AI's hunger for energy fuels geothermal startup but rivalry over natgas clouds the future
The number of geothermal energy startups is on the rise, as Big Tech companies look to power their AI data centers with natural gas. However, long-term investment remains uncertain because oil majors are doubling down on natural gases. Meta and Alphabet’s Google are two of the tech companies that have partnered with startups to create geothermal energy to power their data centres.
Climate tech firms receive $80 million for removing carbon from paper mills and sewage plants
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 17 - Google H&M Stripe, and other members of the Climate-focused Frontier Coalition will purchase $80 million in carbon credits from a company that uses oil industry technology to collect emissions at paper mills and another firm that uses rocks to do the exact same thing at sewage treatment plants. While the U.S. president-elect Donald Trump…
Blockchain enables firms to offer physical uranium for sale to small investors
On Tuesday, a blockchain platform and an uranium company launched a market to allow small investors buy physical uranium. They hope to increase spot liquidity for the niche commodity. Uranium prices have risen in recent years due to a rise in investor interest and the reduction of miner output. This is because utilities are looking for new sources of this mineral, which fuels nuclear energy.
French and Benelux stocks - Factors to watch November 26
Here are some company news and stories that could impact the markets in France and Benelux or even individual stocks. Google has proposed further changes to its European Search Results to comply with the EU Digital Markets Act. Alstom, a French manufacturer of rail infrastructures, announced on Monday that it had renewed its contract with the Denver International…
US natgas manufacturers chase AI-driven surge of power demand to weather low price
Shale gas producers are contacting data-center operators in the U.S. Permian Basin to build up the capacity needed to power an AI boom. They want to relieve the pressure of a two-year-old slump in prices. Devon Energy, Expand Energy Diamondback Energy and Permian Resources highlighted the potential of AI and data centres to drive gas consumption and said that they were in preliminary discussions with many operators.
The Port Logistics Challenges of Offshore Wind
Some equations just don’t add up. For example, storing 500 offshore wind turbine blades at a site with only space for 400 (and that’s only if you don’t store the other key elements required to build a full turbine). Elaine Maslin visited Siemens Gamesa’s blade manufacturing facility in Hull, UK, to find out more.Storage space is becoming a major challenge that’s looming for ports involved in the fast-evolving offshore wind industry.
Engineering Ethics, Seaworthiness and the Right of Clients to Kill Themselves
I had only been working as a graduate engineer for a few years and was minding my own business working for a yacht designer when my boss asked me to get in touch with a person who was looking for engineering analysis. I called the number and arranged for the person to meet me at the office.A few days later a tall very athletic man walked up the stairs and introduced himself as Ned Gillette.
Alphabet Winds Down Makani
Alphabet, Google's parent company, announced that it is calling it quits on its efforts to build and monetize its Makani wind energy kites.Google acquired Makani, which developed airborne wind turbines and aimed to make wind energy more accessible and affordable, in 2013. Last year, the company spun it out of X and made it a standalone Alphabet unit.Alphabet CEO…
SGRE Powers Google in Sweden
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) has secured an order to supply its turbines for a 254MW wind farm in Sweden that will power Google’s Hamina data centre in Finland.The Stavro wind farm, SGRE's largest ever onshore wind order in Sweden, will use 62 turbines with a 4.1MW rating. It is expected online by the end of 2021.Stavro is located in the northern part of Sweden…
Does the Answer to Our Energy Problems Lie in Tiny Microbes?
Such are the dire predictions about climate change these days that there seem to be only two courses open for human society: either we fail to act and the planet keeps heating up, or we restrict ourselves, leave our cars at home, give up hamburgers and stop flying on vacation.Either way, it would seem, the future is dead set on making our children’s lives worse than ours.But there is a third way and it lies in new forms of energy.
Schlumberger Taps Google as Preferred Cloud Provider
Services company Schlumberger said on Monday it has renewed and expanded its agreement with Google Cloud to develop cloud-native exploration and production (E&P) applications to help its customers derive actionable insights from data and harness the power of Google’s cloud infrastructure and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.Schlumberger has deployed its oil and gas petrotechnical software suite…
Google to Tap the Power of Offshore Wind
Google invests $700 mln in Danish data center, secures green energyGoogle will invest almost $700 million in a Danish data centre, the latest investment in the Nordic region which is known for its abundant renewable energy.Google said it would match the new centre's use of energy made from fossil fuels with green energy generated through so-called power purchase agreements (PPAs).The Nordic countries…
Google Buys into New Finnish Wind Energy in Renewables Search
Google said it has signed a 10-year deal to buy renewable energy from three new wind farms that are being built in Finland and which will power one of its data centers.Big companies have rushed to secure cheap renewable energy to manage costs and reduce their carbon footprint through so-called corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs), which allow firms such as Google, owned by Alphabet Inc, Facebook and Microsoft to buy directly from the energy gene
Will Saudi Aramco Deliver Record Profit for IPO?
Saudi Aramco is world's biggest oil producing company; but valuation demands annual earnings around $130 billion. When oil giant Saudi Aramco discloses its financials for the first time next year, it must either surprise investors with world record profits or reduce its aspirations for a $2 trillion valuation in its initial public offering (IPO). Investors have long debated whether Aramco could be valued anywhere close to $2 trillion…
Google to Start Getting Norwegian Wind Power by September
Alphabet Inc's Google unit expects to receive its first wind power from Norway by early September, the company told Reuters on Wednesday. Tellenes wind farm, a 50-turbine strong wind farm of 160-megawatt (MW) capacity that is currently under development, will become Norway's largest wind farm and Google's biggest in Europe. "We'll purchase power as soon as the wind farm becomes fully operational…
Kenya: Major Wind Power Line to Be Ready in 3 Months
A power line linking a 310 megawatt (MW) wind power plant to Kenya's national grid, delayed by landowners' compensation demands among other issues, is expected to be ready in the next three months, the energy minister said on Thursday. Kenya relies heavily on geothermal and hydro power for its electricity, providing the bulk of the country's total 2,341 MW output. Wind power provides about 25 MW.
The New Offshore Reality
Swedbank’s chief economist, Harald Andreassen, isn’t “too hopeful” about the long-term prospects for the oil price, but then again, “I’m less certain of this than I’ve ever been as an economist,” he told a floating production conference in Oslo. After two-and-half years of oil-price collapse followed by layoffs in the thousands; stacked oil rigs and order freezes for offshore shipping, price insecurity itself is a partial expression of confidence.
US Wind Industry Sees Jump in Installs
The U.S. wind industry installed 2,000 megawatts of capacity in the first quarter, nearly four times the amount installed in the same period last year, as developers race to capture a lucrative federal tax credit that is gradually being phased out. It was the industry's biggest first quarter since 2009, the American Wind Energy Association said in its first-quarter market report released on Tuesday.
Wind Surpasses Hydro as Largest US Renewable Energy Source
Wind energy has surpassed hydropower as the biggest source of renewable electricity in the United States following the sector's second-biggest quarter ever for new installations, a wind industry trade group said on Thursday. Wind installations totaled 82,183 megawatts at the end of 2016, enough to power 24 million homes, the American Wind Energy Association said in its fourth-quarter market report. By comparison, U.S.
Cuba, US Sign Oil Spill Deal before Trump Inauguration
Cuba and the United States agreed on Monday to jointly prevent, contain and clean up oil and other toxic spills in the Gulf of Mexico, as they rush to conclude deals before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. U.S. Charge d'Affaires Jeffrey DeLaurentis, upon signing the agreement, said it was one of a series of deals to protect the shared marine environment of the two neighboring countries separated by just 90 miles (145 km) of water.
