The week's developments in green tech & energy policy, explained | 19.07.24

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This week, we dive into the heated debate over AI's soaring energy appetite, explore how Europe's scorching heat waves are pushing oil refineries to their limits, and uncover the eye-opening carbon footprint of NATO's military spending (spoiler: it's bigger than most countries!).

Elsewhere, we spotlight the ingenious startups turning CO2 into stone, harvesting electricity from rainy days, and brewing up climate solutions with ancient bacteria.

We hope you enjoy these stories and more below.

Top Stories

🤖 AI’s energy demands are growing: You've likely seen the alarming headlines... AI guzzling electricity like entire countries and warnings about overloaded power grids. Sometimes it certainly feels like we're in the midst of an AI energy crisis. But how concerned should we be about AI's rising emissions?

💚 Why we need a "One Health" approach for climate change: Extreme heat is a growing threat to human health, especially for vulnerable populations.  A  "One Health" approach that considers the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health is crucial for tackling climate-driven health crises.

Chart of the Week

Source: Goldman Sachs

AI's efficiency gains are slowing, leading to a surge in data centre energy use. By 2028, AI could consume nearly a fifth of all data centre power.

Climate Change

🌪️ What the movie Twisters gets right about tornado science: While scientists involved in the new film applaud its more accurate portrayal of the potential link between global warming and tornadoes compared to the original 1996 film, they caution that the film still takes some dramatic liberties.

🥵 It’s almost too hot for oil refining. With temperatures nearing critical thresholds in Europe, some plants may soon be forced to cut back production. Poland, for instance, is bracing for heat that could push its largest fuel supplier to operational limits.

🪖 Nato’s surging military spending is raising climate concerns: A new report reveals that NATO's 2023 military spending generated a staggering 233 million metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, surpassing the annual emissions of entire countries like Colombia or Qatar.

🇩🇪 Germany wants to speed up its climate plan.  The country is investing €4.6 billion in hydrogen infrastructure projects to accelerate its shift away from fossil fuels like gas and coal.

Stat of the week 

Creating AI art drains more power than you think

Just one image creation process using a powerful AI model can guzzle enough energy to fully charge over

500 smartphones

this raises concerns about the environmental impact of this rapidly growing technology.

Green Tech

🗿 A company funded by Sam Altman's Apollo Projects is developing a groundbreaking carbon capture solution. This startup, 44.01, tackles climate change by injecting CO2 into rocks, turning it to stone in a matter of months.

💧 Raindrop-powered generator harvests electricity from bad weather: The device, called a "superhydrophobic magnetoelectric generator", uses a water-repellent surface that creates a tiny electric charge every time a raindrop hits it.

🦠 Danish company Again is brewing a solution to climate change - literally. They use ancient bacteria in bioreactors to transform captured CO2 into valuable chemicals like acetate, a key ingredient in everyday products.

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In case you missed it

How drone technology is helping plant 100 million mangrove trees in the UAE by 2030:

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