According to data from the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena), solar, wind and other green technologies now provide more than one-third of the world’s power, marking another record. The Guardian reports: Fossil fuel power plants are in decline in Europe and the U.S., with more decommissioned than built in 2019. But the number of coal and gas plants grew in Asia,…
Tag: Investments
Telecom Italia Fined $131 Million for Broadband Market Abuse
Italy’s competition watchdog said on Friday it had fined former phone monopoly Telecom Italia (TIM) 116 million euros ($131 million) for abusing its dominant position in the broadband market in an attempt to obstruct the entrance of rivals. From a report: The Italian antitrust authority said in a statement that Telecom Italia had conducted a “premeditated anti-competition strategy” aimed at hindering…
Coronavirus Confirmed Cases Worldwide Climb To Over 100,000
The number of coronavirus cases has reached 100,276, with 55,694 recovered and 3,404 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering. From a report: The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, said it looked like the UK would face substantial disruption due to the coronavirus. He said: “It looks like there will a substantial period of disruption…
Honeywell Says It Will Soon Launch the World’s Most Powerful Quantum Computer
“The best-kept secret in quantum computing.” That’s what Cambridge Quantum Computing (CQC) CEO Ilyas Khan called Honeywell’s efforts in building the world’s most powerful quantum computer. In a race where most of the major players are vying for attention, Honeywell has quietly worked on its efforts for the last few years (and under strict NDA’s, it seems). But today, the company…
JP Morgan Economists Warn of ‘Catastrophic’ Climate Change
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: Human life “as we know it” could be threatened by climate change, economists at JP Morgan have warned. In a hard-hitting report to clients, the economists said that without action being taken there could be “catastrophic outcomes.” The bank said the research came from a team that was “wholly independent from the…
Do Emails Contribute to Global Warming?
“Cut back on email if you want to fight global warming,” read the headline on a recent article at Bloomberg: [A]ll those messages require energy to preserve them. And despite the tech industry’s focus on renewables, the advents of streaming and artificial intelligence are only accelerating the amount of fossil fuels burned to keep data servers up. Right now, data centers…
What the Hell Happened To Mint?
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Fast Company: Intuit’s Mint personal-finance service wants me to know it’s sorry. Again. “We’re sorry!” its investments page bleats when I try to view my mutual funds’ performance. “Our graphs require the latest version of Adobe Flash player.” That site has spent years apologizing to me for needing Adobe’s vulnerability-riddled plug-in: since I long…
Microsoft Is Also Launching a New $1 Billion ‘Climate Innovation Fund’
As part of Microsoft’s effort to reduce more atmospheric carbon than it emits, the company has announced a $1 billion “Climate Innovation Fund,” reports GeekWire:
Microsoft said the new fund will leverage its balance sheet to loan money and take equity stakes in ventures to encourage the development of new environmental innovations. The money will be invested over the next four years….
Visa Is Acquiring Plaid For $5.3 Billion
Visa announced today that it is buying financial services API startup Plaid for $5.3 billion, roughly double the price of its last private valuation. TechCrunch reports: Plaid develops financial services APIs. It is akin to what Stripe does for payments, but instead of facilitating payments, it helps developers share banking and other financial information more easily. It’s the kind of service…
America’s FCC Votes Unanimously To Divide ‘Safety Spectrum’ Into Wifi and Auto Applications
“The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously Thursday to push a plan forward that would take away several channels of airwaves from automakers and local governments that have been planning to build out a communication network for cars and surrounding smart infrastructure,” writes Consumer Reports, in an article shared by McGruber. “The 5-0 commission vote indicated how much ground the auto industry…