|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fusion Startup Gets an AI Boost From Nvidia and Siemens
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Today: Commonwealth Fusion Systems is partnering with tech companies to develop a simulator to help spur commercial use of the renewable energy source; technology firms urged to power down data centers to avoid blackouts; America’s biggest oil field is turning into a pressure cooker.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Workers at CFS’s campus in Devens, Mass. Photo: Cassandra Klos/Bloomberg News
|
|
|
|
|
|
Welcome back: A Bill Gates-backed nuclear fusion company has teamed up with tech giants Nvidia and Siemens in an effort to bring the energy that powers the sun a step closer to commercial reality.
WSJ Pro Sustainable Business's Clara Hudson reports that Commonwealth Fusion Systems is working with the tech companies to develop a virtual replica of CFS’s nuclear fusion machine, courtesy of Nvidia’s and Siemens’s AI and industrial software might. Fusion engineers will use this “digital twin” to run simulations, ultimately to hasten the goal of producing fusion energy at a commercial scale.
Nuclear fission, which splits atoms to produce energy, is already in use in power plants, but many companies see fusion, the energy process that powers the sun by joining atoms together, as a longer-term bet because it can provide much more renewable energy in a cleaner process.
CFS, which is backed by Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures fund, says it is aiming to start producing commercial fusion energy in the 2030s.
-
Trump Media and fusion company TAE Technologies are looking for sites near a major city for a 50-megawatt power plant. (WSJ)
-
Google signed one of the world’s first commercial deals for fusion energy, in an agreement with startup Commonwealth Fusion Systems. (WSJ)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Venezuela is estimated to have the world’s largest oil reserves but today it produces just 1 million barrels per day (b/d), down from nearly 4 million b/d in the 1970s. The decline reflects deep-rooted troubles in the oil sector and the country. Huge capital expenditure over many years is needed to raise output meaningfully, according to analysis from Oxford Analytica.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Fight Over Making Data Centers Power Down to Avoid Blackouts
|
|
|
|
|
|
A surge in data-center development has pushed electricity prices higher and increased the threat of blackouts in some parts of the U.S. Ana Elisa Sotelo for WSJ
|
|
|
|
|
|
Power-hungry data centers risk pushing parts of the U.S. grid toward failure. Some technology companies are fighting a potential solution: disconnecting the data centers from the grid when electricity is in short supply.
The Wall Street Journal's Katherine Blunt writes that across the U.S., tensions are mounting as companies including Google, Amazon.com and Microsoft debate with utility executives whether their electricity needs can be met without causing blackouts during times of extreme demand.
Officials have raised concerns that the grid isn’t equipped to handle the number of data centers tech companies are seeking to build. They say it will take years to build new transmission lines and power plants needed to support the surge in demand while keeping the lights on for other users.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
50 Million
|
|
Barrels of sanctioned oil that Venezuela’s interim authorities could give the U.S., according to President Trump, with proceeds overseen by the White House to benefit both countries.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
America’s Biggest Oil Field Is Turning Into a Pressure Cooker
|
|
|
|
|
|
Saltwater erupted in 2022 from an abandoned well near the unincorporated community of Tubbs Corner, Texas. Sarah Stogner
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shale drillers have turned the biggest oil field in the U.S. into a pressure cooker that is literally bursting at the seams.
The Journal's Benoît Morenne and Andrew Mollica report that producers in the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico extract roughly half of the U.S.’s crude. They also produce copious amounts of toxic, salty water, which they pump back into the ground. Now, some of the reservoirs that collect the fluids are overflowing—and the producers keep injecting more. It is creating a huge mess.
A buildup in pressure across the region is propelling wastewater up ancient wellbores, birthing geysers that can cost millions of dollars to clean up. Companies are wrestling with drilling hazards that make it more costly to operate and complaining that the marinade is creeping into their oil-and-gas reservoirs. Communities friendly to oil and gas are growing worried.
|
|
|
|
The Dow Jones Risk Journal Podcast is coming this month. Here's a preview
|
|
A dispute over enforcement of a U.S. law to prevent the import of goods made with forced labor in China; plus best practices for using AI. Listen now on Apple Podcasts.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
-
Danish renewable company Orsted plans to legally challenge a Trump administration order halting its Sunrise Wind Project. (WSJ)
-
Ford said a rise in lower-priced truck sales helped it more than offset a decline in electric vehicles. (WSJ)
-
General Motors and several rivals reported year-end sales slumps, a sign that U.S. auto sales will slow this year. (WSJ)
-
Microsoft and U.S. Midwest electric power provider MISO announced the launch of a grid modernization collaboration. (ESG Today)
-
Living in a computer simulation or not, Elon Musk’s surreal year could push him to $1 trillion heights. (WSJ)
-
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is set to announce an executive order that will make it easier to rebuild businesses destroyed by fire. (WSJ)
-
A year after the wildfires, Los Angeles’ rocky recovery is shaped by wealth, insurance and red tape. (WSJ)
-
Octopus Energy has swung back to an annual loss and saw its financial performance sharply deteriorate amid rapid expansion. (FT)
-
Electric vehicles accounted for 96% of all new car registrations in Norway in 2025. (ESG News)
-
China criticized the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, saying it imposes unfair and discriminatory rules. (Dow Jones Risk Journal)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
