking number of tips, the SEC whistleblowing program awarded $229 million in 103 cases this year.

☆ How nuclear fusion works, and why it's a big deal for green energy that scientists made a 'breakthrough'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

US Department of Energy scientists produced a nuclear fusion reaction with a net energy gain. The US Department of Energy officially announced the milestone in fusion energy research on Tuesday. For the first time, researchers created a nuclear fusion reaction that produced more energy than they put into it. What is fusion energy and why is it a big deal? This illustration shows how lasers heat a target to the necessary conditions for nuclear fusion to occur.

Researchers for decades have attempted to recreate nuclear fusion – replicating the fusion that powers the sun. Nuclear fusion happens when two or more atoms are fused into one larger one, a process that generates a massive amount of energy as heat. Scientists across the globe have been inching toward the breakthrough, using different methods to try to achieve the same goal. This heat can then be used to warm water, create steam and power turbines to generate power. “The opposing argument is that this result is miles away from actual energy gain required for the production of electricity,” he said.

☆ Biden administration announces $2.5 billion loan to help GM and LG make EV batteries
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Ella Nilsen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The US Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office will announce Monday that it is issuing a $2.5 billion loan to help start three lithium battery manufacturing hubs in Ohio, Tennessee and Michigan. The DOE loan programs office will loan the money to Ultium Cells LLC, a joint venture of General Motors and South Korean battery manufacturer LG Energy Solutions making batteries to power electric vehicles. In order to take advantage of a federal EV tax subsidy in the Inflation Reduction Act, electric vehicles and much of their battery components be sourced, processed and assembled in North America. LG Energy Solutions is also set to partner with Japanese automaker Honda on a $3.5 billion joint venture battery factory in southern Ohio. The Warren, Ohio, Ultium facility will be represented by the United Auto Workers, after the plant voted to unionize on Friday.

☆ Check out the pitch deck Dandelion Energy, a green-energy company that began at Google's research division X, used to raise $70 million
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Dandelion Energy came out of a project that started years ago at X, Google's research effort. Dandelion Energy could provide a way for homeowners to defray these costs. In 2015, Dandelion Energy started as a project of what was then known as Google X, now just X, Google's research arm. Dandelion Energy has raised a total of about $136 million, according to PitchBook, from investors including LenX, the venture division of the homebuilding company Lennar, according to the company. Take a look at the pitch deck Dandelion Energy used to raise $70 million in new funding.

☆ A Bill Gates fund invested $50 million in a startup that's building a massive refinery to turn alcohol into jet fuel
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Stephen Jones | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Bill Gates fund invested $50 million in a startup making sustainable aviation fuel from ethanol. Sustainable aviation fuel is being explored by airlines as a way of making the industry more environmentally friendly. The Soperton facility, known as the Freedom Pines Fuel Plant, is set to begin production in 2023. LanzaJet said the plant would produce nine million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel, and one million gallons of renewable diesel, per year when fully-operational. The company said it will lower emissions by at least 70% compared with conventional aviation fuel.

☆ A nuclear attack would most likely target one of 6 US cities. Simulated images show how a Hiroshima-like explosion would affect each.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Any buildings, objects, and people caught within this radius would likely burst into flames. Green: Radiation (0.74-mile radius) — Within at least 15 minutes of a blast, clouds of dust and sandlike radioactive particles — what's referred to as nuclear fallout — would reach the ground. Nuclear fallout can cause radiation poisoning, which damages the body's cells and prove fatal. Blue-gray: Air blast (1.04-mile radius) — Air blasts are powerful enough to topple residential buildings. The tool, which can be found here, allows you to input the city and the yield of the nuclear weapon you'd like to simulate.

☆ The US had a plan in the 1960s to blast an alternative Suez Canal through Israel using 520 nuclear bombs
▼ + stars: | 2021-03-25 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A declassified memorandum reveals a 1963 US plan to create an alternative to the Suez Canal. A cargo ship is currently stuck in the Suez Canal, blocking the vital shipping routeTop editors give you the stories you want — delivered right to your inbox each weekday. The historian Alex Wellerstein called the plan a "modest proposal for the Suez Canal situation" on Twitter on March 24, 2021. It suggested that an "interesting application of nuclear excavation would be a sea-level canal 160 miles long across Israel." The laboratory noted that there were 130 miles of "virtually unpopulated desert wasteland, and are thus amenable to nuclear excavation methods."

Persons: —, Alex Wellerstein, Lawrence Organizations: Service, Twitter, US Department of Energy, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, US Atomic Energy Commission, Forbes, Atomic Energy Commission Locations: Suez, Israel, Aqaba, Central America

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