(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Renewable Friday: AI Boosting Fossil Fuels [1] ['Greg Dworkin', 'Thom Hartmann', 'Belinda Ridgewood', 'News Corpse', 'Rob In Vermont'] Date: 2026-10-02 Real AI could help us with renewable energy, storage, grid balancing, EV design, and so on, but the Broligarchs creating AI engines don’t care, and AI itself has been running hog wild, while data center builders are fixated on theft of electricity and water, and on using gas and nuclear power to run their expensive toys. Meanwhile, even The Guardian resorts to weasel-wording. That’s “does”, not “might”, and “will”, not “could”. We have not only models, but receipts. It turns out AI might boost fossil fuel production more than it helps renewables, which could lead to higher overall emissions. #climatechange — The Wild (@thewild.news) 2026-09-29T23:00:24.507Z Amazon Crime and Other Tales of Billionaire Lying from the Data Center Wars, by Bill McKibben On at least one list of the most polluting proposed data centers, Amazon’s planned facility in Pecos TX comes in at the top; indeed, by some calculations it would be the single largest source of climate pollution in the U.S., with 35 giant natural gas turbines burning through vast quantities of fracked gas. On that same list, if you look carefully, Amazon’s planned “energy campus” in Pennsylvania would come in fourth on the list. Anyway, far from heading for net zero, Amazon’s greenhouse gas emissions were up 16 percent last year. Meta had joined RE100, a renewable energy campaign, all the way back in 2016, when it was still known as Facebook. It left this summer because…it wanted to use gas, not renewables, to power its data centers. Google reported an 18 percent increase in emissions in 2025. Elon Musk’s Colossus data centers in the Tennessee/Mississippi corridor set the early standard for environmental irresponsibility, pouring pollution into poor black neighborhoods and triggering a wave of lawsuits. I had an email today from Søren Hermansen, the hero of the pioneering windpower buildout on Samsø Island, which became a model copied around the world. I am struggling with Microsoft here in Denmark. They want to establish 2-3 datacenters in one municipality and several more all over Denmark The two I am involved in are among the largest in Denmark covering 60-70 hectares of building and 110 hectares of land used for diesel/ gas turbine back up with a depot of 25.000 tonnes fuel oil for emergencies. Microsoft is acting like colonial criminals and there is no way we can find the head of the dragon. Every time we find a CEO it is always a lower ranking person who can not answer anything but has to go back and ask someone higher in the system… The already proposed datacenters in Denmark will more than double the total Danish electricity consumption. In other words we will return to the fossil fuel area 30-40 years ago and carbon emmissions will sky rocket. Meetings Pre-Cop Pre-COP 5 to 8 October 2026 Fiji, Tuvalu and Australia are partnering to deliver the official Pre-COP ministerial meeting and the Leaders’ event. These events will bring global climate decision makers to the Pacific ahead of COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye. They are an opportunity to amplify Pacific voices on the world stage and showcase Pacific-led climate solutions. Pre-COP to the 2026 UN Climate Change Conference The Presidency of the 2026 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 31) will hold a Pre-COP meeting in Fiji in October 2026. The Pre-COP is one of a series of meetings convening in the run-up to COP 31, including the 17th Petersberg Climate Dialogue. Gloriously bitchy take-down of Australia’s climate hypocrisy in its bid to host COP31 by the talented satirical @thejuicemedia.bsky.social team. www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBjy… — John Gibbons 🇵🇸 🇺🇦 🇪🇺 (@thinkorswim.bsky.social) 2025-01-18T15:30:32.477Z Net Zero Date in 2027 not yet set The initiative grew from frustration with the annual United Nations climate summits or Cops, where all agreements must be unanimous, and the main fossil fuel producing and fossil fuel dependent countries repeatedly block progress. Ireland has been announced as co-host for next year’s sequel to the world’s first Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels. Announcement comes as 60 countries agree landmark move to phase out oil, gas and coal. The 2026 climate event guide Our ongoing list of this year’s global environmental conferences, summits and more Far too many to list here, but these are of critical importance. When: 9–20 November 2026 Where: Antalya, Turkey The largest climate event of 2026 will be hosted by Turkey in the resort city of Antalya, with Australia leading the negotiations as part of an agreement between the two countries. There will also be a ‘pre-COP’ held in a Pacific island country, though the dates and host country have yet to be confirmed. COP31 will build on the deal agreed at COP30 in 2025, which included a tripling of adaptation finance and a just transition mechanism, as well as “roadmaps” to transition away from fossil fuels and to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030. The Good News “The idea, really, is that as much as this is a climate story, it was also about how we can create new models for independent journalists to operate,” said @tracywholf.bsky.social buff.ly/B0gG3Nm — Covering Climate Now (@coveringclimatenow.org) 2026-09-27T21:11:00.783Z Imagine the potential the Hyundai Ioniq V could have if it came to the North America. 800V architecture and 300-ish mile range.insideevs.com/news/810077/… — SparcMotion (@sparcmotion.bsky.social) 2026-09-30T13:54:26.719Z Apparently there are song birds who are fans of solar power. Scientists left microphones running at 12 midwestern solar farms and heard twice as many grassland birds as in the adjoining corn and soybean fields. www.ecoportal.net/en/grassland… — Jeff Spencer (@revjss.bsky.social) 2026-10-02T00:04:38.246Z US states and cities sue over Trump EPA’s repeal of emissions rules www.theguardian.com/environment/… — Matt (@mattmurph24.bsky.social) 2026-10-01T23:54:59.666Z The following is blocked from reposting, but not, as you see, from copy and paste. Nothing Beats An Epcot Holiday @epcot.gay Magic Mountain now has an active 12.37MW solar energy system. The largest solar carport installation in California and one of the largest single-site commercial solar carport projects in the United States! Magic Mountain Take that, MAGAtroids! "The Senate’s Big Bipartisan Permitting Deal, Explained"It will streamline permitting and modernize the grid, all of which are needed. Democrats rightfully probably won't vote for it until Trump lifts his toddler tantrum ban on wind power. heatmap.news/politic…1/3 — Bob Morris (@bobmorris.bsky.social) 2026-10-01T20:35:38.000Z Pakistan imported an estimated 4.6 GWh of lithium-ion battery storage in 2025 — around 220% more than the previous year, according to a Renewables First study cited by Shafqat Abbas.🔗 www.thefridaytimes.com/01-Oct-2026/…#Pakistan #EnergyCrisis #Solar — The Friday Times (@thefridaytimes.bsky.social) 2026-10-01T16:05:24.746Z ⚡ Story of the Day: China's 2030 battery plan prioritizes quality over capacity, targeting solid-state and sodium-ion breakthroughs. — Electric Green (@electricgreen.news) 2026-10-01T16:31:00.432Z GM and LG Energy Solution are preparing to produce lithium manganese-rich batteries at the Ultium Cells plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee. Production is targeted for 2028, with the lower-cost chemistry expected to support affordable electric truck and…#auto #news #newsupdate #batteries #gm #lg — SAPER Auto (@saperauto.bsky.social) 2026-10-01T17:47:22.154Z In Irlbach, Lower Bavaria, BMW now produces high-voltage batteries for all German BMW plants. Thanks to high demand, production already started with two shifts. — heise online English (@heiseonlineenglish.bsky.social) 2026-10-01T14:35:04.900Z Fervo Energy just proved enhanced geothermal can move fast. Cape Station went from groundbreaking to grid power in 23 months, with room to scale to 4 gigawatts.World’s first enhanced geothermal power plant completed in just 23 months — Go K'awiil – Tech News (@gokawiil.com) 2026-10-01T19:30:20.477048+00:00 After pivoting to planting crops under solar panels, farmers in 🇪🇬 Egypt are seeing their plants “growing well for the first time.” Called #agrivoltaics, the additional shade reduces evaporation and stress on the plants, all while generating clean electricity. — Whoa 🤯 in Slow-Mo (@0lsi.bsky.social) 2026-09-30T03:23:33.873Z There are so many examples of renewable energy grids helping communities get through climate crises. It's all the more reason to push for better support of renewables and an end to fossil fuel! — Food & Water Watch (@foodandwater.bsky.social) 2026-10-01T19:15:44.539431Z @governor.ca.gov signed #SB222, the Heat Pump Access Act 🎉 This bill will make installations for highly efficient #heatpumps faster, easier, and more affordable for homeowners and contractors statewide. Thank you @scottwiener.bsky.social for your leadership! bit.ly/4ddvH4v #EnergySky — Building Decarbonization Coalition (@buildingdecarb.org) 2026-10-01T20:52:34.271Z Inside EVs gives its picks for the top electric sedans of 2026.insideevs.com/features/763… — SparcMotion (@sparcmotion.bsky.social) 2026-09-30T13:43:03.794Z Pikers. This is a duck bite, 2K out of 187K. Turning down an extra $4 billion every year is corporate malfeasance. The shareholders should sue. The Fathom Is Ford's Shot At EV Redemption. The CEO Knows He Has To Get It Right insideevs.com/news/810492/… — (@oj006.bsky.social) 2026-10-02T00:35:26.103Z Iran Due to the war in Iran causing rising oil prices, the need for green energy has spiked. Accordingly 33 countries have moved for policies aligning with green energy. Although the fossil fuel shortage has had a negative impact, movement is movement.#GreenMovement#SPCH6VWFall26 — (@jet0912.bsky.social) 2026-10-02T00:21:46.522Z This is why red states are suggest diesel tax pause and are lowering standards for diesel like Indiana just did. Anything to hide the cost of the Iran war from republicans by republicans. — Skuzy (@skuzy1572.bsky.social) 2026-10-02T00:25:04.477Z Due to the war in Iran causing rising oil prices, the need for green energy has spiked. Accordingly 33 countries have moved for policies aligning with green energy. Although the fossil fuel shortage has had a negative impact, movement is movement.#GreenMovement#SPCH6VWFall26 — (@jet0912.bsky.social) 2026-10-02T00:21:46.522Z As Iran War Drags On, Trump Plans to Send Third Aircraft Carrier and Thousands More Troops to Middle East->Common Dreams | More on "Iran conflict and military escalation" at BigEarthData.ai | #IranWar — Climate, Ecology, War & More: Dr. Glen Barry BigEarthData.ai (@bigearthdata.ai) 2026-10-02T00:21:09.113178+00:00 Trump says it's 'possible' war on Iran will hurt Republicans in midterms — Middle-East Tracker (@me.skyfleet.blue) 2026-10-02T00:18:16.457Z Trump admin pressures EU to release diesel stockpiles #UsPolitics #News — Hivewire Politics (@politics.hivewire.news) 2026-10-02T00:00:53.427105Z Grim humour in the irony that, despite his administration's attempted boosting of the fossil fuel industry, Trump's war against Iran has been perhaps the key instigating moment in the global transition to renewables.www.theguardian.com/environment/… — Daily Grail (@dailygrail.com) 2026-10-02T00:00:18.426Z Global Warming Catastrophes “Every tonne of CO2 matters and we’ve known this for decades."Has anyone told our governments???#australia #ausgov #fossilfuels #fossilfools #mininglobby #environment #health #globalwarming #climateemergency www.theguardian.com/environment/… — Max G (@maximgrosky.bsky.social) 2026-09-29T23:53:31.744Z Climate change’s greatest impact for many vulnerable people, particularly in lower income countries, will be food insecurity and under-nutrition. As climate impacts worsen, heatwaves, drought, and floods are increasingly affecting agriculture. buff.ly/rYwvaBE — Covering Climate Now (@coveringclimatenow.org) 2026-09-29T16:11:00.777Z “’I have never known more about the weather than I do now,’ admitted Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York City, last week as he recounted how the city has been repeatedly battered by floods since he took office.” — Covering Climate Now (@coveringclimatenow.org) 2026-09-29T15:36:05.219Z Swiss glaciers suffer 'disastrous' year of ice loss, threatening water supplies #ClimateChange #GlacierMelting #EnvironmentalImpact #WaterSupply #GlobalWarming — Breakingnews (@breakingnews06.bsky.social) 2026-10-01T00:10:44Z Data Centers and AI Amazon Crime and Other Tales of Billionaire Lying from the Data Center Wars, by Bill McKibben On at least one list of the most polluting proposed data centers, Amazon’s planned facility in Pecos TX comes in at the top; indeed, by some calculations it would be the single largest source of climate pollution in the U.S., with 35 giant natural gas turbines burning through vast quantities of fracked gas. On that same list, if you look carefully, Amazon’s planned “energy campus” in Pennsylvania would come in fourth on the list. Anyway, far from heading for net zero, Amazon’s greenhouse gas emissions were up 16 percent last year. Meta had joined RE100, a renewable energy campaign, all the way back in 2016, when it was still known as Facebook. It left this summer because…it wanted to use gas, not renewables, to power its data centers. Google reported an 18 percent increase in emissions in 2025. Elon Musk’s Colossus data centers in the Tennessee/Mississippi corridor set the early standard for environmental irresponsibility, pouring pollution into poor black neighborhoods and triggering a wave of lawsuits. I had an email today from Søren Hermansen, the hero of the pioneering windpower buildout on Samsø Island, which became a model copied around the world. I am struggling with Microsoft here in Denmark. They want to establish 2-3 datacenters in one municipality and several more all over Denmark The two I am involved in are among the largest in Denmark covering 60-70 hectares of building and 110 hectares of land used for diesel/ gas turbine back up with a depot of 25.000 tonnes fuel oil for emergencies. Microsoft is acting like colonial criminals and there is no way we can find the head of the dragon. Every time we find a CEO it is always a lower ranking person who can not answer anything but has to go back and ask someone higher in the system… The already proposed datacenters in Denmark will more than double the total Danish electricity consumption. In other words we will return to the fossil fuel area 30-40 years ago and carbon emmissions will sky rocket. 🤖 4,000 AI Agents Found Running Wild in One BankA bank told RSA it had no agents, because policy forbade them, and the audit found more than 4,000 running. The security case is a gap between the autonomy being granted and the controls…#Security #EnterpriseAI #AIAgents #AI #AIPulse — AI Search (@aipulse-synestesia.bsky.social) 2026-09-30T10:32:51.323Z #SelfreplicatingAI is running wild across the internet, and big tech is scrambling to contain the falloutThe internet is becoming unusable as bots plant self-replicating AI code across the web, effectively bypassing human intervention #StatusCoup's #JordanChariton explainsyoutu.be/4xtZpGYv8ug?… — StacesCases2 🇨🇦 📎 (@stacescases2.bsky.social) 2026-09-29T02:52:11.027Z Crusoe has scrapped its roughly $1.25 billion plan to power AI data centers using turbines from Boom Supersonic, the company building supersonic jets.Wild that a plan this big, jet turbines running data centers, got this far before anyone pulled the plug. — Yash Jain (@earanyash.bsky.social) 2026-09-26T14:30:04.097163Z DAILY BRIEFING: Data Center Politics Is Moving Faster Than New Rules – Data-center politics is moving faster than new rules. New York’s pause is an election issue; federal electricity-cost protections remain unresolved. FULL ANALYSIS: https://clck.it/dcbrief — Data Center Intelligence (@datacenters.centralintelligence.co) 2026-10-01T12:02:34.762Z ‘South America’ New Teaser: Butters Takes Aim at Billionaires in a Wild AI Data Center Showdown — Fiction Horizon (@fictionhorizon.bsky.social) 2026-09-29T05:53:44+00:00 No New Nukes The company says they are getting ready to build reactors that MIGHT produce power in 2030. Don’t hold your breath. We need to be clear here. This is not a commercial-grade reactor ready to produce power. It is a research reactor using a huge amount of energy to produce a small number of fusion reactions that result in helium nuclei, but no free neutrons. Excellent science, but a financial & renewable energy 0. — Mokurai (@mokurai.bsky.social) 2026-10-01T21:27:10.497Z West Virginia exits DOE nuclear campus initiative over spent fuel handling concernshttps://www.byteseu.com/2415265/CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WCHS) — West Virginia has withdrawn from a federal nuclear energy initiative after concerns about the potential handling of spent nuclear fuel at a proposed … — BYTESEU (@byteseu.bsky.social) 2026-10-01T21:52:39+00:00 Nuclear power’s quarter-century of stagnation has no end in sight, and has been overtaken by solar PV #energysky — via Renew Economy: reneweconomy.com.au/… — Tor "SolarFred" Valenza (@torsolarfred.bsky.social) 2026-10-01T22:21:12.000Z US Brief @us-brief.com 14 followers 15 following Dated daily briefings on US news, politics, tech, world and finance. AI-assisted [sic], edited by the US Brief desk. us-brief.com Trump touts $200 billion South Korea energy package; Seoul hedges on Alaska LNGPresident Trump said South Korea will invest up to $200 billion in U.S. energy projects, including a Texas gas plant, eight nuclear reactors, and Alaska LNG. Seoul confirmed the Texas project and said Alaska… #Finance — US Brief (@us-brief.com) 2026-10-01T22:17:28.143Z Pashinyan on building nuclear power plant in Armenia/JAMnewshttps://www.byteseu.com/2415175/Pashinyan on building a new nuclear power plant in Armenia Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has announced a change in the government’s position on the technology and design of a new nuclear … — BYTESEU (@byteseu.bsky.social) 2026-10-01T21:00:34+00:00 There are no SMRs. Armenia has vast solar resources that this loonburger isn’t willing to use. Pashinyan on building nuclear power plant in Armenia/JAMnewshttps://www.byteseu.com/2415175/Pashinyan on building a new nuclear power plant in Armenia Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has announced a change in the government’s position on the technology and design of a new nuclear … — BYTESEU (@byteseu.bsky.social) 2026-10-01T21:00:34+00:00 “I have said dozens of times before that we do not need anything more [powerful] than a modular nuclear power plant. That was our position. But now we have to understand that a modular plant will most likely not be enough to meet our needs,” Pashinyan said. He explained that the government changed its position because of the construction of AI factories. Armenia now needs to import electricity to meet their power requirements. Denial and Obstruction vs. Resistance and $$Real Money$$™ How 6 Billionaire Families Fund Climate Denial and brought us Project 2025 – desmog.com/2024/10/25/project-2025-trump-mapped-how-6-billionaire-family-fortunes-fund-climate-denial — John Gage (@johngage.bsky.social) 2026-09-30T17:31:25.528Z I remember Compassionate Conservatism. I defined it on dKosopedia as Kinder, gentler rape. 2. CLIMATE DENIAL: Campaign debates mean nothing to insurance actuaries pricing extreme weather risk. Politicians can deny environmental reality, but a voter whose home insurance just quadrupled faces a cash penalty they cannot duck. — Matt Healy (@matthewdhealy.bsky.social) 2026-10-01T15:54:16.775Z Unless you care about climate change, they're the leading funders of climate change denial and biggest anti-EV lobbyists 🤮 — Zamafir (@zamafir.bsky.social) 2026-10-01T16:38:39.564Z Given all the announcements this week, thought I'd re-issue this piece from last week.The answer BTW is YES!Is Prime Minister Carney a climate denier?www.nationalobserver.com/2026/09/25/o… — Seth Klein (@sethdklein.bsky.social) 2026-10-01T22:55:39.950Z I am so so so glad whenever someone mentions the fact that Amazon named an entire arena CLIMATE PLEDGE ARENA and then promptly stopped mentioning climate pledges ever again@billmckibben.bsky.social's latest is a great read: billmckibben.substack.com/p/amazon-crime — Ketan Joshi (@ketanjoshi.co) 2026-09-29T08:50:20.056Z How elite universities got tangled up in politics and petroleum.Half a century of corporate influence set the stage for Trump's attacks, a new study argues. #ClimateChange #GlobalWarminggrist.org/accountabili… — Climate News Now (@climatenewsnow.bsky.social) 2026-09-29T14:00:53.066Z British weather chat used to be a simple way to connect. Now it is becoming another part of the culture wars. #climatechange — The Wild (@thewild.news) 2026-09-29T14:00:40.533Z A Different Level of Idiocy See headline story, and also this. Resources 🎩 GoodNewsRoundup Want to focus on the ENVIRONMENT: [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/10/2/800106355/community/renewable-friday-ai-boosting-fossil-fuels/ Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/