Energy

Data centers currently consume nearly 5% of the electricity generated in the United States and estimates are that the amount will more than double over the next five years. They could consume up to 12% of our electricity by 2030.

Modern data centers have been around since the 1990s, but they were largely unknown to most of us over their first 20 years. From about 2010 until just a few years ago, cloud computing and various mobile and software services became commonplace. The number of data centers grew from hundreds to a couple of thousand. The current third era of data centers, running AI training and inference, has exploded the number of centers and, especially, the amount of power they consume. In 2005, data centers consumed 20 GW of power. Last year, that number exceeded 114 GW with an annual growth rate of over 17%.

The use of energy by artificial intelligence technology is rapidly increasing. Massive data centers performing the intense computation needed for training large models are consuming huge amounts of energy. Last year, AI consumed over 4% of U.S. electricity, putting a real strain on electric grids. Projections are that AI energy demand will more than double by 2040.

The United States and China are considered to be the two superpowers vying for world dominance in the current era. Unlike the Cold War period in which military strength and then spaceflight was at the center of the competition, these days economic strength and domination of the energy future are the main focal points.

The Snowy 2.0 Pumped Storage Power Station – simply known as Snowy 2.0 – is a giant power generation project in Australia that is designed to supply 2.2 gigawatts of capacity and 350,000 megawatt-hours of large-scale energy storage to the national electricity market. The massive storage capacity will enable the introduction of more wind and solar generation by acting like a giant battery.

Storing energy in batteries is an increasingly important aspect of the modern world. Electric cars and giant battery banks for electric utilities require high-capacity batteries. The majority of these batteries are lithium-ion batteries that come in a number of different varieties based on the other elements used to make them.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are President and Chief Executive Office of The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) Doreen Harris, public policy and communications expert Theresa Bourgeois, and author and contributing writer for "Rolling Stone" Jeff Goodell.

If you’re like most people, the relentless daily grind of go-go-go, do-do-do, can run down your energy and deplete your resources. While most of us find our lives full of “Upstate” moments that rev up our stress engines, it doesn’t have to be this way.Sleep researcher Dr. Sara Mednick, shows how we can access the most replenishing and repairing aspects of sleep through activities and moments that happen during our day by diving into our “Downstate.” Dr. Mednick shows that bringing ourselves back to the Downstate is critical for our health, well-being, and cognitive longevity.Her new book is: "The Power of the Downstate."

Like thousands of restless men left unmoored in the wake of the 2008 economic crash, Michael Patrick Smith arrived in the fracking boomtown of Williston,…

Today, white men make up less than 30 percent of the US population, yet hold over 60% of elected positions, control a disproportionate share of the…