Global Renewables Are Increasing, Despite U.S. Efforts to Promote Fossil Fuels
For the first time ever, the amount of global electricity generated by renewable energy surpassed that from coal during the first six months of 2025. According to the think tank Ember, solar and wind power increased more than the demand for electricity. Fossil fuel power generation remained mostly flat and fell in China and India but grew in the U.S. and the EU.
For three years, solar power has been the largest source of new electricity in the world with most of the generation being in lower-income countries. According to Ember, the growth is a result of dramatic cost reductions with solar prices falling about 99.9 percent since 1975. The International Energy Agency reports that global renewable energy capacity is forecast to double in the next five years. China will account for 60 percent of that growth using solar power.
Bucking the worldwide trend, the Trump administration canceled a massive solar power project in Nevada last week that was permitted under the Biden administration. It would have been one of the world’s largest, and the move casts doubt over the future of using public lands for renewables in the U.S.
Trump administration efforts to promote fossil fuels were met last week with little interest from the private sector. The biggest auction of coal leases on federal lands in Montana resulted in only one bid being received, that from the Navajo Transitional Energy Co. at an amount of one-tenth of a penny per ton. The low bid shows how the value of coal has dropped. The Associated Press reports that the last sale in that area was made to Peabody energy for $1.10 per ton, about 1,000 times more.
Current auctions of coal leases on federal lands are going forward, despite the government shutdown, because workers responsible for fossil fuel projects were not furloughed by the administration.
Data Centers Are Starting to Use PFAS gas, Worrying Scientists
A group of researchers from Rice University has found a new method to capture and destroy PFAS compounds from water that’s faster, more sustainable, and more effective than current methods.
PFAS substances, also called “forever chemicals,” have been used in nonstick cookware, clothing, and food packaging, among other products. They are found everywhere on Earth, including nearly half of all tap water in the U.S. The compounds are harmful to human health, causing liver disease and deteriorating endocrine and reproductive systems.
While the new research is good news for purifying drinking water, concerns are being raised about PFAS from another source—data centers, such as those used by Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and AI providers.
Recent attention on data centers has focused on the amount of electricity they demand and the immense amount of water they use to cool equipment. However, some facilities are starting to use PFAS gas, sometimes called “F-gas,” which, according to the Guardian, is a potent greenhouse gas and could mean that data centers’ effects on climate change are worse than thought.
F-gas is used to cool copper tubing in data centers and must be disposed of when it is no longer effective. It can also leak into the air where it transforms into another compound, Trifluoroacetic Acid, or TFA, that has been found to be more toxic than thought with detrimental effects to reproductive systems.
The increasing level of TFA in air, water, and humans worries scientists. F-gas can stay in the atmosphere for thousands of years. In addition to using PFAS in cooling, data centers also use equipment like cables, pipes, and electronics that contain the compounds that can move into the air or end up in landfills.
The Rice University study was published in the journal Advanced Materials.
What Happens When La Niña Meets “The Blob”
“The Blob” is back, and it’s as big and bad as ever.
The Blob is a large marine heat wave in the Pacific Ocean, and the current one stretches about 5,000 miles from Japan to the U.S., according to NOAA’s “Blobtracker.” Blobs have occurred in each of the last six years, with five of them being the largest marine heat waves on record since monitoring began in 1982. Large marine heat waves typically start in the spring, and impacts are felt in the fall.
According to NOAA, the warm ocean temperatures can stress marine life, cause fish die-offs and coral bleaching. The heat waves can disrupt ocean ecosystems, reducing oxygen and nutrient availability for marine life. As Weather.com explains, the warmer water could mean more moisture is available for strong storms along the West Coast. For the rest of the country, The Blob could alter the jet stream and cause a colder, wetter winter.
But there’s a wrinkle in these forecasts. According to the Climate Prediction Center, La Niña has arrived and is expected to hang around from now until February. The La Niña climate pattern is when ocean water near the equatorial Pacific is cooler than average. It’s in contrast to El Niño when water becomes warmer. Each has a different influence on weather and the jet stream.
So, what happens when La Niña coincides with The Blob? No one knows. According to meteorologist Joel Gratz at OpenSnow, we haven’t had a comparable winter in which both La Niña conditions and a strong Blob were present simultaneously. If that were to occur this year, it's unknown how the atmosphere over North America may respond.
Colorado State Climatologist, Russ Schumacher told H2O Radio that there’s always a lot of uncertainty in seasonal outlooks several months out, and this year will be even more uncertain. He said NOAA is calling for a “La Niña-like” winter with warmer and drier conditions favored in the Southwest and wetter-than-average conditions in the Pacific Northwest. However, the warmth in the North Pacific Ocean from The Blob is likely to affect weather patterns over the U.S.—exactly how isn’t entirely clear.