Greentech Frontiers

19/08/2026

"AI increases net global emissions by 0.47 to 1.8 gigatonnes of CO₂ annually—as its fossil fuel applications enable more emissions than its renewable applications avoid. AI's fossil fuel applications, considered in isolation, generate emissions 3.3 to 13.3 times larger than today's datacenter emissions, and up to 8 times larger than projected 2035 datacenter emissions."

The net climate impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) depend largely on how its applications propagate through competing energy pathways. Predominant analyses examine the relationship between datacenter energy demand, renewables optimization, and demand-side efficiencies, but insufficiently addres...

17/08/2026

"A persistent gap remains between the capital needed and the capital actually being deployed. Astonishingly, only about 2% of philanthropy globally goes toward climate mitigation."

San Francisco Climate Week climate investment panel: 4 key takeaways and a call to action.

07/08/2026

"Scientists’ predictions about the future are coming true. The impacts of climate change are largely as we anticipated, but certainly worse than we hoped. At the same time, climate solutions are getting cheaper and more effective much faster than anticipated. The science is clear about what will happen if we keep spewing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. But it’s also clear that the future is still in human hands, and we have everything we need to make it even better than expected."

Climate change is undeniably here, and it’s bad. But is it, as some are claiming, worse than even the scientists expected?

05/08/2026

Report from Ember on China BESS: "In 2025, China’s total battery energy storage systems (BESS) capacity surpassed that of the rest of the world combined. Beneath this headline growth, the country’s battery sector is entering a new phase, shifting from rapid deployment towards effective market integration and maximising system value."

A major shift is now unfolding across China's battery energy storage sector, as the industry transitions from policy-driven capacity expansion to an increasingly market-tested system integration.

31/07/2026

"“What seems to be important,” wrote the visionary British scientist, James Lovelock, in June 1966, is “the almost certain fact that the climate is worsening and the probability that the combustion of fuel is responsible.” Commissioned by Shell, the memo was the first in a series of secret reports by Lovelock for the UK oil giant exploring the “large scale atmospheric effects” of burning fossil fuels."

“What seems to be important,” wrote the visionary British scientist, James Lovelock, in June 1966, is “the almost certain fact that the climate is worsening and the probability that the combustion of fuel is responsible.” Commissioned by Shell, the memo was the first in a series of secret re...

12/06/2026

Michael Mann in the China Daily: "The US is no longer the conductor of the bullet train that is the global clean energy revolution. It should decide whether to climb on board or get left behind at the station. The rest of the world, and China in particular, should remain resolute in moving toward a global clean energy economy. The stakes could not be higher."

Climate crisis leaves no room for complacency

12/06/2026

A group of economists argues that "around 92% of excess global carbon emissions can be attributed to the global north, and the wealthiest 10% of individuals are responsible for nearly half of global emissions, while people in poverty are the first to face crop failures and rising food prices. An economic model that depends on endless expansion on a finite planet is not just unfair; it is dangerous."

Our roadmap has been shaped by experts across the world. We call on political leaders at all levels to use it, says Olivier De Schutter and others

05/06/2026

BloombergNEF comments that "Annual additions of energy storage, excluding pumped hydro, reached 112 gigawatts in 2025 – up 48% from 2024 – with 307 gigawatt-hours of batteries added worldwide. It only took four years for energy storage to increase annual additions to more than 100 gigawatts from 10 gigawatts, whereas it took roughly eight and 15 years for solar and wind, respectively. This record underscores growing market momentum and increased industry maturity."

05/06/2026

BloombergNEF in its just published New Energy Outlook 2026 states that as the "adoption of solar modules, batteries, heat pumps, electric vehicles, and other technologies accelerates, nations that are dependent on fossil fuels stand to improve their energy security under our base case."

The New Energy Outlook is BNEF's annual report focused on long-term energy and climate scenarios for the energy transition.

28/05/2026

Jeffrey Sachs: "On the other side of China’s current account surplus is the world’s largest investment needs. Emerging markets and developing economies require an unprecedented era of green capital formation to electrify their economies, modernise their grids, build storage and long-distance transmission, electrify their transport sectors and develop the mineral supply chains on which global decarbonisation depends. China’s saving is key to financing these investments."

The IMF assumes China should save less. China’s saving is key to financing the developing world’s need for green infrastructure.