Wind And Solar Production Grow As AI Fights Wildfires And Tesla Stares Down Its Chinese Rivals

This week’s Current Climate, which every Saturday brings you the latest news about the business of sustainability. Sign up to get it in your inbox every week.

Last week, BP released its annual Statistical Review of World Energy, which provides a comprehensive look at the global energy industry. One of the most interesting statistics within it was the growth of renewable energy, consumption of which grew 15% in 2021. Hydroelectric, nuclear and renewable energy accounted for about 18% of energy consumption around the globe, with the balance being provided by fossil fuels. Wind and solar power combined accounted for 10.1% of total global energy production, the first time that number has been above 10%. “Together, wind and solar power provided 2,894 Terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity in 2021,” writes Forbes senior Energy contributor Robert Rapier. “For perspective, in 2010 that number was 380 TWh.”

The Big Read

Can AI Predict If Your House Is Going To Burn To The Ground?

As summer fire season looms in California, Zesty.ai is using machine learning to help insurers and homeowners to make realistic risk assessments—and reduce damage to homes and property. Read more here.

Discoveries And Innovations

Rising temperatures and related changes to climate might increase the prevalence of landslides, avalanches and rock-fall incidents in mountains.

Researchers from Yale determined that many current climate models may be underestimating the future impacts of flooding, due to the way they account for the physics of raindrop formation.

Scientists at the University of Washington have designed a new type of switch that could dramatically improve the energy-efficiency of large data centers.