I’ve read the report and the data is pretty interesting, the US and Europe have actually increased carbon emissions this year, but it was offset by decreases mostly in China and India. India’s reduction is considered an outlier because of an unusually cool summer, but China may have already crossed peak fossil energy.
Here’s the report if you’d like to read it: https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/q3-global-power-report-no-fossil-fuel-growth-expected-in-2025/
The funny thing is, “perfect competition” in neoclassical economics is considered to be the most efficient system, as it theoretically allocates resources most efficiently (if you ignore externalities), and provides the lowest price for consumers. The end result is also that companies produce zero net profit. So any western economist should look at this and approve, right?
It’s honestly kind of absurd that direct military intervention in another country’s civil war is considered not only normal but heroic. Nevermind the horrific track record of US military interventions in general.
Does it say in what time range the growth/loss is measured? Is it from 2000 to 2018 or something?
Honestly, even Huggingface downloads are underestimating the dominance of Chinese open-weight models. Modelscope is generally the platform of choice in China, so Huggingface downloads reflect popularity in the west.
This is also a big problem for proprietary model makers. Companies like OpenAI or Anthropic are losing money right now and are banking on being able to dominate the market and jack up prices, but that’s not going to happen with all these free, downloadable models from China that can go toe-to-toe with the big proprietary models.
Can’t believe Trump shut down the insidious, pervasive propaganda funded by USAID for this ham-fisted replacement. It seems even US propaganda got enshittified.
Really, data centers? They’re some of the most rapidly depreciating assets you can build, and not at all comparable to the infrastructure and industrial expansion you would actually need to revitalize manufacturing. The problem with letting private companies dictate national policy is that they would always put their own profits above national interests.
There’s a pretty nice report on the global energy transition here: https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/global-electricity-mid-year-insights-2025/
They also have a writeup on the future of battery storage here: https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/silos-for-sunshine-weve-mastered-harvesting-the-sun-but-storage-is-the-gamechanger/
The Solar + Battery combo is so, so valuable to many people with unreliable and/or expensive power. It really is the first time that households and small communities can have control over their own energy, when people can just stand up and do something about their power needs. The bottom-up solar boom in Pakistan is a prime example of this, and at least in this area I’m really hopeful.
Excellent idea. Give Trump more justification to restart his beloved coal plants. He’s going to save the planet!
This really is why socialist planning is indispensable. Capitalist economies can build unfathomable wealth (for a few people), but is unable to translate that into genuine well being for the people. China spends far less on healthcare than the US, whether you count per capita, % of GDP, or total spending. And yet China has a longer life expectancy and lower infant mortality rate. The vaunted efficiency of free markets has completely failed to materialize in this sector.
There is undeniably a lot more activity around the DPRK these days, the newly constructed greenhouse, hospital, and resort all reflect a growing, stable economy, and there have been first-in-a-decade visits from Vietnam and Indonesia. It is fantastic for the people of the DPRK, and with the US in decline, I can’t see this slowing down.
Huh, Open Desk? Why not LibreOffice or OnlyOffice? They’re both European and more widely used I’m pretty sure. Seems like a strange choice.
In a free market structure, Saudi oil exports create huge demand for the Saudi Riyal, making it appreciate massively against all other currencies. This makes any other export uncompetitive, and imports really cheap. Thus, it kills off most of Saudi Arabia’s domestic industries, actively punishing diversification despite being the smart thing to do.
To extend this further, Saudi Arabia exemplifies how capitalism is very efficient at making huge profits, but really bad at building a functional economy. It’s why the US spends 17.6% of its GDP on healthcare, and yet has a terrible life expectancy for a developed country.
Saudi profits 😔
Honestly ridiculous how no one in the US administration seems to understand supply chains. Trying to bully the country that makes all the stuff you need to make your own stuff is not a viable strategy.
Maybe they should try getting Biden to run again? We’ve all seen how much the liberals are praising his policies nowadays. I’m sure they would be just as enthusiastic in reelecting him.
The plastic’s toughness is comparable to commonly used engineering plastics – strong plastics used in vehicles, appliances and construction
However, its rigidity also means that its potential uses aren’t the most widespread. “It’s not something that’s going to challenge the use of the main plastics we use in packaging, like polyethylene and polypropylene,” says Dove.
Ah, that’s unfortunate. Still, industrial use cases are valuable, especially for a manufacturing heavy country like China.
Cuba has pretty high solar irradiance everywhere in the country, not the best, but pretty good and consistent. Given how cheap solar + batteries is getting, it is a great way to achieve energy independence.
Clearly, the best way to support tech long term is to improve educational standards, provide equal opportunities to students all across the country, foster scientific curiosity, expand sustainable energy infrastructure, and invest in the pure sciences. So that’s what you’re going to do, right?
…right?