The Planet (on, and off)

“Thousands of Texans who have turned to solar power and battery storage, creating so-called microgrids, as a solution to blackouts,” reports the Houston Chronicle. “With a venture creating the same little power plants for apartment buildings, Texas has become a national leader in residential solar power installations.” From 2019 to Read more…

Over the past few weeks the sun “has undergone a series of giant eruptions that have sent plasma hurtling through space,” reports Science Alert: Perhaps the most dramatic was a powerful coronal mass ejection and solar flare that erupted from the far side of the Sun on February 15 just Read more…

Corn-based ethanol, which for years has been mixed in huge quantities into gasoline sold at U.S. pumps, is likely a much bigger contributor to global warming than straight gasoline, according to a study published Monday. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, contradicts previous research Read more…

The U.S. produced more petroleum than it consumed in 2020, and the numbers were essentially in balance in 2021, according to the Energy Information Administration. The surge in oil prices taking place in 2022 has radically different implications for the U.S. economy — and for key geopolitical relationships in the Read more…

No province is too small or remote for Beijing’s careful attention. Chinese technology and money have helped build one of Latin America’s largest solar energy plants in Jujuy (pronounced hu-HUY), where hundreds of thousands of panels coat the desert like giant dominoes. Chinese security cameras guard government buildings across the Read more…