katie brigham

In the rush to build data centers, companies are starting to use their own off grid gas generators. This results in much higher emissions – 60% to 80% – compared with using their local electricity grid and risks locking in longer-term fossil dependence. www.theclimatebrink....

Two leading fusion startups, Helion and Commonwealth Fusion Systems, gave the U.S. government a stake in their respective companies in exchange for federal award money. Was it worth the tradeoffs? techcrunch.com/2026/10/26/f...

google is bankrolling a 1 gigawatt VPP, paying homes and businesses across PJM to flex their power use in order to free up capacity for its data centers. that’s nearly 3% of north america’s entire VPP capacity in one deal!

Very big deal: The Nuclear Company just unveiled plans to build 6.6 gigawatts of reactors at one site in Kentucky. I looked at why, in an era where much of the industry is focused on newfangled technologies and strategies, the startup China's model. heatmap.news/energy/the-n...

the dire short seller report on @fervoenergy.bsky.social took "many of the known unknowns about Fervo’s technology and played them up as though the company was engaged in a cover-up" @emilypont.bsky.social reports

NEW: The world is facing a looming #copper crisis. To extend the lifespan of one mine past its prime, #mining titan KGHM has recruited a group of unconventional miners. They arrived by the millions, transported in barrel-sized containers from a lab in Colorado. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

for a grand total of 8.7 seconds, a startup produced net power from a subsea geothermal power plant. it could be the dawn of a new energy era! OR an indicator that this is gonna be practically impossible to operate economically for any real length of time. who knows!

CalWave "is 'now in the construction phase of installing the first grid-connected system' and that it plans to launch at PacWave sometime in 2027 or 2028," reports @kbrigham.bsky.social: heatmap.news/climate-tech... 🔌💡

This is what crowd out looks like.

@alexckaufman.bsky.social explains why nuclear plant uprates are in (⚛️🆙, for visual learners)

I wrote about "project certainty" in the new permitting bill, looking at past examples like Obama vetoing the Spruce coal mine and Biden rejecting Keystone XL as case studies to show how the bill would (and would not) constrain executive power over energy projects. heatmap.news/politics/baa...

permitting bonanza continues! i weigh in on the climate tech industries/companies that stand to benefit most from the senate's new permitting bill

opened chess dot com today. the bots are Halloween-themed. this is a huge relief because if they hadn't been Halloween-themed I would have done something drastic. I would have lost control

it's a good day for good news. last summer i wrote about how plug-in balcony solar is starting to catch on domestically. and lo, just a few mins ago california officially jumped on the bandwagon, clearing the way for residents to install these small-scale systems

hi energy freaks, as you surely know, the senate has a permitting deal! heatmap explains!

The Senate's permitting bill text is up. It's way too big/complex for anyone who didn't have early access to digest today, so beware hot takes, but this bit (p. 54 line 9) is funny: If an agency misses a deadline, the agency head can't travel >25 miles from their desk til the agency submits the doc.

in which i talk to a lot of investors and learn a big new word! another successful climate week in the books ✔️✔️✔️ heatmap.news/daily/ai-cli...

we had a big day!! hap NY climate week to all ✌️

banger graph from @emilypont.bsky.social tracking how democrats' climate languaging has shifted with the release of their new climate policy agenda heatmap.news/politics/dem...

US Energy Data is an awesome new dashboard by @hannahritchie.bsky.social and the @ifp.bsky.social team that takes data from the inimitable DOE EIA and makes it far more accessible to the broader community: usenergydata.org

📝 New article on Our World in Data: Is organic farming better for the environment than conventional farming? One of the most common questions we’re asked about food systems is whether organic farming is better for the environment than conventional methods.

Odyssey Energy Solutions just raised $74 million to help small solar installers in emerging markets like nigeria and india access the financing and equipment they need to build distributed solar — supplementing unreliable national grids as diesel costs climb and energy demand surges

It's very very hot in Texas. But the grid is fine. Electricity prices are manageable. What happened? 🔋🔋🔋🔋BATTERIES!!! 🔋🔋🔋 heatmap.news/energy/texas...

the US is in the midst of a historic nat gas buildout — with much of it tied to data centers, many of the biggest projects going off-grid, and a meaningful chunk of it dirtier than the last big gas boom in the 2000s

More pushback against the recent "glass half full" analysis of OBBB impacts. "Economy-wide, the GOP tax law eliminates between 67% and 85% of the emissions reductions projected under the IRA, bringing us back nearly to the No IRA world."

Imagine if hundreds of people died in hurricane or floods smashing through Europe Heatwaves have already killed that many ppl. They are a silent killer in that they dont generate outrage or fear. Hope this by @economist.com helps save lives as Europeans wake up to danger bsky.app/profile/eate...

Pacific Fusion just broke ground in Albuquerque on a $1 billion fusion reactor designed to do what no company or lab ever has before: produce more energy than the entire machine consumes, by 2030

The biggest fossil fueled power plant EVER BUILT IN THE US.... will get an environmental assessment, the less rigorous review under the national environmental policy act... and complete permitting in just 7 months, per the Trump admin. yep

Stunning reporting from @ericklinenberg.bsky.social on how climate change driven extreme heat in Europe is reshaping the continent. Must read.

"The theoretical potential of California’s demand response strategy has far outpaced the realized grid benefits," writes @kbrigham.bsky.social. “Load flexibility has underdelivered for a long time,” says GridLab's @ricoconnell.bsky.social: heatmap.news/energy/calif... 🔌💡

in which @jeva.bsky.social reviews the infamous DAC soda!!!

breaking: sometimes the left wins and sometimes the centrists wins: stunning new evidence that voters use more than one criterion to judge candidates

reminder that not everything is terrible courtesy of @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social heatmap.news/daily/batter...

the only thing making me ever want to be a homeowner is the possibility of installing these sexy appliances @kbrigham.bsky.social @heatmap.news:

ICYMI, nuclear is having a moment. but what’s especially hot is TINY nuclear: scaled-down designs known as SMRs and microreactors intended for data center and military customers. many industry experts warn we’re in a big ol’ hype cycle, and that the economics will never pencil out. i explore!

The conventional wisdom is the Democrats' big climate law failed to deliver votes and then died. That's wrong. My new study finds its factories moved 2.5 million votes—more than Trump's margin. And the law's still alive. My latest in @theatlantic.com. Gift link! www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Unlike the Ontario wildfires, which were mostly burning in the woods, these fires have now burned through urban areas, making the smoke extra, extra toxic. Take the AQI warnings seriously this week, PNW neighbors.

climate tech companies are all trying to cash in on the ai boom— including clean cement startups. but the data center buildout can only take them so far