energy

In 2011 Japan closed the largest nuclear power plant on the planet. Now he has decided to reopen it in the midst of the energy debate

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The nuclear debate, which Japan thought closed, returns to the scene. The authorization of the governor of Niigata to reactivate Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, the largest atomic plant in the world, has set off alarms: citizen distrust, the shadow of Fukushima and doubts about whether TEPCO is the right company to lead the country’s new energy stage are emerging. A new nuclear revival? The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, managed by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), has not produced a single kilowatt since 2012. The closure was a direct consequence of the 2011 tsunami and the three meltdowns from Fukushima Daiichia blow that left reactors with similar designs under suspicion. That technical coincidence was enough to keep its seven reactors on hold for more than ten years, despite the fact that the plant was essential for the electricity supply of northeastern Japan. According to Japan TimesHideyo Hanazumi has authorized a step-by-step reactivation that will start with reactor 6—one of the most recent and powerful—and that, later, will also include reactor 7. Altogether, the complex exceeds 8,000 MW of capacity, a figure that not only imposes: it maintains it as the largest nuclear facility on the planet. A significant change for the Japanese country. Kashiwazaki-Kariwa has gone from a technical project to a strategic move. As reported by the Financial TimesTokyo trusts that its reactivation will contribute to lowering the electricity bill and ensuring energy sources with fewer emissions, at a time complicated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the fall of the yen, which makes fossil fuel imports more expensive. Japan, which before Fukushima generated almost 30% of its electricity with atomic plants, fell to practically zero after the disaster. Since then 14 reactors have reopened and others await local or regulatory approvals. The government aims for nuclear energy to once again represent 20% of the mix in 2040. In addition, TEPCO would improve its annual accounts by around 100 billion yen thanks to the restart, according to Japan Forwardat a time when it continues to face enormous costs for the dismantling of Fukushima Daiichi. The reactivation process. The restart will begin with unit 6, which already has fuel loaded and will begin commercial operations before March of next year. To move forward, TEPCO must respond to the Government’s demands, which include updating all security systems and improving emergency evacuation plans. The process has not been easy. As detailed by Japan Timesthe plant passed safety reviews in 2017, but then suffered a veto from the Nuclear Regulatory Authority due to deficiencies in anti-terrorist measures, lifted in 2023. In addition, TEPCO had to incorporate biometric controls and correct security flaws after new internal incidents. Is there controversy? Yes, and a lot. According to a survey cited by the BBC50% of Niigata residents support the revival, while 47% oppose it. However, almost 70% express their concern because the person operating the plant is the same company that caused the accident. From Japan Times He adds that the rejection intensifies in some of the towns located within 30 kilometers of the plant, where the majority fear a new disaster or distrust the company. Another source of discomfort, also pointed out by this medium, is that the electricity generated is not used in Niigata, but in the Tokyo region. The political dimension is equally tense. Hanazumi, aware of the sensitivity of her decision, has announced that he will submit his continuity as governor to the vote of the prefectural assembly, the only body that can remove him. But there is something else at play. The reopening of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is seen as a pillar to ensure the country’s energy security and avoid possible power outages in Tokyo. It would also allow reducing electricity rates that have increased notably since 2011. At the same time, Japan is not only restarting reactors: it is also is planning the construction of new plants with fourth generation reactors, which would mark a new chapter in the country’s energy policy. More than a return to the atom. The country that one day vowed not to depend on atomic energy again has ended up returning to it, driven by necessity, geopolitics and the urgency to decarbonize. It remains to be seen if this decision will also ignite the confidence of a citizenry that still carries the memory of Fukushima or if, on the contrary, the return to the atom will deepen a division that has been open for more than a decade. Although the governor’s approval is the decisive step, there are still procedures: the prefectural assembly must debate and vote on the decision in December, and the Japanese nuclear regulator must complete the formal procedures for reactivation. Image | IAEA Imagebank Xataka | In 2011, Japan promised itself not to bet on nuclear energy again. Until he met reality

Reopening nuclear power plants sounds very spectacular, but Google has a plan B in case it’s not enough: solar energy

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Data centers for are insatiable monsters those who are responsible for them must feed. OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, xAI, Anthropic and Google are burning money riding colossal data centers for training and management of artificial intelligence. But these installations are not expensive to set up: they are also expensive to maintain. They require a considerable amount of energy to functionand Google has just received a ‘shot’ of renewables. All thanks to a direct connection to the largest system in the United States. Renewables to power AI. Google and TotalEnergies have just signed a agreement of energy purchases for 15 years. The contract stipulates that the energy company will deliver 1.5 TWh of electricity from its Montpelier solar plant, in Ohio, to Google. The plant is still under construction and they estimate that it will have a capacity of 49 MW, but the most important thing is that it will be connected directly to the electricity system. PJM. It is the largest network operator in the United States. It covers 13 states and data centers are representing a relevant portion of the operator’s pie: in its last annual auction, the load of these facilities PJM capacity sale triggered at 7.3 billion dollars, 82% more. Astronomical needs. In the statement from TotalEnergies, the company that this agreement illustrates its ability to meet the growing energy demands of the major technology companies. The problem is that it is not enough. If we focus on Google, the consumption of its data centers was 30.8 million megawatt hours of electricity. The company has been focused on AI for years, but the recent ‘boom’ has made it double what its centers consumed in 2020 (14.4 million MWh). Currently, data centers are estimated to account for 95.8% of Google’s total electricity budget. But it’s not just Google: the International Energy Agency esteem that global data centers consumed 415 TWh last year, representing approximately 1.5% of global electricity consumption. It seems little put in percentage, but Spain consumed in 2024 231,808 GWh, or 231 TWh, in 2024. The data centers of a handful of companies alone consumed twice as much as an entire country. And the estimate is that this data center consumption will double by 2030, reaching 945 TWh. Renewables are not enough. Now, although renewables are a support for the total energy required by data centerssolar and wind power have two limitations: intermittency and variability. Generation depends on weather conditions and time of day, meaning it fluctuates dramatically even throughout the same day. This instability clashes head-on with the high reliability and availability requirements of data centers. These are installations that must operate continuously and cannot assume cuts or Unforeseeable drops in supplysince AI or cloud storage would suffer the consequences. These renewables require backup batteries, but it is complicated and expensive to have such a large number of batteries just to power data centers. Pulling the gas and looking at the nuclear. That’s where other sources come into play. On the one hand, nuclear. In October 2024, Google signed the world’s first corporate agreement to acquire nuclear energy from SMR reactors. The first will come into operation in 230 and it is expected that, together, they will be able to satisfy the technology company with 500 MW of capacity by 2035. On the other hand, natural gas. In October of this year, the Broadwing Energy Center project began, a new natural gas power plant that will have a capacity of 400 MW and is scheduled to come into play at the end of 2029. Decarbonization and pressure. And the big question is… doesn’t the use of gas for AI clash with the technology companies’ objectives of achieving decarbonization percentages for both 2030 and 2050? We have already seen that oil companies have been getting off the renewables bandwagon because they have seen that fossil fuels are still relevant in the technology industry, but in the case of Google, they rely on the fact that projects like the Broadwing Energy Center They will have CCS systems. This means that it will have carbon capture system that will be able to permanently “sequester” 90% of the emissions. It means burying the problem, literally, since the CO₂ will be stored a mile underground. In 2020, before the AI ​​boom, the company established the goal of operating with carbon-free energy 24 hours a day, seven days a week by 2030. It will be interesting to see how they plan to offset these emissions thanks to renewables, but the IAE estimates that the demand for data centers will not stop growing in the short term and that adds another problem: a increased pressure on the electrical grid which is added as another element to manage. Because the big underlying problem is that the demand for energy is growing at a faster rate than the capacity to generate new electricity, and it is something that has an impact on companies’ bills, but also in homes. Images | Unsplash, Google Data Center In Xataka | China does not have a spending problem with AI. What it has is a huge income gap compared to its main rival

make your energy incredibly cheap

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At dawn, in the Alxa Desert, in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia, a huge white structure began to rise above the horizon. It was not a balloon or a meteorological experiment: it was a 5,000 square meter kite, designed to generate electricity hundreds of meters high. No blades. Last Wednesday, the test of what is the first Chinese national project dedicated to developing high-altitude wind energy took place. The kite, developed by China Energy Engineering Corporationwas raised with helium balloons to a height of about 300 meters before being successfully deployed. In addition to the gigantic main model, two additional 1,200 m² kites were tested. According to Global Timesthe test consisted of fully deploying and retracting the kites, an essential step to validate their operation in real conditions. During the test, engineers measured the tension of the system and the aerodynamic behavior of the fabric to collect data that will be used to fine-tune the final design. Cao Lun, head of the national high-altitude wind power project, told Xinhua —cited by SCMP— that the test campaign will allow “the kite to be optimized and the foundations to be deployed to deploy the complete system and define its standards.” A new energy frontier. Studies from the Carnegie Institution for Science They estimate that high altitude winds They contain enough energy to supply global demand more than 100 times. The reason is simple: in the upper layers of the atmosphere the winds are faster, more constant and more energetically dense. Added to this is another decisive argument. According to CCTVkite systems can reduce land use by 95%, save 90% of the steel needed in a conventional wind farm and reduce the final cost per kilowatt-hour by around 30%. The potential is such that a single 10-megawatt system could power more than 10,000 homes a year, without towers weighing hundreds of tons or extensive foundations. How do these kites work? The technology tested belongs to the category of terrestrial systems: the kite does not carry a generator in the air, but rather transmits its traction through a cable that moves a generator located on dry land. The process follows a mechanism of “shoot and collect”: Helium balloons raise the kite to operating height. The aerodynamic fabric unfolds and captures powerful winds. The traction tightens the cable and rotates the generator. To retract it, the kite adopts a posture of minimum resistance, reducing energy expenditure to a minimum. The cycle repeats itself. Someone came forward: Ireland. This time it was not China, as so many other times, but Ireland. The Dutch company Kitepower tested 60 m² kites capable of rising up to 425 meters, generating electricity through a figure-eight flight pattern—similar to kitesurfing—that maximizes traction. Each kite can produce up to 30 kW per hour. However, the differences are notable because European kites are much smaller than Chinese ones, European systems stand out because they can be deployed without civil works. Furthermore, the European objective is to take these kites to islands and remote communities that today depend on diesel. On the other hand, the Asian giant seeks to feed entire cities from the heights. Is the future of energy in the sky? If these giant kites manage to take off not only in tests, but in real production, we could be facing a new way of generating renewable energy: light, cheap, scalable and capable of using an almost infinite resource. Perhaps, soon, wind farms will not be measured by the height of their towers, but by the size of the kites that fly through the sky. Image | XinhuaNews Xataka | The immediate future of Airbus involved the green hydrogen aircraft. It’s not so safe anymore

China is quietly winning the AI ​​race thanks to something very simple: cheap energy

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“China is going to win the artificial intelligence race,” warned Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia. Many thought he was exaggerating, interested in fueling demand for his chips. But, as analyst June Yoon explained in her column for the Financial TimesHuang’s argument contains an uncomfortable truth: the availability of electricity—not chips—is becoming the critical factor for the development of AI. A model like GPT-4 can consume more than 460,000 megawatt-hours per year, the equivalent of the energy consumption of 35,000 American homes, according to a study. The world’s data centers—already colossal—could double their electricity consumption before 2030. And that changes the rules of the game. When there are plenty of chips, but there are no plugs. The race for AI It started with a GPU fever. Big tech companies rushed to buy every Nvidia chip available, but they soon discovered something more worrying: there weren’t enough sockets to connect them. Satya Nadella himself, CEO of Microsoft, he said it bluntly: “The biggest problem we have now is not excess chips, but energy.” Electricity demand has skyrocketed so much that Google, Microsoft and Amazon are already contemplating build nuclear reactors to keep your servers on. The paradox sums up the moment well: the digital leadership of the West encounters a physical limit, that of cheap energy. Energy as a new geopolitics. Analyst June Yoon throw a question that reorders the technological map: what if the AI ​​race had nothing to do with chips, but with electricity? If the last century was defined by oil, this one will be defined by the current China no longer lives off oil: generates it. It has gone from being a petrostate dependent on crude oil to becoming the first electrostate on the planet. More than one quarter of your electricity It comes from renewable sources and its network is growing at a speed that no other country can match. Now that energy sovereignty fuels a new front: artificial intelligence. How did you find the formula? Since September, the Chinese Government Subsidizes up to 50% of energy costs of data centers that use national chips. The inland provinces—Guizhou, Gansu, Inner Mongolia—have become “electric hearts” of Chinese AI: there energy is abundant and cheapand local governments offer historically low rates of just 0.4 yuan per kilowatt-hour. The measure has a dual purpose: Compensate for the lower efficiency of domestic chips compared to Nvidia’s. Promote technological independence in the midst of a trade war. As Bloomberg has detailedthese regions are connected by ultra-high voltage (UHV) lines that transport renewable energy from the interior to the coastal areas where big technology companies, such as Alibaba, Tencent and ByteDance, are concentrated. The goal is clear: ensure abundant, low-cost energy for AI training clusters. According to Rystad Energythe electricity consumption of data centers could more than double before 2030, reaching 1,800 terawatt-hours in 2040. Beijing is preparing to absorb it. The result is a planned, centralized energy ecosystem designed to scale AI. An example is the Talatan Solar Parkwhich extends like a sea of ​​metal mirrors: more than 600 square kilometers of panels that are combined with wind and hydroelectric parks. From there, the power travels along high-voltage lines to data centers on the coast. It is a postcard of the new Chinese power: sun, wind and silicon. China’s electrical advantage. The strategy is also working in the markets. According to Bloombergshares of Chinese power companies have risen up to 40% in a week, driven by demand for AI data centers. UBS forecasts that electricity demand in China will grow 8% annually until 2028. Meanwhile, in Washington, the Trump administration has launched an AI Action Plan to accelerate the construction of data centers and remove obstacles to energy projects. But, as FT analysts point outchip improvements are stuck in single digits, while Chinese renewable energy grows by double digits every year. The power is in the socket. In the race for artificial intelligence, chips are the brain. But the heart beats with electricity. The United States retains leadership and has the best semiconductors (for now); China, the network that keeps them on. As June Yoon wroteall the technological superpowers in history—from coal England to oil America—were built on a source of cheap energy. Today, artificial intelligence needs electricity as it once needed steam. And on that new board, China seems to have found the key: plug in the future before anyone else. Image | Pixabay and Hanwha Xataka | SoftBank abandons the king of chips in its prime. And he bets everything on OpenAI

the Franco-Italian commitment to automated nuclear energy

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The growth of artificial intelligence has skyrocketed global electricity consumption and put governments before an urgent question: where will the energy come from to sustain it? In an unorthodox alliance, France and Italy believe they have part of the answer with automated nuclear microreactors. Slow down. At first it sounds very grandiose, but here we are going to unpack it. The French startup NAAREA has announced a strategic partnership with the Italian company Fluid Wire Robotics (FWR), specialized in robotics for extreme environments. The agreement seeks to integrate FWR’s robotic systems in the handling, maintenance and dismantling operations of the XAMR microreactors, that NAAREA has been developing since 2020. According to the official statementthe XAMR is a fourth-generation fast neutron and molten salt reactor, capable of producing 40 megawatts of electricity and 80 megawatts of thermal power. Its particularity is that it works by “burning long-term nuclear waste” from spent fuel from other plants, transforming a storage problem into an energy source. The answer lies in robotics. Fluid Wire has designed a system that allows robotic arms to operate without vulnerable electronic components within radioactive zones. The motors and sensors are located in a remote, armored unit, from where they transmit movement through a hydrostatic system. This prevents radiation from damaging the electronics and allows precise manipulation, with force feedback, even underwater or in temperatures up to 180°C. In addition, the system supports radiation levels of up to 1.5 MGy and can work both in remote mode (controlled by humans) and in automatic mode, with programmed sequences for production or maintenance. Thanks to this, NAAREA will automate key steps in fuel production, carry out robotic inspections and carry out assisted dismantling, reducing the exposure of human personnel to a minimum. One more step of automation. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been promoting the use of drones and robots to improve safety at power plants for years. According to the organizationthese technologies already contribute to reducing risks and increasing efficiency, even in operating plants. The agency has highlighted the development of walking, flying and even aquatic robots that are already used for inspections, emergency response and post-incident evaluation. robotics, experts sayis ceasing to be a promise and becoming an everyday tool in nuclear energy. Japan: an extreme example. Last year, the Telesco robot went in to recover molten fuel from Fukushima reactor 2 for the first time. The operation, directed by TEPCOoffers unprecedented information on the degradation of materials after thirteen years of radiation and residual heat, and confirms the essential role of robotics in environments impossible for humans. Energy for a world hungry for chips. The NAAREA-FWR alliance is also part of an underlying energy crisis. The growth of artificial intelligence and data centers has skyrocketed global electricity consumption. As my colleague’s article warnedgenerative AI systems and training large models require amounts of energy that are already straining power grids in several countries. In this context, nuclear microreactors like those from NAAREA can offer a stable, clean and localized supply alternative, especially for industries with high energy demand – such as data centers or semiconductor production. In fact, in another reportwe detail how companies like Google and Microsoft are exploring agreements with nuclear energy companies to power their AI infrastructures. Atomic energy, previously associated only with giant and military reactors, is being rediscovered as a strategic engine for the new digital revolution. Robots at the service of the atom. For NAAREA, the collaboration with FWR represents a step towards a replicable and safe nuclear industrialization model. The robotic arms designed in Pisa and the microreactors assembled in France could become a symbol of a new era: miniature, autonomous plants, connected to industries or data centers, and maintained by robots that operate where no human could. In a world where artificial intelligence needs more energy than ever — and where humans seek to reduce risks and emissions — the atom is once again the protagonist, but this time with mechanical help. Image | FreePik Xataka | When we thought we had seen all kinds of rehearsals for an invasion, China makes science fiction: robots taking over an island

AI data centers consume too much energy. Google’s ‘moonshot’ plan is to take them to space

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Training models like ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude requires more and more electricity and water, to the point that the energy consumption of AI threatens to exceed that of entire countries. Data centers have become real resource sinks. According to estimates by the International Energy Agencythe electrical expenditure of data centers could double before 2030, driven by the explosion of generative AI. Faced with this perspective, technology giants are desperately looking for alternatives. And Google believes it has found something that seems straight out of science fiction: sending its artificial intelligence chips into space. Conquering space. The company Project Suncatcher has been revealedan ambitious experiment that sounds like science fiction: placing its TPUs—the chips that power its artificial intelligence—on satellites powered by solar energy. The chosen orbit, sun-synchronous, guarantees almost constant light. In theory, these panels could work 24 hours a day and be up to eight times more efficient than the ones we have on Earth. Google plans to test its technology with two prototype satellites before 2027, in a joint mission with the Planet company. The objective will be to check if its chips and communication systems can survive the space environment and, above all, if it is feasible to perform AI calculations in orbit. The engineering behind the idea. Although it sounds like science fiction, the project has solid scientific bases. Google proposes to build constellations of small satellites—dozens or even hundreds—that orbit in compact formation at an altitude of about 650 kilometers. Each one would have chips on board Trillium TPU connected to each other by laser optical links. Such light beams would allow satellites to “talk” to each other at speeds of up to tens of terabits per second. It is an essential capability to process AI tasks in a distributed manner, as a terrestrial data center would do. The technical challenge is enormous: at these distances, the optical signal weakens quickly. To compensate, the satellites would have to fly just a few hundred meters apart. According to Google’s own studyKeeping them so close will require precise maneuvering, but calculations suggest that small orbit adjustments would be enough to keep the formation stable. In addition, engineers have already tested the radiation resistance of their chips. In an experiment with a 67 MeV proton beam, Trillium TPUs safely withstood a dose three times higher than they would receive during a five-year mission in low orbit. “They are surprisingly robust for space applications,” the company concludes in its preliminary report. The great challenge: making it profitable. Beyond the technical problems, the economic challenge is what is in focus. According to calculations cited by Guardian and Ars Technicaif the launch price falls below $200 per kilogram by the mid-2030s, an orbital data center could be economically comparable to a terrestrial one. The calculation is made in energy cost per kilowatt per year. “Our analysis shows that space data centers are not limited by physics or insurmountable economic barriers,” says the Google team. In space, solar energy is practically unlimited. A panel can perform up to eight times more than on the Earth’s surface and generate almost continuous electricity. That would eliminate the need for huge batteries or water-based cooling systems, one of the biggest environmental problems in today’s data centers. However, not everything shines in a vacuum. As The Guardian recallseach launch emits hundreds of tons of CO₂, and astronomers warn that the growing number of satellites “is like looking at the universe through a windshield full of insects.” Furthermore, flying such compact constellations increases the risk of collisions and space debris, an already worrying threat in low orbit. A race to conquer the sky. Google’s announcement comes in the midst of a fever for space data centers. It is not the only company looking up. Elon Musk recently assured that SpaceX plans to scale its Starlink satellite network—already with more than 10,000 units—to create its own data centers in orbit. “It will be enough to scale the Starlink V3 satellites, which have high-speed laser links. SpaceX is going to do it,” wrote Musk in X. For his part, Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and Blue Origin, predicted during the Italian Tech Week that we will see “giant AI training clusters” in space in the next 10 to 20 years. In his vision, these centers would be more efficient and sustainable than terrestrial ones: “We will take advantage of solar energy 24 hours a day, without clouds or night cycles.” Another unexpected actor is Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, who bought the rocket company Relativity Space precisely to move in that direction. “Data centers will require tens of additional gigawatts in a few years. Taking them off the Earth may be a necessity, not an option,” Schmidt warned in a hearing before the US Congress. And Nvidia, the AI ​​chip giant, also wants to try his luck: The startup Starcloud, backed by its Inception program, will launch the first H100 GPU into space this month to test a small orbital cluster. Their ultimate goal: a 5-gigawatt data center orbiting the Earth. The new battlefield. The Google project is still in the research phase. There are no prototypes in orbit and no guarantees that there will be any soon. But the mere fact that a company of such caliber has published orbital models, radiation calculations and optical communication tests shows that the concept has already moved from the realm of speculation to that of applied engineering. The project inherits the philosophy of others moonshots of the company —like Waymo’s self-driving cars either quantum computers—: explore impossible ideas until they stop being impossible. The future of computing may not be underground or in huge industrial warehouses, but in swarms of satellites shining in the permanent sun of space. Image | Google Xataka | While Silicon Valley seeks electricity, China subsidizes it: this is how it wants to win the AI ​​war

May the world depend on your new energy

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Representatives of eight Western venture capital firms have traveled to China and realized one thing: the West can’t compete in new energy. This phrase could be a ‘clickbaitero’ headline, but it is the experience that representatives of several companies told a few weeks ago to Bloomberg. And the truth is that it is nothing new either. China has been consolidating a extraordinary domain in multiple clean energy sectors. It is something supported by industrial supremacy and significantly lower costs than those of its Western competitors, which has been evidently reflected in sectors such as electric car batteries or in sectors such as solar or wind energy. In the Bloomberg article, some of the components of that peculiar Western ‘road trip’ through China wonder How European and North American competitors can compete (or survive) in sectors such as batteries and components of renewable energy sources. The reason? The figures leave no room for doubt: China dominates batteriesthe wind turbinesthe solar panels, the electric vehicles and something even more important: the production chain and critical materials. New energy mastery Not so long ago, China had a massive problem within its borders: pollution that seriously harmed the health of its population. By adopting different measures, they have managed to reduce it significantly, achieving decarbonization objectives before the established dates. And much of the ‘blame’ is adoption of electric vehicles and energy sources that emit less CO₂ into the atmosphere. It is not unusual to see news every so often about the progress of some of China’s macro energy projects, such as the ‘great solar wall‘, huge wind turbines or the construction of the new largest dam in the world which, in addition, will be a gigantic hydroelectric plant. Such is the commitment to renewables that China has managed to the world depends on its technologywith Europe and the United States that cannot compete in the price of solar panels and with a so fierce competition between your companies that They have even had to sign agreements not to continue selling at a loss. Since we are with solar, esteem that China reached 887 GW of solar capacity in 2024, installing about 270 GW in that year alone. This represents 55% of all new solar installations in the world last year, but they are not only dominating this segment. The percentages leave no room for doubt: China controls between 80% and 85% of the world’s solar panel manufacturing capacity and more than 95% of solar wafers. In wind turbines, they count with 60-70% dominance of global production and nine of the fifteen largest global manufacturers they are chinese. As for electric vehicles, they have control of 70% of global production. In 2024, they manufactured 12 million of the 17 million EVs in the world, and of their production, 11 were sold in the domestic market. Related to the three previous points, we have the manufacture of batteries. It is estimated that they control between 75% and 80% of the production of lithium-ion batteries and these are used to store new energy, but also for electric and hybrid vehicles. The only technology where things are more even between China and the West is hydrogen. It is estimated that China dominates 53% of its production, while Europe (30%) and the United States (12%) would add 42%. Mastery of the production chain (and a model that cannot be replicated in the West) This dominance in production is evident, but beyond the data in the different sectors, there is another key that explains the power of Chinese companies. The country controls the rare earth productionalmost monopolistic way. The world depends on minerals and metals processed from rare earths, as they are critical in all technological sectors, but particularly in batteries and elements such as magnets that are used to create wind turbines. Without going any further, The country processes 80% of the world’s lithium and produce 90% of the anodes and electrolytes present in batteries. For years, The West has delegated that production to China due to how polluting they are, but now Western companies have come face to face with a reality in which China has the upper hand. The United States has realized this: if they applied tariffs, China limited exports of rare earth metals. Speaking of the United States, former Vice President Al Gore affirms that China’s supremacy in the energy transition will force many nations to establish closer ties with the country, describing, incidentally, the United States’ energy shift towards fossil fuels as “a tragedy.” And to this control of the production chain is added the so-called “model 996“. This system emerged in the chinese technology industryparticularly in companies like Huawei or Alibaba, and basically implies: I work from 9 to 9 six days a week. Considered a form of modern slavery, companies justified and defended as the method of matching Western technology companies in record time, but the mental health cost (and even suicides) was so enormous that the Chinese Ministry of Human Resources declared it illegal in 2021. Companies are required to comply with the law, but it has been denounced that there are still technology companies that continue with these practicesand added to all the above, it is something that the West cannot compete with. Unless you are a Silicon Valley company. Image | Google Maps, BYD In Xataka | While half the world debates and makes promises about nuclear energy, only one country is keeping them: China

Madrid consumes more and generates less energy than anyone else. And their neighbors are also refusing to install solar panels.

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Between the grain fields and the family housing estates of eastern Madrid, the residents of Villalbilla and Torres de la Alameda live a battle that is repeated in many corners of Spain: that of a territory that wants clean energy, but afraid of losing his identity. In short. On the banks of the Viso, a residential and natural area closely linked to family life, a macro photovoltaic solar plant is planned of 70.8 megawatts promoted by Envatios Promotion XXIV SL, a subsidiary of the Swiss multinational Smartenergy. The project, known as “Envatios XXIV – Phase III”, would occupy about 335 hectares of agricultural and natural land, the equivalent of more than 470 soccer fields, between both municipalities. The resolution that grants the declaration of public utility was published in the Official State Gazette, a step that paves its execution. However, the approval has set off alarms in the area: Neighborhood platforms and associations have begun to mobilize to stop what they consider a threat to their environment and quality of life. The spark of conflict. The Platform for the Defense of Visibility complaint the “lack of transparency and absence of participation” in the processing of the project. They claim that Villalbilla City Council was not even formally notified during the process, a defect that could have legal consequences. The macro project, they explainwill cause possible environmental and social risks: local increase in temperature due to the reflective effect of the plates, noise pollution, loss of vegetation and risk of fires. At the information meeting held on October 7, the technicians and neighbors summarized their position in a phrase that has become the movement’s motto: “We are not against solar energy, but rather its poor location. Energy yes, but with common sense.” A wave of institutional opposition. Neighborhood rejection has found a political echo. Villalbilla Town Hall approved a motion against the project with the support of 17 councilors from different parties. The decision reflects the concern shared by residents and municipal representatives regarding the environmental and landscape impact. A few days later, the council announced that it will present an appeal to the Ministry for the Ecological Transition (MITECO). It has also maintained contacts with the Government Delegation in Madrid and has requested a review of the process. On his Facebook page, the mayor, José Luis Luque Lorente, qualified the situation: “The plant is located in Torres de la Alameda. In Villalbilla no permanent facilities are implemented, only some plots will be temporarily affected as accesses during the works.” Even so, the council has joined the mobilizationarguing that any large energy infrastructure must be done with planning and consensus. ANDon the other front. The promoting company has with the favorable environmental impact declaration and that its capacity—70.8 MW—could supply the annual electricity consumption of some 90,000 homes. Some landowners have already signed rental contracts with the developer. “The project is unstoppable, and it is better to make a profit,” one of them explained to Infobae. The debate has even divided the municipalities themselves: while Villalbilla and Torres prepare legal appeals, Mejorada del Campo has chosen for negotiating with the company. This last municipality has achieved reduce plant size by 40%, establish a local employment plan and compensation of 3.8 million euros. Even within the regional administration itself there are divergences: the General Directorate of Environmental Quality of the Community of Madrid issued a favorable report, while the General Directorate of Agriculture considered it unviable for affecting woody crops and recommended finding another location. The dilemma of the landscape. The Platform for the Defense of Viso insists that the problem is not solar energy itself, but the model of massive implementation without territorial planning. As we well knowthe debate is not new. In a forum for El País, energy expert Eloy Sanz warned that “rejecting almost any renewable development is a mistake,” and that “the less renewables, the more fossil fuels.” But he also criticized the use of the term “macro” as an emotional label: “The prefix ‘macro’ is key on an emotional level, regardless of the actual size of the project.” The dilemma extends throughout Spain. The motto “Renewable yes, but not like this” has caught on in rural areas of Andalusia, Aragon and Galicia. In Jaén, neighbors and farmers oppose an installation that would involve cutting down more than 100,000 olive trees. In Galicia, the Supreme Court provisionally suspended a wind farm for failing to evaluate its cumulative impact on the territory. The conflicts share a pattern: rural communities that support the energy transition, but demand order, transparency and balance. It will have to be distributed. The point is that the case of Villalbilla and Torres de la Alameda has an additional paradox: it occurs in one of the regions that produces the least energy and consumes the most. The Community of Madrid generates only 4.8% of the energy it usesbut it concentrates 11% of national demand. Meanwhile, other areas of the country—Extremadura, Aragón, Castilla-La Mancha or Andalusia— support the thickness of electricity generation. This shows that the background is the same: an energy transition that advances at an uneven pace and with little territorial planning. As the country seeks to meet 2030 climate goals, local communities are demanding a say in how and where their environment is transformed. “We want a just transition.” That is the phrase most repeated by the residents of Viso. His message coincides with that of many citizen movements that have emerged throughout Spain: support for renewables, but with respect for the territory. Maybe the key is in what pointed out Eloy Sanz: “The dilemma is not between progress or landscape, but between doing it well or doing it badly.” Between climate urgency and fear of change, Villalbilla and Torres de la Alameda embody a question that Spain has not yet resolved: how to achieve clean energy that is also fair? Image | Unsplash Xataka | The Altri megaplant has caused an enormous social response in Galicia. And now the Government has given … Read more

Meeting the energy demand of AI is leading to desperate measures. How to reuse old airplane turbines

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The AI ​​race has put the electrical infrastructures of half the world in check. Data centers need more and more megawatts, and they need them now. But the energy industry does not play at the same pace, which explains why there are companies installing airplane engines next to these huge graphics card farms. Two options, two problems. When a company builds a new data center for AI, it has two options. The first is to connect to the electrical network, but according to IEEE Spectrumpermits to carry out interconnection can reach eight or even ten years in some regions. AI, however, advances in a matter of months, and cannot wait a decade. Hence, many companies, like Elon Musk’s xAIopt for option 2: build their own power plant on the site. This is not without problems either. Global demand for gas turbines has skyrocketed, and not just because of AI, but because of economic growth in Asia and the Middle East. Manufacturers such as GE Vernova or Siemens Energy have waiting lists of three to five years, and for larger models, the period is longer. As noted in a report by Public Powera new gas plant project commissioned today could begin operating in 2032. Aircraft engines as power plants. This bottleneck has caused, on the one hand, that turbine manufacturers rub their handsand on the other, that companies sharpen their ingenuity. And this is where aeronautical engineering and the reuse of aircraft turbines come into play. The concept of using aircraft engines to generate electricity is not new. They are known as aeroderivative turbines: they are smaller, lighter and easier to maintain than heavy industrial turbines. What is new is the scale and urgency with which this solution is being implemented. From a Boeing 747 to the data center. An American company called ProEnergy has become a protagonist of the trend with a simple plan: buy used jet engine cores, specifically the CF6-80C2 model of the iconic Boeing 747, and adapt them. These engines, after decades of service in the air, are disassembled, reviewed piece by piece and rebuilt for a second life on dry land. The result is the PE6000 unit, a gas turbine that, as detailed the popia companyis capable of generating 48 megawatts (MW) of electricity. A single one of these units can power a small or medium-sized data center, or a city of up to 40,000 homes. A bridging solution. The reality is that these converted aircraft engines are not the definitive solution, but rather what the industry bridges for the first years of operation of its data centers. “Both projects are designed to provide bridge power for five to seven years, which is when they hope to have interconnection to the grid,” says the CEO of ProEnergy. But business is good. The company has already sold 21 of these turbines for two projects, adding more than 1 gigawatt (GW) of capacity thanks to its speed of delivery. Companies can buy a turbine from ProEnergy by 2027 or wait a decade to build a conventional plant. Everyone wins. Except the environment. It is gas that ends up burning in order to have these data centers operational in record time. Image | ProEnergy In Xataka | If the question is “how does having a data center next to my house affect me”, in the US they already have an answer: 267% more expensive electricity

Aerothermal energy is the heating of the future, but the electrical installation is stuck in the past

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“Winter is coming”, read the iconic phrase of the Stark family in Game of Thrones. There are less than two months until the official arrival of winter and, with it, the time to see how our energy bill trembles as much as we do. Search formulas to heat the house becomes prevalent in this final stretch of the year, especially when heating continues to be one of the main reasons why electricity consumption skyrockets. Every season new technological promises appear to maintain comfort without emptying your pocket, and aerothermal energy has become one of the most popular.But the key question arises: can all homes really benefit from it? The rise of aerothermal energy. This technology It works in a very simple way: Harnesses the energy already in the outside air to heat or cool the house and produce hot water. Instead of generating heat by burning gas or consuming large amounts of electricity, this system “extracts” it from the environment and multiplies it. In practice, this means that for every kilowatt of electricity it needs to operate, aerothermal energy can produce up to five of useful heat or cold. While a radiator or boiler converts energy into heat directly, aerothermal energy does something more intelligent: it extracts heat from the air and multiplies it. According to the architects consulted by Arquitectura y Diseño They calculate that, in a medium-sized home, this difference can translate into savings of up to 35% annually, as long as the house is well insulated and the climate is favorable. For the pocket, it translates into about 100 to 130 euros less on the annual bill. So aren’t all houses ready? Although it sounds like a perfect technology, architects warn that not all homes can take advantage of aerothermal energy on equal terms. In fact, there are multiple factors that reduce its effectiveness: the type of home, its insulation, the location and the specific energy needs. In Mediterranean climates, for example, where passive design allows thermal comfort to be achieved without active systems, “it does not make sense to use aerothermal energy as the main heating or cooling system.” In other words, installing aerothermal heating without previously evaluating the home can be like buying an electric car without having a plug at home. Experts in sustainable architecture insist that energy demand must first be reduced and housing optimized before betting on advanced technologies. The state of the electrical installations is another of the great brakes on the electrification of the residential park. The Observatory of Electrical Rehabilitation of Housing warns that 80% of the houses have technical deficiencies, and that only 22.4% were built after the 2002 Technical Regulation. This makes it clear that the majority of homes continue to depend on old networks, poorly prepared to assume new energy demands such as those required by aerothermal energy or solar self-consumption. The signs to know if your home is suitable. Before considering installing aerothermal, technicians recommend doing a prior evaluation. OK with the expertsthese are the main technical requirements: Have a ventilated outdoor space, free of obstacles, to place the outdoor unit. Have a modern electrical installation and sufficient contracted power. Check the thermal insulation and carpentry: without a good envelope, the efficiency of the system drops. Adapt the existing heating system (for example, replacing conventional radiators with underfloor heating). Carry out a climate feasibility study: in very cold or hot areas, you may need support from another system. In short, aerothermal energy is not installed, it is prepared. A well-insulated house with modern electrical installation can convert air into free energy; An old home, on the other hand, can make it an expense that is difficult to amortize. Furthermore, if it is found that the initial investment It can exceed 8,000 euros for an 80 m² apartment. What if it is combined with solar energy? Where aerothermal energy deploys its full potential it is when combined with photovoltaic solar energy. This synergy multiplies performance and reduces dependence on the electrical grid. The energy generated by the plates can power the heat pump, achieving an almost self-sufficient system with an emissions balance close to zero. Furthermore, it has already been applied in real projects such as Casa Gualba, designed by Slow Studiothis formula allows the production of up to 17 MWh per year thanks to the integration of tiles and photovoltaic panels on the roof. In short, aerothermal energy and solar energy form an efficient tandem, as long as the home is prepared for it. Efficiency, yes, but with preparation. Aerothermal energy is here to stay. It is a key piece on the path to decarbonized homes, especially now that the European Union banned at the beginning of the year subsidize gas boilers. But, like all technology, it only works well when the environment supports it. Investing in aerothermal energy without first checking the electrical installation, insulation or orientation of the home can translate into frustration rather than savings. For this reason, it is advisable to do a good check and thus the air can become our best ally against the cold. Image | FreePik and FreePik Xataka | Resolving one of the great debates in all kitchens: whether it consumes more to turn on the oven or the air fryer

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