The hottest Energy Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Technology Topics

The fossil fuel executive inside the White House

HEATED • 1906 implied HN points • 23 Jan 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Energy
  1. Biden's advisors are split about implementing a stricter climate test for LNG projects.
  2. A former gas executive serving as a senior White House adviser is advising caution on LNG projects.
  3. Activists are planning a large-scale civil disobedience action to pressure the White House to reevaluate LNG project approvals.

Plan D

Doomberg • 6499 implied HN points • 13 Oct 24
🌍 World Politics Energy
  1. Turkmenistan, led by the late dictator Niyazov, created a unique cult of personality centered around himself with his image everywhere in the country.
  2. After Niyazov's death, Turkmenistan remained an oppressive state under President Berdimuhamedov, known for its very low score on political rights and civil liberties.
  3. The country has huge energy resources, especially natural gas, making it significant in global energy discussions, particularly concerning China's future energy needs.

Weekly Dose of Optimism #176

Not Boring by Packy McCormick • 130 implied HN points • 17 Jan 26
đź•ą Technology Energy
  1. New medical AI can now natively read full 3D scans and handle medical speech, making it much easier for developers to build tools that help doctors interpret MRIs and CTs.
  2. Generative AI platforms like Claude are shrinking the gap between idea and product, letting people quickly prototype apps, viewers, and games without deep engineering.
  3. Hard-tech is accelerating: Tesla’s fast, cleaner lithium refinery eases battery supply bottlenecks, robotic IVF systems are automating embryo creation to boost success and scale, and governments and companies are moving forward on lunar power and hospitality projects.

At least five interesting things for your weekend (#26)

Noahpinion • 13059 implied HN points • 27 Jan 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Energy
  1. The U.S. economy is thriving, with real growth, increased wages, high employment rates, and a booming stock market.
  2. The U.S. energy supply is abundant due to investments in shale oil production, keeping prices moderate and potentially boosting the economy even further.
  3. Millennials and Gen Z are doing well economically, with wealth accumulation surpassing previous generations at a similar age, especially in real estate.
Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

Germany under the sun

GEM Energy Analytics • 459 implied HN points • 10 Jun 24
🌞 Climate & Environment Energy
  1. Solar energy in Germany is rapidly increasing, with over one gigawatt installed each month. This growth is important because it helps meet their energy goals for the future.
  2. Solar power is very concentrated during certain months. In winter, it barely impacts energy supply, while spring and summer see a big increase in generation.
  3. Negative prices for solar energy are rising, meaning that sometimes the energy is worth less than nothing during high production times. This creates challenges for both producers and market management.

The Birth of the Grid

Construction Physics • 19834 implied HN points • 25 May 23
đź•ą Technology Energy
  1. Electricity transitioned from a rare luxury to a critical aspect of modern life in a short period of time.
  2. The development of high-voltage transmission lines allowed for long-distance power transmission and the creation of interconnected power systems.
  3. The electric power industry grew by embracing scale, cooperation, and regulation to meet increasing demand and ensure reliability.

A Twin Blessing Rejected by Two Lies

Gordian Knot News • 168 implied HN points • 11 Jan 26
🌞 Climate & Environment Energy
  1. The Gordian Knot Group uploaded a new slide deck called "A Twin Blessing Rejected by Two Lies," subtitled "The Auto-Genocidal History of US Nuclear Power."
  2. The author describes the deck as their most polemic offering and admits it functions as propaganda, believing it to be effective but not objective.
  3. The author asks readers for their thoughts and suggestions on how to improve the slide deck.

4.3 Actions at a Distance: Fluids or Fields?

Fields & Energy • 259 implied HN points • 10 Jul 24
🔬 Science Energy
  1. Electricity can't really be thought of as a fluid. It has unique properties that can't be explained by the fluid model, especially in AC systems.
  2. Capacitors and inductors operate using electric and magnetic fields rather than fluids. This makes it easier to understand how they work.
  3. Transformers also rely on these fields. Their functionality shows that electric effects can occur at a distance, which a fluid model fails to explain.

Iran War, Day Three. All hell breaks loose.

The Cosmopolitan Globalist • 11 implied HN points • 02 Mar 26
🌍 World Politics Energy
  1. The war escalated sharply as US and Israeli strikes hit Iranian targets, killing and injuring many people, including several US service members, while Iran launched missiles and drones in retaliation. The fighting also involved friendly-fire losses of US jets and reports of senior Iranian figures killed.
  2. The conflict is spilling across the region: Hezbollah fired into northern Israel and Israel hit Lebanon hard, Gulf energy infrastructure was struck (including an Aramco refinery and Qatar’s LNG facility), and regional powers and European countries are preparing to defend partners or target Iran’s missile and drone capabilities.
  3. There is a high risk of wider instability and asymmetric attacks, with Iran declaring a global "fire and revenge" campaign, authorities warning about lone-wolf and cyber attacks, and angry rhetoric and talk of possible US ground forces raising the chance of further escalation.

Loose Ends

Doomberg • 10309 implied HN points • 28 Feb 24
đź’Ľ Business Energy
  1. It's important for analysts to reflect on their past work to improve and learn from mistakes.
  2. Understanding the political landscape is crucial for predicting market trends, especially in energy markets.
  3. The strategy of imposing sanctions against Russia may be ineffective and could have negative consequences on the global financial system.

The Race to the Top in Six Charts and Not Too Many Numbers

Renewable Revolution • 279 implied HN points • 02 Jul 24
🌞 Climate & Environment Energy
  1. China is currently the leader in clean technology innovation and manufacturing, having significantly increased its battery and solar production capacity. It also holds a majority share in global clean energy patents.
  2. All three main regions—China, Europe, and the U.S.—are rapidly deploying clean technologies like solar, wind, and electric vehicles, but China is ahead in terms of growth and scale.
  3. The U.S. and Europe are recognizing the need to catch up in this energy race, with investments in clean technologies expected to grow significantly in the coming years, indicating a shift towards competition.

⚡ Tracking a 200-year energy wager

Faster, Please! • 274 implied HN points • 15 Dec 25
🌞 Climate & Environment Energy
  1. Herman Kahn’s long bet is that cheap, effectively limitless energy would unlock widespread human abundance and economic growth.
  2. The technological tools to pursue cheap, inexhaustible energy have largely arrived or are within reach.
  3. Politics and institutions haven’t caught up, and political obstacles remain the main barrier to realizing that energy-driven abundance.

For 14 years, a crazy eco-terrorist group has attacked Berlin's energy infrastructure with impunity. Authorities have done nothing despite enormous damages and wide-scale disruption. What is going on?

eugyppius: a plague chronicle • 171 implied HN points • 06 Jan 26
🌍 World Politics Energy
  1. An eco-terrorist group called the Volcano Group has been attacking Berlin's power network for about 14 years, and their latest strike triggered one of the largest sustained blackouts in the country's history.
  2. The outage hit tens of thousands during an arctic cold snap, causing loss of heating, burst pipes, health risks for vulnerable people, and empty, unlit neighborhoods that invite looting.
  3. Authorities and security services have responded slowly and weakly — repairs took days, media attention was muted, and past suspects were quickly released, which has allowed the saboteurs to operate with apparent impunity.

🌋 Hot rocks, new politics

Faster, Please! • 365 implied HN points • 25 Nov 25
🌞 Climate & Environment Energy
  1. New drilling technology is making it easier to access geothermal energy, which could help it become more popular. This means we might see more geothermal power plants in the future.
  2. The rising costs of gas plants are pushing energy companies to look for cheaper alternatives. Geothermal energy could be a good option since it uses heat from the Earth.
  3. Big Tech companies are starting to demand more clean energy. This is helping geothermal energy gain attention and support from policymakers in Washington.

🚀 FP! Week In Review, Briefly #15

Faster, Please! • 274 implied HN points • 13 Dec 25
đź•ą Technology Energy
  1. AI is racing forward — new superhuman claims, big model releases, and CEO buy-in — but that progress is colliding with safety worries, hacking risks, and political fights over regulation.
  2. Major bets are popping up across many frontiers, from space solar and air taxis to solar geoengineering, GLP-1 drugs, and renewed plans for Mars, showing broad technological momentum.
  3. Wealthy investors now treat aging as an engineering problem and are pouring money into longevity tech and drugs; if those bets pay off, longer healthy lives could reshape work, politics, and inequality.

Those who danced were thought insane by those who couldn't hear the music

Trevor Klee’s Newsletter • 298 implied HN points • 02 Dec 25
đź•ą Technology Energy
  1. By 2025, materials science, plant/animal breeding, and energy systems are closest to the ambitious technical goals, while medicine, disaster control, and especially precise weather control lag well behind.
  2. Without a major AI revolution, the next five years will bring steady gains: renewables, storage, materials, and crop improvements will move substantially, but life extension, earthquake/eruption control, and weather steering will only improve modestly.
  3. If abundant, well-aligned superintelligent AI appears by 2030, discovery and design in medicine, materials, energy, and agriculture could accelerate dramatically, yet physical scaling, safety, regulation, politics, and the chaotic nature of weather will still constrain full realization.

What I'm preparing for in 2026

next big thing • 48 implied HN points • 02 Feb 26
đź•ą Technology Energy
  1. Agentic AI will move beyond coding into real-world tasks. We'll see impressive demos and useful production agents, but also limits that leave people underwhelmed or unsettled.
  2. Enterprise AI in 2026 will be judged on hard ROI like revenue and cost savings, driving consolidation around platforms that clearly deliver value, while consumer AI will lean into fun, entertaining products that capture attention.
  3. Energy will become a major bottleneck for scaling AI, prompting big investments in power and data center infrastructure that will shape where and how AI capacity grows next year.

Atlas Won’t Shrug

Doomberg • 7754 implied HN points • 20 Feb 24
đź’° Finance Energy
  1. The human need for energy continues to grow despite various historical crises and catastrophes.
  2. Energy is not just an input into the economy but is actually the foundation of the economy itself.
  3. The idea of peak cheap oil being a crisis is challenged, with the belief that humanity would adapt swiftly to any temporary constraints in energy availability.

The Right-Hand Rule for Radiation

Fields & Energy • 499 implied HN points • 29 Apr 24
🔬 Science Energy
  1. The right-hand rule for radiation helps us understand how electromagnetic energy behaves. It's a simple concept that suggests the direction of radiation can be figured out using your right hand.
  2. Radiation doesn't just come from single charges; it comes from interactions between charges. If a charge is isolated, it doesn't radiate any energy on its own.
  3. Understanding the difference between fields and energy in electromagnetism is important. They work together but behave differently, and grasping this can help us solve complex problems in physics.

Three threats to the age of energy abundance

Noahpinion • 7470 implied HN points • 14 Mar 24
đź•ą Technology Energy
  1. The world is experiencing a new age of energy abundance due to advancements in solar power, batteries, and other renewable technologies, leading to increased productivity and numerous possibilities for innovation.
  2. Potential threats to this energy abundance come from the increasing demand for electricity driven by new digital technologies like Bitcoin and AI, as well as challenges in connecting new power sources to the U.S. electrical grid.
  3. Electricity demand in the U.S. is unexpectedly rising again after years of being flat, creating a need for better preparation and planning to meet the surging demand.

Weekly Dose of Optimism #175

Not Boring by Packy McCormick • 98 implied HN points • 10 Jan 26
đź•ą Technology Energy
  1. A redesigned national food pyramid gives clearer, more science-aligned guidance and could nudge people toward healthier eating.
  2. Next‑generation weight‑loss drugs (GLP‑1 combos and oral pills) are proving remarkably effective and becoming much more accessible, but a booming grey market for peptides creates safety and supply‑chain risks.
  3. Open‑source AI platforms like Boltz Lab are putting powerful protein and small‑molecule design tools into many hands, speeding drug discovery and democratizing biotech research.

My 5 Favorite Not Boring Essays of 2025

Not Boring by Packy McCormick • 146 implied HN points • 23 Dec 25
đź•ą Technology Energy
  1. Electric technology is rapidly getting cheaper and better, so electric products will increasingly outperform combustion and enable new things; where and how components are made will shape who wins.
  2. Technology expands our capacity but doesn’t create meaning for us, so we must choose how to spend our extra hours by paying attention, seeking novel experiences, and building relationships.
  3. There’s huge opportunity in real differentiation and craft amid widespread copycat slop, and as AI commoditizes routine tasks humans win by moving up the stack into creative, relational, and higher‑level work done with joy and purpose.

India’s AI Wedding Buffet: Generous Portions, Political Economy Heartburn

Get Down and Shruti • 20 implied HN points • 16 Feb 26
đź•ą Technology Energy
  1. The government favors an innovation-first, light-touch AI governance model that leans on existing laws, sector regulators, and techno-legal standards, and it has already moved to impose binding deepfake rules; but enforcement capacity and institutional scaffolding lag behind the rules, risking overreach or automated over-removal.
  2. Physical and political-economy constraints—notably soft soil at fab sites, slow and complex subsidy disbursements, and an insolvent, politically distorted electricity distribution system—are the real bottlenecks that will decide whether AI chips, data centers, and other infrastructure actually get built.
  3. India has world-class engineering talent and a strong startup ecosystem that can build niche, language- and document-focused models and do the messy systems integration work enterprises need, but unpredictable tax rulings, bureaucratic grant processes, and limited private capital certainty make it hard for companies to scale to global frontier models.

🚀 FP! Week In Review, Briefly #16

Faster, Please! • 182 implied HN points • 20 Dec 25
đź•ą Technology Energy
  1. AI is booming — big funding rounds and real technical wins are driving rapid adoption across industries, but that growth is creating infrastructure strains and political debates about regulation and energy use.
  2. Global fertility is plunging and unpredictable, with many countries below replacement level; standard policy tools have had limited effect, so long-term population outcomes are highly uncertain.
  3. Private and public bets on space and biotech are accelerating commercialization, from massive valuations and IPO plans for space firms to ambitious genetic-rescue projects and new leadership at NASA.

Will the real oil industry please stand up

Irina Slav on energy • 963 implied HN points • 07 Feb 24
đź’Ľ Business Energy
  1. Oil companies are rebranding and changing their names to reflect a shift to broader energy sources.
  2. Some oil companies are emphasizing technology and investments in non-oil sectors.
  3. Although oil companies are trying to reposition themselves, they are still primarily part of the oil industry.

Prime Time

Doomberg • 6766 implied HN points • 12 Mar 24
🔬 Science Energy
  1. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to significantly increase power demand, potentially impacting the journey towards electrifying everything.
  2. The nuclear industry is experiencing a resurgence as evidenced by Amazon's move to power a data center with nuclear energy, reflecting a larger trend of increasing nuclear capacity globally.
  3. There is growing concern about whether the uranium fuel supply chain can meet the demand created by the rapid pivot towards nuclear energy, highlighting the importance of understanding the nuclear fuel cycle.

Natural Hydrogen: Something or Nothing?

Doomberg • 6944 implied HN points • 03 Feb 24
🔬 Science Energy
  1. Hydrogen could transform from just an energy carrier to a fuel.
  2. Discoveries of natural hydrogen deposits could revolutionize energy production.
  3. Challenges in using hydrogen as fuel could be addressed with new natural resources.

Alone in the Foxhole

Doomberg • 6935 implied HN points • 30 Jan 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Energy
  1. Corporate leaders often seek government support for financial gain.
  2. US primary energy producers face challenges from shifting government policies.
  3. President Biden's pause on LNG export approvals has bipartisan implications.

A Scarcity of Abundance

Bet On It • 935 implied HN points • 09 Jul 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Energy
  1. Housing can improve through deregulation, and it's already happening in places like California. This sparks hope for better access and affordability.
  2. Transportation and energy need big improvements too, but current efforts often focus too much on rules rather than building better infrastructure and supporting new energy projects.
  3. The book suggests that big government hasn't been effective, especially in places run by one party, and it might be more beneficial to focus on accountability and smarter use of funds.

4.1 Heaviside, Poynting, & Energy Flow

Fields & Energy • 239 implied HN points • 12 Jun 24
🔬 Science Energy
  1. Poynting and Heaviside explained how energy moves through space, not just through wires. They believed that energy travels through the surrounding medium as it shifts from one spot to another.
  2. They challenged the traditional 'fluid' model of electricity, saying that while current flows through wires, the energy actually flows outside of them. This highlights the importance of electric and magnetic fields in energy transfer.
  3. The debate between the fluid model and the electromagnetic theory showed that although the latter was complex, it provided a more accurate understanding of how energy moves in electrical systems.

($) The AI Competition as a Football Game

Interconnected • 92 implied HN points • 06 Jan 26
đź•ą Technology Energy
  1. Right now the US is judged to be slightly ahead of China in the AI competition, scored like a halftime football game (USA 29, China 25).
  2. The analysis breaks the competition into five stacked layers — energy, infrastructure capacity, chips/compute, foundational models, and applications — and scores each layer separately.
  3. Those layer-by-layer scores reveal trade-offs (for example, China scores higher on energy while the US leads on other layers), so who wins depends on which parts of the stack matter most.

Tankers South

Irina Slav on energy • 982 implied HN points • 15 Jan 24
🌍 World Politics Energy
  1. Tanker traffic in the Red Sea is being disrupted due to missile strikes between the Houthis and the Combined Military Forces, leading to rerouted vessels and rising prices.
  2. Container freight rates for vessels traveling to Europe from Asia have reached a 15-month high, with fears of the situation worsening.
  3. Higher shipping prices and emissions are a consequence of vessels avoiding the Red Sea route, affecting the cost of various goods and causing some companies to switch from ships to planes.

Compressed for Time

Doomberg • 6641 implied HN points • 24 Jan 24
🔬 Science Energy
  1. Jafurah in Saudi Arabia is a huge natural gas project with massive investments to increase production significantly by 2030.
  2. Technological advancements have made natural gas production economically viable, with potential for further investment and development.
  3. Natural gas can serve as a direct substitute for oil in various applications, contributing to energy efficiency and market dynamics.