Geek-Guy.com

Category: Climate

Space solar startup Aetherflux raises $50M to launch first space demo in 2026

Aetherflux, the space solar startup founded by billionaire co-founder of Robinhood Baiju Bhatt, has raised a $50 million in a Series A round as it works to launch its first low Earth orbit demonstration in 2026.  The San Carlos, California-based startup, which came out of stealth last October, aims to eventually launch a constellation of…

Bill Gates-backed Commonwealth Fusion Systems hits key reactor construction milestone

Commonwealth Fusion Systems marked a major milestone Tuesday morning, announcing the installation of a key component of its Sparc demonstration reactor. The new part is a 24-foot wide, 75-ton stainless steel circle that forms the foundation of the tokamak, the doughnut-shaped heart of a fusion reactor that CFS hopes will be the first of its…

Revel opens first EV fast-charging hub in San Francisco

Brooklyn-based electric vehicle charging infrastructure startup Revel on Monday launched its first fast-charging station in San Francisco, kicking off its plans to expand across the Bay Area over the next year.  “For years, Revel has operated the largest, fastest, and most reliable fast-charging network in New York City,” Frank Reig, co-founder and CEO of Revel,…

Step into the spotlight: Apply to speak at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025

Calling all tech innovators, startup fanatics, marketing gurus, and emerging VCs — this is your moment! You’ve waited long enough, and now the time has come to step into the spotlight at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, taking place October 27–29 in San Francisco. Share your expertise with over 10,000 eager attendees and make an impact by…

Make waves in 2025: Exhibit at TechCrunch events

If you’re reading this, you already know: It’s time to amplify your brand. Get in front of thousands of TechCrunch event attendees, readers, and decision-makers who can take your business further this year by exhibiting at a TechCrunch event. The perks of exhibiting: What’s in it for you Exhibiting doesn’t just elevate your brand —…

Arizona proposes law that would shift wildfire liability from utilities to insurers

Arizona lawmakers are debating a bill that would protect utilities from wildfire-related lawsuits, a move that would likely send shockwaves through the insurance industry.  The bill would make it harder to prove that utilities are to blame for wildfires started by faulty or poorly maintained equipment while also limiting damages. In exchange for reduced liability,…

Reshape Energy is using an acquisition playbook to drive energy upgrades for commercial real estate

Reshape Energy is betting on a more integrated approach to accelerate the decarbonization of the built environment. Founded in Munich, Germany back in May 2024, the startup is led by a team with expertise scaling energy businesses, including the German division of Octopus energy and energy price comparison platform Verivox. It’s focusing on selling energy…

Daqus Energy has a plan to make EV sports cars fast, light, and cheap

Cheaper, lighter, and denser: the trifecta defines an ideal battery. No one has devised a perfect cell quite yet, but one stealthy startup thinks it has found a new material that solves at least two of those challenges. Daqus Energy has been quietly operating for the past four months, refining a compound known as TAQ…

Supercharge your brand visibility with an exhibit table at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025

From October 27-29, TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 will bring together over 10,000 startup pioneers, VC leaders, and tech enthusiasts at Moscone West in San Francisco—the epicenter of innovation set to reshape the future of technology. What’s in it for your startup? A golden opportunity to put your innovation in front of an eager audience for all…

Neom is reportedly turning into a financial disaster, except for McKinsey & Co.

A new WSJ report suggests that Saudi Arabia’s now eight-year-old Neom project — a futuristic, carbon-neutral, 105-mile-long linear city envisioned by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — has become a financial sinkhole. Plagued by delays and cost overruns, the country, which has already shelled out $50 billion, could reportedly face another 55 years of construction,…

From high school science project to $18.3M: AI-accelerated enzymes are coming for fast fashion’s plastic waste

A U.K. startup, originating from founder Jacob Nathan’s high school science project on using enzymes to break down plastic waste, has secured an oversubscribed $18.3 million in Series A funding. Founded in 2019 in London, Epoch Biodesign now a 30+ strong multidisciplinary team of chemists, biologists and software engineers. It will be using the new…

Moonwatt secures $8.3M to dial up solar’s staying power with sodium-ion storage

The drive to decarbonize our economies through electrification and clean energy continues to generate momentum around battery technologies, as storage has a key role to play in enabling the green transition. While renewables are clean sources of energy compared to burning fossil fuels, their power output isn’t always consistent. In the case of solar —…

TechCrunch Disrupt 2025: Final 24 hours to save up to $1,130

The early bird gets the worm and time is running out! You have less than 24 hours left to save up to $1,130 when purchasing passes to TechCrunch Disrupt 2025. If you want massive savings on Disrupt 2025 individual passes and up to 30% on group tickets, secure your low ticket rate today. These offers…

2025 TechCrunch Events Calendar

For two decades, TechCrunch has provided a front row view to the future of technology, shaping conversations that matter and spotlighting the next big things before they break — both on the page and in person at our world-renowned events.  This year, as we celebrate our 20th anniversary, we’re launching our most ambitious events calendar…

TechCrunch Disrupt 2025: 3 days left to save up to $1,130 on passes

Tick-tock! The last three days to save up to $1,130 to TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 are winding down! Get your tickets today for massive savings on Disrupt 2025 individual passes and up to 30% on group tickets. These offers end February 28 at 11:59 p.m. PT, so don’t miss out on major savings of the year.…

German startup wins accolade for its fusion reactor design

Proxima Fusion, a two-year-old, German nuclear fusion startup, has published plans for a working fusion power plant in a peer-reviewed journal, in what is being touted as a step-change in the race to generate limitless energy. Today’s nuclear fission reactors create radioactive waste, whereas nuclear fusion releases vast amounts of energy, with zero carbon emissions and…

Valar Atomics comes out of stealth with $19M and a pilot reactor site

Companies developing small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) have raised more than $1.5 billion in the past year, as tech companies hunger for power to train AI models and governments decide to commit to the industry. For example, X-energy raised $700 million this month, and Paris-based Newcleo raised $151 million last year, and one would be…

ChatGPT may not be as power-hungry as once assumed

ChatGPT, OpenAI’s chatbot platform, may not be as power-hungry as once assumed. But its appetite largely depends on how ChatGPT is being used, and the AI models that are answering the queries, according to a new study. A recent analysis by Epoch AI, a nonprofit AI research institute, attempted to calculate how much energy a…

Microsoft powers AI ambitions with 400 MW solar purchase

Microsoft has added another 389 megawatts of renewable power to its portfolio as the tech giant scrambles to meet the power demands required to match its AI ambitions.  The additional renewable power spans three solar projects developed by EDP Renewables North America — two in southern Illinois and one outside Austin, Texas. Microsoft is buying…

Mast Reforestation hatched a plan to restore wildfire-ravaged forests. Investors took notice.

Mast enables reforestation without landowners needing to wait decades to harvest timber or claim carbon credits. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Orgs demand action to mitigate AI’s environmental harm

A group of more than 100 organizations has published an open letter calling on the AI industry and regulators to mitigate the tech’s harmful environmental impacts just days before leading industry CEOs, heads of state, academics, and nonprofits descend on Paris for a major AI conference. The letter, which bears the signatures of prominent advocacy…

First lab-grown meat treats go on sale in the UK — for dogs

Cultivated chicken doggie snacks have gone on sale at a U.K. pet food retailer, Pets at Home. The retailer also happens to be a major investor in Meatly, the startup producing the meat ingredient contained in dog food brand The Pack’s Chick Bites, as the slaughter-free, low carbon treats are billed. (Other ingredients in the…

Meteomatics eyes U.S. expansion for its enterprise-focused weather forecasting tools

Martin Fengler knows a lot about the weather. Fengler got his Ph.D. in mathematics, focused on numerical weather prediction, before working for Meteomedia AG, a network of weather stations in Switzerland and Germany. But while he knew a lot about weather forecasting from the prediction side, he realized the gaps that remained on the consumption…

Helion raises $425M to help build a fusion reactor for Microsoft

Helion’s unorthodox approach to fusion power and relative secrecy has earned it plenty of fans — and critics. But don’t count its investors among the naysayers. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

TechCrunch Disrupt 2025: 5 Days left to claim your 2 for 1 Passes at the lowest rate of the year

The clock is ticking for one of our Super Early Bird sales! You have just 5 days left to lock in your 2 for 1 Passes at the lowest rates of the year for TechCrunch Disrupt 2025. Save up to $1,400 on two of the same individual ticket type. This limited-time offer ends this Friday,…

Ken Howery: the tech mogul at the center of Trump’s Greenland ambition

Surprise! Donald Trump’s big, audacious ambition to buy Greenland from Denmark has a tech angle. Ken Howery, named by U.S. President-elect Trump’s pick to be the next ambassador to the country (and thus chief broker of any deal), is one more part of the rich seam of tech people running through Trump’s upcoming administration.  Part…

Every smartphone in LA accidentally received a wildfire evacuation alert

As wildfires rage for the third consecutive day through parts of Los Angeles, now including the Hollywood Hills, several neighborhoods have been forced to evacuate for safety purposes. But on Thursday afternoon, a wildfire evacuation alert was mistakenly sent to the smartphone of every resident in Los Angeles County, a region with more than 9…

Watch Duty surpasses ChatGPT as top free app on App Store as California fires spread

Watch Duty, an app to track wildfires with live maps and alerts, has become the No. 1 free app in Apple’s App Store as of Wednesday morning. The fire-tracking app surpassed the ChatGPT app for the No. 1 spot as devastating fires continue to rage across Southern California. ChatGPT had been in the No. 1…

Biosphere zaps germs with UV light to make biomanufacturing cheaper

Using LEDs has the potential to bring down the cost of biomanufacturing, allowing such processes to make materials that previously would have been too expensive.  © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Xocean raises $119M to capture ocean data with uncrewed surface vessels

Xocean, an Irish marine robotics startup that provides ocean data to the energy and hydrography industries using uncrewed surface vessels (USVs), has raised €115 million ($119 million) as it looks to expand coverage to additional sectors. Founded in 2017, Xocean has built a fleet of remotely-controlled USVs that can remain offshore for long periods of…

Watch Duty surpasses ChatGPT as top free app on App Store as California fires spread

Watch Duty, an app to track wildfires with live maps and alerts, has become the number one free app in Apple’s App Store as of Wednesday morning. The fire tracking app surpassed the ChatGPT app for the number one spot as devastating fires continue to rage across Southern California. Watch Duty has been around since…

Full Nature Farms launches smart irrigation system at CES 2025 to reduce agricultural water waste

Agriculture, which consumes about 70% of global freshwater, is grappling with increased water scarcity and inefficient irrigation systems. Traditional methods of irrigation not only lead to wasted water and nutrients, but also contribute to lower crop yields, food insecurity, and unnecessary carbon emissions.  Hong-Kong based agriculture technology startup Full Nature Farms thinks there’s a better…

Hydrogen tax credit rules give startups clarity while boosting nuclear and carbon capture

Hydrogen startups are widely seen as a promising way to eliminate fossil fuels from heavy industry and long-haul transportation. But they have been stuck in limbo for the last couple years, waiting for official guidance from the U.S. Treasury on lucrative tax credits. The wait ended today, with the Treasury announcing final rules for hydrogen…

Electra found a cheap, clean way to purify iron, and it’s raising $257M to make it happen

Electra has raised $76.3 million to clean up the dirty ironmaking industry, TechCrunch has learned. The startup has developed a novel method of using electricity to coax pure iron out of low-grade ores, opening the door to cleaner steel. The new funding round, which was disclosed in a regulatory filing, seeks to raise a total…

WordPress Appliance - Powered by TurnKey Linux