⚡️ Energy
Energy production and consumption is becoming cleaner, cheaper and decentralized. With connected devices you as a consumer can take control of your energy consumption. Here you will also find content about batteries, smart grids, nuclear and other innovation in the energy field.
🏭 China builds fewer coal power plants as renewable energy takes over
China approved 41.8 gigawatts of new coal power capacity during the first three quarters of this year, the lowest pace since 2021. Wind and solar power can now cover all of China's increased electricity demand. Expectations for coal power profitability have dropped, leading to fewer new plants.
☀️ Despite political headwinds: American investments in carbon-free energy set record in 2025
Investments in carbon-free energy and transportation reached $75 billion in the third quarter of 2025, the highest quarterly figure ever. The full year 2025 is expected to exceed last year's total investment of $267 billion. Wind power investments rose 31% and reached the highest level since 2020.
📉 Coal has decreased from half to one-seventh of US electricity production in 15 years
Carbon dioxide emissions from US electricity production have decreased by approximately 40 percent since 2005. Solar and wind power now produce more electricity than coal and employ more American workers. This has prevented over one million asthma attacks and 60,000 premature deaths.
🛰️ Startup successfully transmits solar energy with laser from aircraft – a step toward space-based solar power
Overview Energy has tested transmitting thousands of watts from an aircraft to a ground-based receiver using near-infrared laser light. The technology makes it possible to deliver solar energy to existing ground-based solar facilities when the sun is not shining.
🔋 Battery storage has become cheap enough for solar power to be delivered around the clock
The cost of large-scale battery storage fell by 40 percent in 2024 and continues to drop in 2025. Over the past decade, battery costs have fallen by an average of 20 percent per year while deployment has increased by 80 percent per year.
⚛️ New cooling technique increases antimatter production eightfold at CERN
CERN can now produce over 15,000 antihydrogen atoms in under seven hours, compared to ten weeks previously for similar quantities. With larger quantities of antihydrogen available, researchers can now investigate atomic antimatter in greater detail and at a faster pace than before.
☢️ Nuclear reactor creates its own fuel from common thorium
A 2 megawatt reactor in the Gobi Desert converts thorium into uranium-233 inside the reactor while producing energy, which means it creates new fuel continuously. Thorium is much more common than uranium.
📉 China's carbon dioxide emissions lower than 18 months ago
China's carbon dioxide emissions have been flat or declining since March 2024. Solar power increased by 46% and wind power by 11% in the third quarter, covering nearly all the increase in electricity demand. Emissions from the transport sector fell by 5% due to the rapid spread of electric vehicles.
🔋 Battery storage doubled in 2024 – as much as in all previous history
The world installed over 160 gigawatt-hours of new battery storage in 2024, nearly as much as in all recorded history. Analysis shows that battery storage globally could reach 100–180 terawatt-hours in the long term, three to six times more than current forecasts.