Hacker News with Generative AI: Energy

Declaring a National Energy Emergency (whitehouse.gov)
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) (“NEA”), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, it is hereby ordered:
Politics, Energy, United States
29 points by yodsanklai 6 hours ago | 15 comments
Hackers could attack Europes energy grid [video] (dw.com)
Cyber criminals are able to access solar power installations and throw entire electricity grids into chaos. DW talked to some well-minded hackers about the threat and what consumers can do to avoid it.
Cybersecurity, Energy, Europe, Hacking
6 points by HanchoPan 1 day ago | 0 comments
Compact eVinci nuclear reactor can power 4,500 homes for 8 years without water (thebrighterside.news)
Saskatchewan is set to make history with a revolutionary energy project: a compact nuclear reactor capable of running for eight years without water.
Nuclear Energy, Saskatchewan, Energy, Climate Change
6 points by cpncrunch 2 days ago | 3 comments
France runs fusion reactor for record 22 minutes (newatlas.com)
France has upped the ante in the quest for fusion power by maintaining a plasma reaction for over 22 minutes – a new record.
France, Nuclear Fusion, Energy, Science
11 points by jonbaer 2 days ago | 1 comments
China's Plateauing Fuel Use Is Without Precedent IEA Says (bloomberg.com)
A slowdown in the growth of China’s fuel use is without precedent for a country at its stage of economic development, the International Energy Agency said.
China, Energy, Economics, International Relations, Fuel
10 points by slothtrop 2 days ago | 2 comments
France runs fusion reactor for record 22 minutes (newatlas.com)
France has upped the ante in the quest for fusion power by maintaining a plasma reaction for over 22 minutes – a new record.
France, Fusion Energy, Energy, Science, Records
9 points by brohee 2 days ago | 1 comments
Heat pump sales in Europe fall 23% to pre-Ukraine war levels (theguardian.com)
Heat pump sales fell 23% in Europe last year, industry data shows, reverting to the level they were at before the war in Ukraine and slowing the shift away from gas-burning boilers.
Energy, Europe, Climate Change, Economics, Industry
5 points by adrian_mrd 2 days ago | 4 comments
Japan backs nuclear power in climate plan criticized as insufficient (japantimes.co.jp)
The government approved separate plans Tuesday to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60% in the fiscal year from April 2035 — and by 73% in fiscal 2040 — compared with 2013 levels, and have renewables and nuclear power generate half and 20% of the country’s electricity, respectively, by 2040.
Japan, Nuclear Power, Climate Change, Energy
5 points by mikhael 3 days ago | 0 comments
Nuclear fusion: WEST beats the world record for plasma duration (cea.fr)
On 12 February, the CEA’s WEST machine was able to maintain a plasma for more than 22 minutes. In doing so, it smashed the previous record for plasma duration achieved with a tokamak. This leap forward demonstrates how our knowledge of plasmas and technological control of them over longer periods is becoming more mature, and offers hope that fusion plasmas can be stabilised for greater amounts of time in machines such as ITER.
Nuclear Fusion, Science, Energy, Technology, France
482 points by mpweiher 3 days ago | 494 comments
BYD Lands 12.5GWh Deal with Saudi Electricity Company (energy-storage.news)
EV and BESS firm BYD has agreed a major order from the Saudi Electricity Company, the state utility and transmission & distribution (T&D) system operator of Saudi Arabia.
Energy, Batteries, Saudi Arabia, Electric Vehicles
35 points by toomuchtodo 3 days ago | 1 comments
PG&E reports profit of more than $2B for 2024 (mercurynews.com)
PG&E reported on Thursday that it had a profit of just under $2.48 billion in 2024, an increase from the $2.24 billion the company earned in 2023.
Business, Finance, Energy, California
30 points by ssuds 3 days ago | 27 comments
Getting a charge out of wasted automobile heat (2012) (nasa.gov)
Only about 25 percent of the energy in every gallon of gasoline you buy actually helps your vehicle to run. The rest is converted to heat, which is radiated uselessly off of your engine or blown out of your exhaust pipe.
Automotive Efficiency, Energy, Waste, Heat
26 points by rntn 4 days ago | 30 comments
Probationary employees fired across Dept of Energy, impacting grid improvement (datacenterdynamics.com)
Probationary employees at the Department of Energy (DOE) are being let go, as the Trump administration makes broad cuts to the federal government.
Government, Energy, Politics, Employment
5 points by nickcotter 4 days ago | 0 comments
Starmer's nuclear reactors won't be small, cheap or popular (theguardian.com)
Labour’s plan for siting small nuclear reactor plants around the country (Keir Starmer unveils plan for large nuclear expansion across England and Wales, 6 February) feels almost like something Donald Trump would come up with.
Politics, Energy, Nuclear Power
7 points by dotcoma 4 days ago | 8 comments
Doubts remain over reliability of Texas power grid (npr.org)
Four years after deadly blackout, doubts remain over reliability of Texas’ power grid Officials say they've improved the grid, but new challenges have emerged as demand grows
Texas, Energy, Power Grid, Reliability, Blackouts
66 points by geox 5 days ago | 70 comments
Dismissed nuclear bomb specialists recalled by Energy Department (fortune.com)
Nuclear Weapons, Government, Energy, Security
12 points by an_guy 5 days ago | 0 comments
US Energy Department ending appliance efficiency standards (energy.gov)
WASHINGTON—Led by President Donald Trump, U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright today announced the Department of Energy will postpone the implementation of seven of the Biden-Harris administration’s restrictive mandates on home appliances.
Energy, Policy, Regulation, Appliances
65 points by scrose 5 days ago | 50 comments
Our world faces 'unprecedented' spike in electricity demand (theregister.com)
The world is going to need a lot of new electricity generation in the next three years to keep up with an "unprecedented" spike in demand, says the International Energy Agency (IEA) – and it's going to be a tough goal to meet.
Energy, Climate Change, International Relations
5 points by rntn 7 days ago | 0 comments
China's Plateauing Fuel Use Is Without Precedent, IEA Says (bloomberg.com)
A slowdown in the growth of China’s fuel use is without precedent for a country at its stage of economic development, the International Energy Agency said.
China, Energy, Economics
10 points by guerby 7 days ago | 1 comments
Cheap solar power is sending electrical grids into a death spiral (economist.com)
Cheap solar power is sending electrical grids into a death spiral
Renewable Energy, Energy, Economics
105 points by blackhawkC17 8 days ago | 118 comments
Age of Invention: How Coal Won (ageofinvention.xyz)
Over the course of 1570-1600, people all along the eastern coast of England, and especially in the rapidly-expanding city of London, stopped using wood to heat their homes. They instead began to burn an especially crumbly, sulphurous coal from near Newcastle in Northumberland — a fuel whose thick, heavy smoke reeked, stinging their eyes, making them wheeze and cough, and tarnishing their clothes, furnishings, and skin.
History, Energy, England, Pollution, London
10 points by Khaine 9 days ago | 1 comments
Startups Gamble on Fusion Energy (undark.org)
In 1989, a pair of chemists boasted at having achieved fusion — that is, harnessing the same type of energy that’s produced by the sun — in room-temperature water. The infamous “cold fusion” announcement generated excitement around the world. But no one was able to replicate the result, and the claims were quickly rejected and ridiculed.
Energy, Startups, Science, Fusion
7 points by rntn 10 days ago | 1 comments
Moving Power Grids in a Weekend, the Baltic States Make the Switch (hackaday.com)
A significant event in the world of high-power electrical engineering is under way this weekend, as the three Baltic states, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, disconnect their common power grid from the Russian system, and hook it up to the European one.
Energy, International Relations, Technology, Europe
22 points by sorenjan 12 days ago | 1 comments
An Upstate Town Took Back Its Power (2023) (nysfocus.com)
It was May 1974 and the Massena Observer’s printing press was running overtime. Splashed across the front page were the results of a groundbreaking referendum. A columnist wrote that “no other news story has stirred the imagination” like this one: public power.
Local Government, Energy, History
60 points by kotaKat 12 days ago | 25 comments
Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian power systems synchronised with Europe (elering.ee)
Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have successfully synchronised their electricity systems with the Continental Europe Synchronous Area on 9 February 2025 at 2:05 PM.
Energy, Europe, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
73 points by miki123211 12 days ago | 24 comments
Baltic States join EU electricity grid after disconnecting from Russian network (europa.eu)
Baltic States, European Union, Electricity Grid, Russia, Energy
11 points by N19PEDL2 12 days ago | 1 comments
Ghe oil industry and growing political divides turned climate change partisan (theconversation.com)
After four years of U.S. progress on efforts to deal with climate change under Joe Biden, Donald Trump’s return to the White House is swiftly swinging the pendulum in the opposite direction.
Climate Change, Politics, Energy, United States
6 points by PaulHoule 12 days ago | 0 comments
Baltic nations disconnect from Russian power grid (abc.net.au)
Three Baltic nations have disconnected their electricity systems from Russia's power grid as part of a plan designed to further integrate with the European Union and boost security.
Politics, Energy, Russia, Europe, International Relations
7 points by jhealy 12 days ago | 1 comments
Scientists invent "slime" – could be used in medical, energy, robot applications (lightsource.ca)
University of Guelph (U of G) researchers have developed a slime-like material that produces electricity when compressed.
Science, Materials Science, Energy, Robotics
51 points by gnabgib 13 days ago | 45 comments
Datacenter energy use to more than double by 2030 thanks AI's insatiable thirst (theregister.com)
AI's thirst for electricity will see datacenter energy use more than double by the end of the decade – just five years from now – according to the latest forecast from investment banker Goldman Sachs.
Artificial Intelligence, Energy, Datacenters, Predictions
3 points by LinuxBender 13 days ago | 0 comments