Big energy companies are making the case that skyrocketing electricity demand from data centers — and the need to build more power sources to meet it — will end up being good for the climate.
Construction of solar and wind farms needed to purge planet-warming fossil fuels from the grid slowed sharply this year as trade issues, tax uncertainty and supply-chain disruptions stifled development.
Amazon.com Inc. agreed to buy enough carbon-free hydrogen from Plug Power Inc. to run 30,000 forklifts or 800 long-haul trucks annually in a push to use less fossil fuel. Plug’s shares surged.
The U.S. has become the world’s top destination for crypto miners after China banned the energy-intensive industry and as Russia considers doing the same. Now hundreds of thousands of mining machines worth billions of dollars are plugging into electrical grids across America, spawning an entirely new industry — complete with new tax revenue for local governments and big profits for many miners as well as concerns about power use and environmental impact.
A group of Democratic lawmakers led by U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren is demanding details from six of the world’s biggest Bitcoin miners about their electricity consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions, a warning shot that comes amid growing concern over the cryptocurrency industry’s environmental impact.
Bitcoin miners are facing a crucial test in the wake of the token’s 50% plunge from an all-time high. While many mining operations made a handsome profit during Bitcoin’s runup last year, the recent decline could punish those with less efficient operations.
As President-elect Joe Biden looks to pull the economy out of the wreckage caused by the pandemic and onto a sustained path of recovery, his team faces one increasingly big problem: a mountain of corporate debt.
The pandemic has battered New York City businesses, with almost 6,000 closures, a jump of about 40% in bankruptcy filings across the region and shuttered storefronts in the business districts of all five boroughs. It’s going to get worse.
