Andrew Blum
@ajblum.bsky.social
Journalist and author of THE WEATHER MACHINE and TUBES. Working on a new book about the infrastructure of the energy transition. NYC.
(A sprinkle of optimism.)
Google doing PPA's like this were what drove early utility-scale solar investment. Amazing to see it happening again with fusion. blog.cfs.energy/google-deal-...
Google doing PPA's like this were what drove early utility-scale solar investment. Amazing to see it happening again with fusion. blog.cfs.energy/google-deal-...
June 30, 2025 at 5:01 PM
(A sprinkle of optimism.)
Google doing PPA's like this were what drove early utility-scale solar investment. Amazing to see it happening again with fusion. blog.cfs.energy/google-deal-...
Google doing PPA's like this were what drove early utility-scale solar investment. Amazing to see it happening again with fusion. blog.cfs.energy/google-deal-...
For MIT Technology Review's "Power" issue, I traveled to Nebraska to look at how one electric utility is confronting the most challenging and dynamic moment the grid has ever faced. ter.li/AndrewB
Is this the electric grid of the future?
In Nebraska, a publicly owned utility deftly tackles the challenges of delivering on reliability, affordability, and sustainability.
ter.li
June 19, 2025 at 9:15 PM
For MIT Technology Review's "Power" issue, I traveled to Nebraska to look at how one electric utility is confronting the most challenging and dynamic moment the grid has ever faced. ter.li/AndrewB
I'm going to guess they're pretty interested.
"while CFS plans to sell the electricity ARC generates into the wholesale energy market, the company is also in discussions with large corporate buyers interested in procuring the environmental benefits of this clean energy"
"while CFS plans to sell the electricity ARC generates into the wholesale energy market, the company is also in discussions with large corporate buyers interested in procuring the environmental benefits of this clean energy"
this just in! @cfs.energy is going to build the world's first commercial fusion power plant in virginia!
The World’s First Commercial Fusion Plant Will Be in Virginia
Commonwealth Fusion Systems will build it in collaboration with Dominion Energy Virginia.
heatmap.news
December 17, 2024 at 10:12 PM
I'm going to guess they're pretty interested.
"while CFS plans to sell the electricity ARC generates into the wholesale energy market, the company is also in discussions with large corporate buyers interested in procuring the environmental benefits of this clean energy"
"while CFS plans to sell the electricity ARC generates into the wholesale energy market, the company is also in discussions with large corporate buyers interested in procuring the environmental benefits of this clean energy"
Data centers going to power isn’t new. That’s why Google went to The Dalles in 2006. What’s astonishing here is building power and compute *together* — much less gigawatts of it, spread out over tens of thousands of acres.
My piece on Google's new partnership with Intersect Power. It isn't just another data center deal - it's a signal that the whole model of data center development is changing. Companies are now going where the power is abundant and bringing the fiber to them. bit.ly/4g8hfu1 #energysky
Google’s new data center model signals a massive market shift | Latitude Media
The partnership with Intersect Power and TPG Rise Climate shows how “energy-first” development models can support data centers.
bit.ly
December 12, 2024 at 12:21 AM
Data centers going to power isn’t new. That’s why Google went to The Dalles in 2006. What’s astonishing here is building power and compute *together* — much less gigawatts of it, spread out over tens of thousands of acres.
“An AI campus that would use about 1 gigawatt of electricity would require a gigawatt each of wind, solar and battery storage with two to four hours of duration, sprawled over at least 10,000 acres.”
NEWS: Google, Intersect Power announce $20B plan to colocate data centers with solar, wind, batteries. The idea is to simplify interconnection and reduce grid strain, letting Google build data centers fast and clean
@jeffstjohn.bsky.social reports:
www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...
#energysky
@jeffstjohn.bsky.social reports:
www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...
#energysky
Google has a $20B plan to build data centers and clean power together
Can tech giants overcome grid bottlenecks by locating data centers near new wind, solar, and battery projects? Google and Intersect Power intend to give…
www.canarymedia.com
December 10, 2024 at 6:38 PM
“An AI campus that would use about 1 gigawatt of electricity would require a gigawatt each of wind, solar and battery storage with two to four hours of duration, sprawled over at least 10,000 acres.”
I was skeptical for a long time, but Google's AI weather modeling is astonishing. When I wrote THE WEATHER MACHINE, I did not realize I was chronicling the end of an era in numerical weather prediction. deepmind.google/discover/blo...
GenCast predicts weather and the risks of extreme conditions with state-of-the-art accuracy
New AI model advances the prediction of weather uncertainties and risks, delivering faster, more accurate forecasts up to 15 days ahead
deepmind.google
December 4, 2024 at 7:55 PM
I was skeptical for a long time, but Google's AI weather modeling is astonishing. When I wrote THE WEATHER MACHINE, I did not realize I was chronicling the end of an era in numerical weather prediction. deepmind.google/discover/blo...
Meta out with a nuclear RFP. Whoosh.
“Advancing the technologies that will build the future of human connection — including the next wave of AI innovation — requires electric grids to expand and embrace new sources of reliable, clean and renewable energy“ sustainability.atmeta.com/blog/2024/12...
“Advancing the technologies that will build the future of human connection — including the next wave of AI innovation — requires electric grids to expand and embrace new sources of reliable, clean and renewable energy“ sustainability.atmeta.com/blog/2024/12...
Accelerating the Next Wave of Nuclear to Power AI Innovation - Meta Sustainability
Meta releases a Request for Proposals (RFP) to identify nuclear energy developers to support AI innovation and clean and renewable energy goals.
sustainability.atmeta.com
December 4, 2024 at 12:00 AM
Meta out with a nuclear RFP. Whoosh.
“Advancing the technologies that will build the future of human connection — including the next wave of AI innovation — requires electric grids to expand and embrace new sources of reliable, clean and renewable energy“ sustainability.atmeta.com/blog/2024/12...
“Advancing the technologies that will build the future of human connection — including the next wave of AI innovation — requires electric grids to expand and embrace new sources of reliable, clean and renewable energy“ sustainability.atmeta.com/blog/2024/12...
Plus ça change.
"unlike previous infrastructure projects in which Meta has been involved, such as the 2Africa cable, the company will own the new cable outright...Speculation is understandable, therefore, that Meta might prioritise its own data on the cable, and that of any companies it favours."
"unlike previous infrastructure projects in which Meta has been involved, such as the 2Africa cable, the company will own the new cable outright...Speculation is understandable, therefore, that Meta might prioritise its own data on the cable, and that of any companies it favours."
Meta to lay sub-sea cable around the world techhq.com/2024/12/meta...
December 3, 2024 at 7:19 PM
Plus ça change.
"unlike previous infrastructure projects in which Meta has been involved, such as the 2Africa cable, the company will own the new cable outright...Speculation is understandable, therefore, that Meta might prioritise its own data on the cable, and that of any companies it favours."
"unlike previous infrastructure projects in which Meta has been involved, such as the 2Africa cable, the company will own the new cable outright...Speculation is understandable, therefore, that Meta might prioritise its own data on the cable, and that of any companies it favours."
This feels like a through-the-looking-glass moment, where Ryan Maue—well known as a climate change denier at the other place—convinces the NYT to print his NOAA administrator cover letter. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/01/o...
Opinion | Republicans Would Regret Letting Elon Musk Ax Weather Forecasting
Everyone benefits from government weather forecasting. Republicans have the chance to make it better.
www.nytimes.com
December 1, 2024 at 12:12 PM
This feels like a through-the-looking-glass moment, where Ryan Maue—well known as a climate change denier at the other place—convinces the NYT to print his NOAA administrator cover letter. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/01/o...
Big tech seems more worried about falling behind in AI, than falling behind in their climate goals.
Meta is the prospective tenant for a $5 billion data center in Louisiana, media reports say. Developers are eyeing a 2,250-acre site which has been linked to proposals by utility Entergy to build a 1.5 GW natural gas plant. www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/2...
#datacenter #energy #ai
#datacenter #energy #ai
November 20, 2024 at 3:48 PM
Big tech seems more worried about falling behind in AI, than falling behind in their climate goals.
Some reporting for the new book yesterday: an emergent moment of NYC’s biggest new piece of energy infrastructure.
November 13, 2024 at 12:23 PM
Some reporting for the new book yesterday: an emergent moment of NYC’s biggest new piece of energy infrastructure.
Hey that’s my book
The Telegraph and the Invention of Weather Forecasting. “Now people could see what the future held before it happened; they could know that a storm was on its way hours before the rain started falling or the clouds appeared in the sky.” [kottke.org]
November 21, 2023 at 1:31 AM
Hey that’s my book