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Something's gotta power all those new AI data centers with massive capacity and it isn't wind and solar.

by 866-RON-0-FEZ 5mo ago

skybrian 5mo ago
It's unlikely to be oil either. Sometimes it's natural gas.
yogthos 5mo ago
not in a petrostate anyways
- antonvs 5mo ago
  Right, under Trump the US has become a full-blown petrostate. We may as well start calling him the Emir.
  - doodlebugging 5mo ago
    He's not an emir by a long stretch. His closest "allies" are waiting by the door for the inevitable announcement that time took its toll and he has faded into wherever you go when all your dysfunction stops functioning at all. They are wolves waiting to Al Haig their way into his current position.
soperj 5mo ago
Actually lately it's been Hydro and Solar.[0] A little of natural gas, and thankfully a ton less coal. [0] - https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/05/soaring-solar-and-a-surge-in-hydro-push-more-coal-off-the-us-grid/ https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/05/soaring-solar-and-a-...
3eb7988a1663 5mo ago
The Ember 2026 report[0] shows that 75% of new power generation in 2025 was from solar. Solar + wind were 99% of new generation capacity. Fossil fuel generation dropped for one of the first times ever (historical reductions were typically due to structural reasons like COVID or recession). In a first, renewable sources made more for the planet than coal. Renewables are absolutely going to be powering the future. Recent events have done nothing but accelerate the transition as countries are going to run to reduce their petroleum dependencies. [0] https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/global-electricity-review-2026/ https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/global-electricity-...
rayiner 5mo ago
Leveling up civilization and moving up the tech tree requires orders of magnitude more energy.
nicoburns 5mo ago
It really ought to be solar+batteries. It'd be slightly more expensive to build up-front than oil-based solutions, but probably not much and the companies building these data centers have the money to pay for that.

Something's gotta power all those new AI data centers with massive capacity and it isn't wind and solar.

skybrian 5mo ago

It's unlikely to be oil either. Sometimes it's natural gas.

yogthos 5mo ago

not in a petrostate anyways

antonvs 5mo ago
Right, under Trump the US has become a full-blown petrostate. We may as well start calling him the Emir.
- doodlebugging 5mo ago
  He's not an emir by a long stretch. His closest "allies" are waiting by the door for the inevitable announcement that time took its toll and he has faded into wherever you go when all your dysfunction stops functioning at all. They are wolves waiting to Al Haig their way into his current position.

soperj 5mo ago

Actually lately it's been Hydro and Solar.[0] A little of natural gas, and thankfully a ton less coal. [0] - https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/05/soaring-solar-and-a-surge-in-hydro-push-more-coal-off-the-us-grid/ https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/05/soaring-solar-and-a-...

3eb7988a1663 5mo ago

The Ember 2026 report[0] shows that 75% of new power generation in 2025 was from solar. Solar + wind were 99% of new generation capacity. Fossil fuel generation dropped for one of the first times ever (historical reductions were typically due to structural reasons like COVID or recession). In a first, renewable sources made more for the planet than coal. Renewables are absolutely going to be powering the future. Recent events have done nothing but accelerate the transition as countries are going to run to reduce their petroleum dependencies. [0] https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/global-electricity-review-2026/ https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/global-electricity-...

rayiner 5mo ago

Leveling up civilization and moving up the tech tree requires orders of magnitude more energy.

nicoburns 5mo ago

It really ought to be solar+batteries. It'd be slightly more expensive to build up-front than oil-based solutions, but probably not much and the companies building these data centers have the money to pay for that.