Climate-induced warming is fueling the proliferation of insects keen on invading Colorado’s forests and leaving the trees they devour for dead, a new report has found. After a wet and cool 2023, weather in the Centennial State shifted back to near-record heat and minimal precipitation last year — driving the spread of forest pests and...
US electricity demand will grow 50% by 2050, electrical manufacturer study finds
Driven by data centers and transportation electrification, U.S. electricity demand will increase 2% annually and 50% by 2050, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association said in a study published Monday. Improvements to energy efficiency will mute some potential demand gains, leaving the electrical manufacturing group’s projections “somewhere in the middle” compared with other recent studies, NEMA President and CEO Debra...
UK shortlists 27 hydrogen projects for clean energy growth
The UK government has shortlisted 27 hydrogen-powered projects in its second Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR2). The selected projects will boost low-carbon hydrogen production within the UK. The initiative is part of the government’s Plan for Change and aims to cut carbon emissions while creating thousands of jobs. The UK’s hydrogen sector has the potential to...
US energy chief Wright heads to Middle East for nearly two weeks, source says
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Wednesday will launch a nearly two-week tour of three Middle East countries, including Saudi Arabia, marking his first visit as a U.S. official to the de facto leader of the OPEC oil producer group, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. The trip, which will also include visits...
Native Pollinator Decline Poses Risk to Agriculture
A recent study published by NatureServe delivers a critical insight for businesses tied to agriculture, land management, and sustainability initiatives: over 22% of North America’s native pollinator species are now facing elevated extinction risks. The research spans nearly 1,600 species—including bees, beetles, and butterflies—signaling a growing vulnerability within the continent’s ecological and economic infrastructure. Particularly concerning are...
Energy Department considers more than 40 percent of its staff nonessential as layoffs loom
The Energy Department (DOE) considers more than 40 percent of its staffers to be nonessential — meaning these people could be on the chopping block — as mass layoffs loom at the agency and across the federal government. A document viewed by The Hill on Friday states that out of the agency’s current headcount of 15,994...
China LPG Buyers’ Rush to Replace US Flows Sends Prices Soaring
Chinese liquefied petroleum gas buyers have prompted a price surge as they scramble to replace US supplies of the widely used fuel following Beijing’s tough response last week to Washington’s punitive tariffs. Buyers are trying to swap US cargoes that have already been purchased with alternatives, including LPG from the Middle East, traders said. But...
China hits back hard in global trade war with tariffs on US goods
China announced additional tariffs of 34% on U.S. goods on Friday, the most serious escalation in a trade war with President Donald Trump that has fed fears of a recession and triggered a global stock market rout. In the standoff between the world’s top two economies, Beijing also announced controls on exports of some rare earths and...
Trump administration announces plans to build AI data centers on federal land
The Trump administration identified 16 sites for the development of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers Thursday on land owned by the Department of Energy. The centers comprise rows of servers providing processing capacity for machine learning, cloud storage and AI systems that require massive amounts of electricity and computing power. “The global race for AI...
Low-Energy Fridays: What’s the Defense Production Act, and why do we care?
The Trump administration, like the preceding Biden administration, is making liberal use of a little-known Cold War law called the “Defense Production Act” (DPA). Utilization principally goes like this: The administration identifies some sort of production deficiency (e.g., minerals, solar panels, heat pumps) and then invokes the DPA, declaring it an issue of national defense in order to...









