electricity

There is more renewable electricity in the world produced by coal

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Ten years ago, coal lit half planet. Today, it is solar panels and wind turbines that illuminate statistics. In the first half of 2025, the renewables not only covered all the increase in global electrical demand: they exceeded it. A global sorpasso. The report, prepared by Emberanalyze data from 88 countries that represent 93% of global electric demand. Its conclusion marks a before and after: solar and wind energy grew so much that they compensated all the increase in global electrical consumption and still generated surplus. However, there is an even more important point that is that coal generation fell worldwide. Carbon participation fell to 33.1% of global electric mix, while renewables rose to 34.3%. For the first time, the coal was behind. The descent was especially clear in China and Indiawhere coal has always dominated and, therefore, that descent is noted. On the other hand, both in the European Union and in the United States a small rebound was observed, caused by hydroelectric drought and the Gas increase. Renewable energies produced more electricity than coal for the first time recorded in the first half of 2025 | Ember Radiography of the change. The transition is not a statistical anecdote, but a structural phenomenon. World demand increased 369 twh (+2.6 %), moderate growth that was widely covered by solar and wind expansion. On the one hand, the sun remains the most dynamic source on the planet. The solar generation grew 31%, reaching a global quota of 8.8%. However, this is because China It was the great enginecontributing 55% of world solar growth, followed by the United States, the European and Indian Union. On the other hand, the wind keeps the pace. The wind generation increased by 7.7%, to represent 9.2% of the global mix. Although Europe and the United States suffered adverse weather conditions, China increased, registering a 16% increase in their wind production. The money also changed sideways. The other great indicator that this change is structural is in the markets. According to the International Energy Agencythe global investment in energy will reach 3.3 billion dollars, a fairly striking figure. Only ten years ago, renewables were seen as An idealistic bet: faces, intermittent and subsidy dependent. Today they are the new center of financial gravity of the energy system. The proportion of clean investment against fossil went from 2 to 1 in 2015 to 10 to 1 in 2024, a change that reflects a collective market decision. However, not everyone is invited to the party. Emerging markets and developing economies barely receive 15% of world investment In clean energy, despite the fact that its electric demand is the one that grows the most. In addition, they are still trapped between high financial costs, fragile networks and regulatory uncertainty. As Ember warnswithout international financing and technological cooperation, the global rhythm towards zero net emissions could be stopped before achieving the objective. China drives the global transition. Behind the world sorpasso there is an undisputed protagonist: China. Not only leads the production of clean energy, but also the industry that makes it possible: panels, turbines, batteries and smart networks. Its industrial policy has made the country what some analysts describe as an “electrostate”capable of dominating the energy value chains of the 21st century as it dominated the manufacturing. In just six months, China installed 380 GW of new solar capacity – more than all the total capacity of the United States – promoted by a wave of projects prior to new price standards. Thanks to this, its mixture Electric is already renewable 24%, and the emissions of the electrical sector fell 1.7% in half a year. Global challenges. According to Emberthe electricity grid is already the main obstacle to renewable expansion. Solar and wind production increases faster than lines and storage grow. In countries such as Spain or Germany, specific cuts have been registered in solar parks by network saturation. In Japan, operators reduce solar generation on weekends to avoid overloads. This forced disconnection –The call Curtailment– shows a paradox: we have more sun than cables. To the saturation of the networks is added the inequality of access to capital. While China and other economies install renewable gigawatts every month, Africa and Latin America are still waiting for sufficient investments. Hence the urgency of new global mechanisms to channel green capital towards emerging economies and ensure that the transition is truly global. An irreversible turning point. Just a decade ago, coal generated twice as much electricity than renewables. Today, clean energy has surpassed the most polluting source and dominates the growth of the electrical system. China leadsIndia accelerateEurope It adapts and the United States It stops. Prices fall, investments grow and emissions begin to stabilize. The energy transition is no longer a matter of political will: it is an economic law. The turning point is not in the future: it is happening right now. Image | Freepik and Pexels Xataka | In his career for the total domain of the solar panels, a rival has come out: the Spanish Perovskita

The brands are turning in the electricity. Porsche and Audi will return to combustion because nobody wants to buy them

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We do not know the future and that encourages us to be anchored in the past. The electric car brings more power and greater control over it, a wilder acceleration or cars that will end up being more effective in curve. With the weight of the current sports, it is not surprising that we begin to see very similar figures in weight … and much better if we talk about the weight/power relationship with respect to the combustion models. Byd, in fact, has just demonstrated that The future of the hyperdeportivo is electricsweeping Bugatti and becoming the Yangwang U9 in the fastest car in the world. A long time ago, the McMurtry Spéirling I left ridiculous The acceleration of any car with combustion engine. And, despite everything, the sports electric car is still not pending. We do not know if it is a matter of time, if cars like the future RENAULT 5 TURBO 3E They will break schemes and become an immediate classic. But until then, the combustion car offers sensations that the electric car cannot match. For some those Sensations They are different. For others, they are clearly better. Anyway, there is evidence: the sports electric car does not finish convincing. And that is causing the plans to electrify these models are delayed. The best example is the future Porsche 718. A car that had to make the leap to the electric whole and that, however, will have a version of combustion. And that, with rebound, will lead us to a future Audi Deportivo that will also mount combustion engine. Porsche collects cable (and passing, Audi benefits) “We want to meet the new market realities and change customer demands. We have seen a clear drop in the demand for exclusive battery electric cars, and we are taking it into account.” The words are from Oliver Blume, CEO of Porsche, in a call to investors collected by The Autopian. They arrive to confirm a change of strategy. Future Porsche 718, classic central motor sports and the entrance range to the company will continue to offer, at least in their most expensive options, combustion engines. The news is the confirmation of what began to be an open secret: the future Porsche 718 will not be only electric as He had defended until now by the company. The movement arrives just when it is also confirmed that the Porsche Cayenne will not jump into the electrical exclusive. It is a strong change in strategy since The good initial results of the Porsche Taycan They had served the Germans to boost their electrical strategy. However, China has turned its back on the company And it has broken much of this strategy. Along the way he has confirmed that wealthy customers who have access to their combustion cars … They are not making the jump to the electric. So much so that the Porsche Macanwhich was sold as an exclusively electric model, could have a combustion brother in 2028 according to Jalopnik. Of course, we will have to see on what basis because The PPE on which the macan sits Current only admits completely electric models. When we analyzed the new Porsche Macan Electric we already counted that it was a really interesting car. It was an effective car, a brute force and a surprising curve step for its height and size. But he had a but: That car had a V6 gasoline engine before. And convince who enters the world Porsche that now that engine is electric … is very complicated. The basic problem for Electric Deportivo is that cars are much more than numbers. In social networks it is repeated as a mantra that “Who knows how to handle an Excel buys an electric car”. And yes, it’s true If you are looking for a “affordable” car for day to daywith a lower expense in “fuel”, a savings in maintenance over the years, tax benefits in taxes … But none of that is taken into account when one buys a central motor biplaza. That is why a Mazda MX-5 continues to transmit sensations that no other car transmits with just over 100 hp. That driver profile values ​​the sound of the car, the thrust when it goes up or the touch of a manual gearbox. Yes, a quartz clock is usually more precise than automatic but the buyer values ​​the “artisanal” work under the sphere. Yes, a digital camera is more versatile and easy to use than an analog but the Feeling To load the reel and “feel” the mechanics in the hands goes far beyond the megapixels. These cars are mere whim toys And, as such, they do not attend to rational factors. You can talk about numbers but that is only the continent, not the content. Given this diatribe, the brands that are indissoluble of this driving experience have it hard complicated. Especially those more “earthly.” Ferrari either Lamborghini It has a higher bandwidth to transfer to its customers the possible fines that reach it in the future, Porsche does not have so much room to transfer this cost to the customers. Especially in the most “affordable” models. That is why a two -speed future has been raised. It is no accident that Combustion models of the Porsche 718 are identified with the top range versions. That will help sell the most expensive versions because they will deliver a inaccessible driving experience for the vast majority of drivers. But, it will even be relatively inaccessible even for those who can buy a Porsche. This future Porsche 718 gives the company air. As they explain in The cars.net podcast Joan Dalmau and Juan Carlos Grande, companies have made efforts to advance a solid range against a horizon in 2035 without combustion engines. But they need to continue earning money and in Europe the client has not embraced the electric car at the expected rhythm. In this business niche, problems are even more serious because, as we said, rationality is … Read more

The most powerful countries and with greater electricity consumption per capita, ordered in this graphic developer

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He Electric consumption It is a great thermometer for countries. The amount of energy we consume is an economic, but also social, climate indicator, of technological decisions and even lifestyle. The reason is that there is a wide range of factors that influence this consumption, and the following graph prepared by Visual Capitalist We can see what are the 15 countries with the highest GDP in the world which consume more electricity per capita. The surprise is called … Canada. Oh, Canada. The data comes from Ember and reflect the difference between the consumption of electricity per capita of the main world economies In 2024 and the one they had in 2000. A quarter of a century is more than enough to see a change in this regard, but what has not varied an apex are the two nations that lead the graph. Canada occupies the first position with consumption in 2024 of 15,708 kWh per person in 2024. The figure is considerably less than the one that registered 24 years ago and that high consumption is driven by an industry (especially mining and Aluminum production) very demanding at the energy level and for the electricity necessary to withstand the long winters. The United States, with 12,741 kWh per person, is not behind and the reasons are very similar: industry and air conditioning (which is at an excessive temperature both in winter and in summer). South Korea and China. Australia is another of the countries that traditionally exceeded 10,000 kWh per person, but these last 24 years have passed something curious: South Korea has glued a time comeback in this indicator. Here we enter that of electricity consumption as an economic thermometer, by relating the passage of the 6,200 kWh at 12,100 kWh due to an advance in advanced industrialization and manufacturing, especially in the segment of semiconductors and cars, as well as the growth of data centers. In China we live a very similar phenomenon, with a consumption of about 1,100 kWh in 2000 and one of 7,100 kWh currently due to that same technological expansion with the Accelerated industrialization in steelaluminum, electronics, data centers, semiconductors and electric vehicles as main protagonists. In addition, even if it is practically half of the per capita consumption of Canada, we are talking about a population of 1,400 million people compared to about 40 million. To put it in percentage: 17% of the world population compared to 0.5%. Logical. But the increase in consumption in these two countries is not only due to industrialization. Japan also has a strong industry and consumption has remained practically identical. There is another factor: The increase in middle classespecially in China. The increase of living standards, urbanization and electrification in homes has contributed considerably to this increase in consumption. Migration to large cities has generated a boom in construction and electrification due to the use of appliances, services and goods such as electric cars. Now, that is causing other problems, such as a life train incompatible with the formation of families wave Lack of people working in factoriesbeing two of the Shared problems with their neighbors Japan and South Korea. Two prominent outside the graphic. Germany, Spain and Italy have consumption very similar to those of 25 years ago, but if we look beyond this classification for the 15 main world economies, we have two names that eclipse everyone else. On the one hand, Iceland, with an imposing consumption of 51,920 kWh per person, thanks to the fact that there are not many Icelanders (about 300,000), but they do have A very potent industry such as aluminum, as well as very few hours of light and an extreme climate that requires constant lighting and heating. In Norway they also put the heating and light the lights, they also have an industry and a high standard of living that allows high consumption, but something that helps its consumption of 24,580 kWh per capita is a tremendous electric car park. In fact, in 2024, Almost 90% of the new cars sold were 100% electricwith what this entails at the charge level both at home and in public networks- In Xataka | This chart exposes self -sufficient countries at the food level. There is a single winner: Guyana

A Microsoft Data Center in Mexico collided with the reality of the electricity network. Your solution: use gas generators

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Artificial intelligence has become daily, but behind each consultation to tools such as Chatgpt either COPILOT There are real buildings that consume a lot of energy and require reliable infrastructure. In that framework, Microsoft announced May 7, 2024 The beginning of operations of its “Central Mexico” data centers region, with several locations in the Querétaro Metropolitan Area. The deployment, however, coexists with very specific tensions: According to the companyat least one of those centers, that of Columbus, cannot benefit from the advantages of the electricity network until mid -2027 and obtained permission to temporarily operate with gas generators. It should be remembered that the proximity of these infrastructure to users is essential: it reduces latency, improves the quality of the service and allows to meet data residence requirements. But that technical advantage depends on something elementary: having an electricity grid capable of sustaining permanent operations and constant cooling. Microsoft stressed the magnitude of its project in the North American country. The new region aims to offer local access to Azure, Microsoft 365Dynamics 365, among other services. The firm also presented the initiative as an “avant -garde” infrastructure aimed at accelerating innovation in the region. The Achilles heel of deployment: energy In a request to the Ministry of Environment delivered in 2023Microsoft acknowledged that, although the data center would connect within the planned deadlines, due to the construction deadlines included in its contract with the Federal Electricity Commission, the energization of the connection would not be ready until the Second quarter of 2027. To save that void, The use of seven generators was approved capable of covering 70% of the demand of the center of Columbus for 12 hours a day, for at least four months. According to Rest of World, Mexico already has about a hundred data centers, with investments that exceed 7,000 million dollars from 2020 by Microsoft, Aws and Google. Querétaro has established itself as the main attraction pole, with 15 facilities that concentrate about 80% of the sector’s energy demand, about 200 MW. The Mexican Institute for Competitiveness projects thatby 2030, the network will face a deficit of 48,000 MWh, more than half of what it produced in 2023. With more than 70 new centers planned in the next five years, the mismatch between installed capacity and electric transmission becomes an obvious threat. The American company has set ambitious environmental goals: Being negative carbon in 2030, eliminating all its historical emissions in 2050 and supplying 100% with renewable energy contracts in 2025. In contrast, in Columbus is the provisional measure of operating with gas generators until it can be fully connected to the network in 2027. What It is not clear is whether these equipment were usedif they remain in operation or what intermediate solution the company will apply in the coming years. Microsoft, for now, has not specified with which energy sources Opera Colón. The launch of the Central Mexico region was presented as a decisive step to accelerate the country’s digital transformation and attract foreign investment. But energy reality introduces a decisive nuance: the infrastructure necessary to sustain that deployment does not advance at the same rate as the technological ambition. The tension between promises of sustainability and limitations of the network is a reminder that the cloud, far from being ethereal, rests on concrete foundations, cables and megawatts that define, in a way, how far artificial intelligence and other services can go. Images | Microsoft (1, 2) In Xataka | This nuclear reactor is different from everyone else. It has been expressly designed for data centers

99% of the Internet travels through submarine cables. Now there is a much more ambitious plan in progress: join the electricity grid

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At first glance, the seas are an empty landscape. Under its waters, the image is another, through it a network of invisible highways that already support our day to day: the submarine cables that carry the 99% of world communications. Now, a new generation of electrical interconnectors – thousands of kilometers and gigavatio power – aspires to bring sun, wind and hydraulic where they are missing, when they are missing. The promise is simple: that electricity travels with the sun and wind through schedules; The execution, not so much. The starting point: The North Sea. The United Kingdom and Denmark premiered at the end of 2023 the Viking Link, a 765 km cable that crosses the North Sea and allows you to import electricity when wind is missing on the island and export when left over. It is the longest interconnector in the world in operation, but, as Financial Times warned: “It may not be for a long time.” The British media report details That on the horizon there are much more ambitious plans: join Canada with the United Kingdom and Ireland through a 4,000 km cable, link Morocco with Europe or export Australian solar energy to Singapore through more than 4,300 km of submarine cable. Through the cables. This new megaproject makes it clear that countries have been pursuing a connection with renewables for some time, because there is a mismatch between production and consumption, and we must solve it. The most illustrative example is AapowerLink in Australia. The Suncable company plans to install 3 GW from Solar in the northern territory, store part in batteries and sell it both to Darwin and Singapore, through an underwater cable of more than 4,000 km. In the words of his CEO, Ryan Willemsen-Bell, collected by Financial Times: “Australia has abundant land and sun. The ability to share those benefits with our neighbors has enormous potential.” In parallel, the North Atlantic Transmission One Link seeks to connect the Canadian hydroelectric plant with Europe. The time differential is its great asset: when Canada sleeps, the United Kingdom starts the day; When in the North Sea, wind blows at midnight, New York is preparing dinner. A lesson from the Internet. The idea may sound futuristic, but there are already solid precedents. As we have underlined Xatakathe entire planet is furrowed by submarine data cables, authentic digital highways that have demonstrated the viability of infrastructure of tens of thousands of kilometers. The Southern Cross Cable Network, 30,500 km, connects Australia, New Zealand and the United States since 2000. The newly opened 2Africa, 45,000 km, surrounds the African continent and reaches Barcelona and India. And in Spain, cables such as tide (6,605 km, Meta and Microsoft) or Grace Hopper (7,191 km, from Google) link Bilbao with the east coast of the US. The experience of these data networks provides an obvious parallelism: if we already move information on a global scale, why not also clean energy? Although not everything is so easy. From Financial Times alert a tensioning supply chain: The manufacture of cables, transformers and converting stations does not supply. The waiting deadlines are lengthened, and the availability of specialized ships to tend cable is limited. To that are added political risks. In Norway, the export of electricity to its neighbors has triggered the internal debate on prices. In the United Kingdom, the Government rejected this year to support the X-Links project to bring energy from Morocco, claiming “high level of inherent risk”. And with the ongoing Ukraine War, the threat of sabotages to critical infrastructure It is a fact. Looking inside. In the Spanish case, the problem is more domestic than international. As we have explained in Xatakathe country has run more than anyone to lift renewables in the “emptied Spain”, but has not deployed the cables to bring that electricity to the cities. The result is a “broken bridge”: at noon there are plenty of cheap megawatts that are cut or sell at zero price, and at night the network needs gas support, more expensive the market. According to data from the AELēC employer, 83.4% of connection knots are already saturated, which prevents hooking new consumptions such as industries, data centers or electrolyiners. The challenge, in short, is not to plan and reinforce the networks; as well as improve interdependence with other countries to break With the French bottleneck. A map of interdependencies. Beyond the technical and economic, these electric highways draw a new geopolitical map. Just as pipelines and gas pipelines marked the twentieth century, renewable interconnections can define alliances and dependencies in the XXI. The engineer Simon Ludlam, co-founder of the Canada-UK project, summed it up in Financial Times: “The most important nuclear reactor is in heaven, and its energy can be shared thanks to the rotation of the earth. But we need to be interconnected.” The sun that shines in the Australian desert or the water that falls in Canada could light, in a matter of seconds, the lights of cities to thousands of kilometers. The energy transition not only depends on producing renewables, but also on learning to move them. If the pipelines defined the petroleum geopolitics, the electric highways can become the invisible arteries of the coming world. Image | Unspash and What’s Inside Xataka | The Google Maps of submarine cables: an imposing interactive map that allows us to know the skeleton of the modern world

Grok has become the last madness of Elon Musk, we create music with electricity and more in 1×20 crossover

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Have New Crossover episodeand also with a very round number: it is the twentieth of this program in which we mix technology, opinion and entertainment and that as always present Jaume Lahoz and Carlos Santa Engracia. The beginning of the episode is already to grab males, because in crossover we have invited Álex, an electrical engineer and disseminator, to show us a brutal experiment: music made with lightning and electricity in the style Nikola Tesla. The section of a Popular Opinions premieres new questions that raise interesting debates. For example, do Chinese cars offer more than Europeans? Then we establish an interesting debate about that model of AI that is not spoken as much as it may be: Grok, from Xai, is Elon Musk’s attempt to win the AI ​​careerbut its approach is radically different from that of its competitors. In fact, it’s an approach A little crazy in which censorship shines for his absence. We certainly have much of what to talk about in this episode, so we invite you to enjoy it and, if you want, to share your comments and suggestions for this and future episodes. A for 1×20 crossover! On YouTube | Crossover

A Spaniard has patented a mast that transforms wind and waves into electricity. His invention challenges diesel in ships

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A mast shaken by the wind, the waves pushing without rest: usual scenes in any maritime journey. The interesting thing is that the same movement can serve to generate electricity. A canary who is one step away from being an engineer has designed a system that converts the strength of the ocean into usable energy, with the ambition to reduce the dependence of the diesel in the ships. It is an idea that takes the everyday of the sea and makes it a concrete technical proposal, simple enough to intrigue and ambitious enough to demand validation in the sea. “In the end it is a three -dimensional generator,” Juan Francisco Sarmiento Medina said in an advance of the Podcast of the Stier Groupand described the mechanism with simple images: “Let’s imagine that my arm is the mast. When the wind comes in front, it clashes, as the mast of a flag, and begins to oscillate. The keel works as a piston of a combustion engine (…) then movement occurs in the x, y y y z axes, all under Faraday’s law,” he explained. That narration of the inventor itself forms the technical spine of the project. What exactly is the e-mast. In its LinkedIn account the project appears as E-MAST (Energy Mast System) and is presented as a technology that transforms the structural vibration of the mast into clean electrical energy. According to the textthe system integrates an encapsulated rotor without exposed parts, linear generators and piezoelectric elements to convert oscillations into electricity, and can direct part of the induced air under the keel in the form of microburbujas. The advantages of the inventor are clear: “Without diesel engines, or maintenance. The owner of the boat, as there are no mechanical parts that have to be maintained with oil or that are broken, also reduces costs in that sense,” He pointed to El Español. The inventor also underlines the operational silence due to the absence of external propellers and the total structural integration into existing masts. These benefits, in any case, will require trials to measure power, autonomy and acoustic signature. Of production patent. The applications of applications published by the author encompasses autonomous marine surveillance, oceanographic research, defense and ecological navigation platforms in protected areas. According to Sarmiento Medina, the e-mast is protected by two patents, ES202430338 and ES202430339, with a favorable report according to the promoter. According to the newspaper La Provinciathe promoter figure around half a million euros international protection and development and has conversations with shipyards in France and the Netherlands to explore production. The sea still has the last word. Sarmiento says that he is a neighbor of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and recognizes that part of his learning and opportunities come from the Stier Group, which has supported his training. This local support, added to the intellectual protection that it declares in its public profile, has allowed to convert a daily element of any ship at the base of an ambitious technological proposal. Now the most difficult part remains: validate the system in the sea. But the idea has already demonstrated something important: that there is still margin to imagine new things, even in an environment as old as navigation. Images | Juan Francisco Sarmiento Medina In Xataka | A “Roomba” to clean rivers: the ship that the three throats has launched in China

How much electricity produces each country with renewable energy, exposed in a graphic

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Europe has been Up on the Renewable Train. This summer they have SOLAR ENERGY PRODUCTION REGRESSESwe are installing new huge wind turbines And, although with contradictions such as import energy from Africait is evident that the continent carries a Cruise speed in renewables. However, that train goes to two speeds, with countries in which renewables are hardly nothing in their electricity generation. And it is something that we can perfectly appreciate on this map elaborated by Visual Capitalist. Vanguard. With Eurostat data until December 2024, we can see that The transition to renewables He goes with the wind in favor. The generation of energy from wind, solar, hydroelectric, the Geothermal and the biofuels They already represent values ​​that exceed 99% of the net electricity generation of some countries. In general, it is estimated that, as of December 2024, the European Union obtained almost 42% of its net electricity from the renewable sources, being wind and hydroelectric plant the fundamental legs of this change. Interestingly, despite all Advances in panel technology and wind turbines, the countries in which renewables are more important have as the protagonist the hydroelectric. This is the case of Albania, which leads the list by generating more than 99% of its electricity from renewables, or Norway. In the case of Denmark, a country that occupies third place, it is the wind that marks the guideline. To the tail… When we said that the train goes to two speeds, we refer to cases such as the Czech Republic, Moldova and Malta. In some areas of Central and Eastern Europe, the fossil fuels are still crucialand the three countries mentioned are the least proportion of renewables in their electricity generation. As a red lantern, we have Kosovo with just 8.8% of its energy from renewables. The sources. Something interesting is to know which are those renewables that are pushing clean energy in Europe. In Spain, for example, We throw ourselves into the arms of the plotbut the energy mix that has contributed to these numbers, depends a lot on each country, and in the European photo, the plot is in third place. According to Eurostat, wind energy meant 39.1% of the renewable energy produced in 2024, followed by 29.9% of the hydroelectric and 22.4% of the solar. The biofuel is far, with 8.1%, and the geothermal energy is marginal, contributing only 0.5%. Situation in 2024 A devastating advance. And beyond distinguishing in countries, if we look at the global situation, we see that more than 40% of the net energy produced by the EU in 2024 comes from renewables. According to Eurostat, 47.3% of electric production, which translates into 1.31 million GW/Hy an increase of 7.7% compared to 2023. Evolution of energy production during the last 35 years In that same graph We can see that fossil fuels have fallen by 7.2% compared to the previous year (almost the same as renewables) and nuclear, despite the plans of some countries, grew by 4.8%. We will see what course this has in 2026, since a Eurobarometer survey carried out in June 2025 Indian Strong support from EU citizens to the adoption of renewables, but we will have to see if that renewable deployment is compatible with another that is being performing ambitious and You need huge amounts of energy: the one Data centers. Images | Eurostat In Xataka | Something is happening with wind energy. Its deployment has stopped while solar energy grows unstoppable

Google has finally revealed how much electricity and water consumes its AI. Estimates could not be more wrong

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We knew that generative artificial intelligence was a monster that was forcing companies to make large investments in energybut Google’s first detailed analysis has put the figures for the first time on the table. We go to the point. According to him Google Technical Reportbased on data from May 2025, an average text consultation to Gemini consumes 0.24 Electricity watts. To put it in context, it is something like watching nine seconds of television with a conventional TV of 100 W. Water consumption, which is still necessary to refrigerate serversis 0.26 milliliters per consultation; The equivalent of five drops of water. The carbon footprint of the entire inference process, according to the report, is 0.03 grams of equivalent. Wrong estimates. Just a year ago, third party analysis They estimated that a single consultation of AI in the Google search engine, such as those of AI overViews, could consume about 3 Wh, ten times more than a traditional search. This led to calculations as striking as the deployment of AI in the search engine would consume enough energy to load seven electric cars per second. With Google’s official data in hand, we see that this estimate was wrong by a 12.5 factor. The new software techniques (such as speculative decoding) and the most efficient models architectures (such as the Mixture-OF-Experts paradigm) have completely changed the panorama. Inference, no training. These figures, the most concrete published to date by the company, only take into account Gemini’s consumption by inferring user response. The expensive process of training the great language models that feed these tools remains a mystery, but Google is justified by saying that the massive adoption of generative AI, integrated even in its search engine, has put the focus on inference. In this direct relationship with the user it is also where greater efficiency jumps are getting large technological companies. Google says that, in the last 12 months, energy consumption has divided by 33 and by 44 the carbon footprint of each consultation to Gemini. Much of this jump has to do, not only with more efficient models, but with the improvement of AI accelerators (Tpus and Gpus), a hardware that Google develops internally. The amount of “prompts” per kWh that process the different models of AI Less than Netflix. Google is not alone in this new era of transparency. Sam Altman, CEO of Openai, also shed some light on the consumption of chatgpt. In one June 2025 publicationAltman said that an average consultation to ChatgPT consumes approximately 0.34 or energy Wh and about 0.3 ml of water. The energy figure is slightly higher than Gemini’s, although it is a difficult comparison. Altman did not give details of his methodology, so we do not know if his calculation includes all the factors that Google has considered (such as electrical consumption in refrigeration and in “idle” machines; that is, inactive, but ready for rapid consumption peaks). Both companies have been compared to television: “An hour of Netflix consumes 100 times more electricity than Chatgpt,” says an official OpenAI slide. The same that says that the total impact of AI on US carbon emissions would be around 0.5%. Images | Google In Xataka | The consumption of AI is overestimated and we must worry more about the air conditioning, according to the IAE

25 million for a reddish rock without electricity or water

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It is not the most expensive or the most remote, nor does it stand out for its size, but Red Rock Isand It has been a time of the most peculiar “candy” in the American luxury market for some time. The reason: a sum of factors among which are their price, their characteristics and especially its location, in the middle of San Francisco, where it stands out as The only one Private Island His is a privileged location, but who is willing to spend the 25 million dollars that it costs will find a reddish rock (hence its name) without water or light, populated by birds and in an convoluted administrative situation. Things of the most select luxury market. In a place on the west coast … More specifically in the Bay of San Francisco, very close to the busy Richmond-San Rafael Bridgethrough which almost almost 13 million vehiclesis a small island baptized as Red Rock Island. The name is no coincidence, it takes it from the manganese concentration, mineral that for a while attracted the interest of the miners. If Red Rock Island stands out for something, it is nevertheless for its tone, or location, but for its administrative condition: it is The only one Island of private property of San Francisco’s bay and stands between three counties different (San Francisco, Marin and against Costa), with which any procedure related to its lands must take into account the regulations of those three administrations. A reddish rock in the Pacific. Red Rock awakens the curiosity of the drivers who circulate on the Richmond-San Rafael bridge because it rises as a reddish, steep and soulless promontory in the middle of the San Francisco Bay. After all, the islet It is uninhabited. His only tenants They are the seagulls, the Canadian geese, bats and the occasional rabbit that raises among their reddish rocks, bushes and excavated tunnels decades ago by the miners. Red Rock Isand measures approximately 5.8 acres, about 2.3 hectares. Its dimensions are discreet for an island, although not far from there are islets like The Brothers and The Sisters Even smaller. It is estimated that Red Rock measures 150 meters wide, 230 long and 54 high. Chris Lim, Christie’s International Real Estate, in charge of The management of your sale, stands out However, the insula is located in the deepest part of the bay and its coast is “perfect” to arrive aboard a yacht or with a helicopter. Perhaps they are not the most economical means of transport or the most accessible; But it is that Red Rock Island has not been put up for sale in a suitable market for any pocket. Are you left over 25 million? If so, congratulations, you can have your own private island in a privileged place on the west coast of the US. That is the price for which went on sale Red Rock Island last year, a sum that, as remember The Guardianplaces it in the “mid -range” of the private island market, well above the between 600,000 and several million dollars that can cost a small island in the Bahamas, but below the more than 100 million that are paid for some specially coveted insulants of the Caribbean. Click on the image to go to Tweet. 25 million .. and something else. Of course, if the Red Rock buyer has in mind to build in the islet must have that those initial 25 million will be added another amount, equal or even more generous, to move materials, personnel and supplies. Red Rock lacks electricity and running water. And any future plan must take into account that it is between three counties. For lim The island is nevertheless more than a simple islet with potential. In his opinion it is a kind of “collectible” luxury, just like there are those who choose to hang a Mark Rothko of your living room or bid for one of the very expensive pieces of da Vinci that come to auction. “Unique and prestigious investment”. Thus the island is announced in The portal of Crhistie´s International Real Estate, where the offer is still active 213 days after its publication. “This extraordinary island offers unparalleled natural beauty, historical importance and an infinite potential for the demanding buyer who seeks a unique and prestigious investment,” The agency emphasizes. Whether or not a “cholo”, the truth is that Red Rock Island seems to have attracted market interest. In Julio Lim assured to the CBS News chain that the seller had already received two offers and there was at least one “active”, on the table, in which they were working. What is your current state? This same The Guardian He informed That at the end of July a contract was signed with a buyer who, at least for the moment, has asked for anonymity. The operation would not have yet been completed. “It will be a long process and the closing of the deposit will not be carried out until next year”, explained Recently the agency spokesman The Real Deal. In any case, the announcement is still active in the catalog From Christie´s International Real Estate, where it is also allowed to request information from adults or schedule a visit to the island. Something more than luxury and nature. Red Rock Island is not just a reddish islet in the middle of Francisco’s bay populated with shrubs, seagulls, bats, geese and the occasional rabbit that hides between its pines. The island has an interesting story behind. It is said that he served as a home to merchants of Russian skins, who around 1850 lived in it the commander and businessman Selim E. Woodworththat in the nineteenth century worked in it miners interested in manganese oxide and in 1964 it was acquired by David Clickman for a sum today: $ 49,500. In The 80s He was about to go to the controversial guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh And there are those who saw in its size and location a reef … Read more

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