Asian economic giant currently emits twice as much annually as any other nation, making its trajectory one of the most consequential variables in global climate projections

We used to think of the US Environmental Protection Agency as the site where groundbreaking scientific research took place. One of the most important areas of inquiry by its scientific staff was released to the public in 2009, when the US EPA found that greenhouse gas emissions threatened public health ... [continued]

The post How EPA Cuts Will Affect US Lives For Generations To Come appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Si has recibido este email de un o una colega y quieres suscribirte, o si quieres ver nuestros boletines en inglés, haz clic aquí. Puedes ver ediciones anteriores de Radar Clima aquí. 

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Esta semana hemos invitado a escribir Radar Clima a Andrés Díaz Páez, periodista de El Espectador (Colombia). 

 

 

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LO QUE TIENES QUE SABER

• Colombia votará en la primera vuelta de las elecciones presidenciales para el período 2026-2030 el próximo 31 de mayo. Aunque hay tres candidatos encabezando las encuestas, ninguno supera el 50 % de intención de voto, un escenario que obligaría a una segunda vuelta el 21 de junio entre los dos candidatos más votados. Iván Cepeda, candidato de izquierda del partido de gobierno (Pacto Histórico), lidera los sondeos. Le siguen Abelardo de la Espriella, candidato independiente de extrema derecha (Defensores de la Patria), y Paloma Valencia, candidata de derecha del principal partido de oposición (Centro Democrático). 
• Tras la Primera Conferencia para la Transición más allá de los Combustibles Fósiles, que se celebró en Santa Marta a finales de abril, Colombia reafirmó su liderazgo internacional en la transición energética. En las próximas elecciones no solo se define la nueva presidencia, sino que también está en juego el rumbo de ese liderazgo, pues hay una disputa clara entre los candidatos más opcionados por sus posturas frente a los combustibles fósiles y la transición energética. 
• Paloma Valencia y Abelardo de la Espriella han dicho abiertamente que su objetivo será impulsar la explotación de petróleo y gas, que se redujo durante este gobierno. Además, ambos han defendido la realización de pilotos de fracking en el país.
• Iván Cepeda plantea continuar con la implementación de la transición energética que inició la administración de Gustavo Petro, con un importante crecimiento en energía solar y un freno al crecimiento de la explotación de combustibles fósiles. Su postura incluye prohibir la explotación de petróleo y gas mediante fracking, además de frenar las concesiones para la explotación de estos recursos.
• Más allá del debate sobre extraer o no más combustibles fósiles, principales responsables del cambio climático, organizaciones como Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) abogan por una reconversión económica en las zonas que dependen principalmente de los ingresos de este sector. El actual gobierno impulsó un programa piloto en una zona de minería de carbón, pero se quedó sin recursos tras la primera etapa de implementación.
• La expansión de las energías renovables en Colombia ha estado impulsada por el crecimiento de la energía solar. Sin embargo, sólo una mínima parte de los 17 proyectos de energía eólica que se esperaban para 2025 han salido adelante. Algunos de los problemas incluyen retrasos en los procesos de licenciamiento ambiental, conflictos entre empresas y comunidades indígenas, y posibles vulneraciones de los derechos humanos vinculadas a la ausencia del Estado.
• Uno de los principales retos climáticos del país es la reducción de la deforestación, que recientemente repuntó tras una tendencia a la baja de varios años. Organizaciones como la Fundación para la Conservación y el Desarrollo Sostenible (FCDS) han asegurado que la reducción estuvo vinculada al control territorial que ejercen grupos armados ilegales en la Amazonia. Además, han hecho un llamado a plantear políticas sostenibles que permitan reducciones definitivas en la pérdida de bosque. 
• Otro foco importante, y que se ha pasado por alto en el cubrimiento de las elecciones, será la postura que tenga el próximo gobierno frente a la minería. Colombia tiene importantes reservas de minerales críticos para la transición energética, pero su extracción plantea discusiones claves sobre las salvaguardas ambientales y sociales que requiere esta actividad. Para candidatos como De la Espriella y Valencia, el desarrollo económico debe primar, mientras que Cepeda ha planteado un enfoque en la justicia ambiental y la protección de las comunidades. 

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HISTORIAS PARA INSPIRARTE

• Las propuestas verdes y no tan verdes de los candidatos presidenciales, por Julio César Caicedo Cano, La Silla Vacía.
• Primeros resultados de la transición energética en el Cesar, pero con un futuro incierto, por Andrés Díaz Páez, El Espectador.
• La apuesta de Colombia por generar energía con sol y viento avanza con lentitud, por Juan Pablo Quintero, El País.
• El ambiente también se vota, por Instituto Capaz. 

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VOCES EXPERTAS

• Juliana Peña Niño, gerente en Colombia de NRGI, dedicada a investigar y hacer recomendaciones de política pública sobre la transición energética justa y la reconversión económica en zonas mineras y petroleras de Colombia.
• José Vega Araújo, jefe del equipo de Energías Renovables del Instituto Ambiental de Estocolmo (SEI) en Colombia. Se ha dedicado a estudiar y promover la implementación de la transición energética de manera inclusiva y justa, con énfasis en La Guajira. 
• Rodrigo Botero, director de la Fundación para la Conservación y el Desarrollo Sostenible (FCDS), una organización dedicada a analizar las dinámicas de la deforestación en la Amazonia colombiana.

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RECURSOS

• Así va la energía es un monitor de la transición energética en América Latina, con datos y análisis sobre Colombia, indicadores precisos sobre los compromisos climáticos y el avance en su implementación a 2030.
• Gobernar el riesgo: claves para repensar la relación entre Ecopetrol y el Estado frente a la transición energética, un informe de NRGI. El instituto analiza el panorama y los riesgos a nivel local de implementar una transición en la actividad económica de Ecopetrol, la empresa estatal de hidrocarburos en Colombia.
• El Ponderador de encuestas presidenciales 2026 de La Silla Vacía recopila los resultados de las encuestas de intención de voto en Colombia y establece un estimado de la intención para cada candidato, ponderando los resultados de cada sondeo.
• El Instituto Ambiental de Estocolmo (SEI) hace un seguimiento detallado de la transición energética en Colombia, con una mirada particular a lo que ocurre en La Guajira, uno de los puntos con mayor potencial para la generación de energías renovables.

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Esta semana Andrés Díaz Páez es el autor invitado de Radar Clima. Andrés es comunicador social y politólogo con experiencia en investigación social, periodismo ambiental y científico. Desde hace tres años se dedica al cubrimiento de la transición energética en Colombia, con énfasis en sus disputas ambientales, sociales y políticas.

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Necesitamos tu apoyo. Si te gusta lo que hacemos, puedes apoyarnos aquí

The post La transición energética y el petróleo, en juego en las elecciones presidenciales en Colombia appeared first on Covering Climate Now.

Ontario does not need another storage technology startup searching for a problem today. It needs capacity, flexibility, and reliability in specific places where the grid is constrained and where new generation and wires take years to build. That is the right way to look at Hydrostor’s proposed Quinte Energy Storage ... [continued]

The post Hydrostor’s Underground Pumped Hydro Ontario Storage Plan Runs Into the BESS Benchmark appeared first on CleanTechnica.

For decades, scientists believed ancient humans avoided dense rainforests, treating them as nearly impossible environments for early survival. But a groundbreaking discovery in West Africa is rewriting that story. Researchers uncovered evidence that humans were living deep within rainforest environments in present-day Côte d'Ivoire around 150,000 years ago — far earlier than anyone thought possible.

After writing an article about how much cheaper it is to “fuel” an electric car than a gas car, something crossed my mind: I should do a comparison of the Hyundai Santa Fe and the Hyundai IONIQ 5! If you haven’t been following along, a friend of mine recently decided ... [continued]

The post $1,845 to Fuel Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid vs. $283 to Fuel Hyundai IONIQ 5 appeared first on CleanTechnica.

In the Annual Energy Outlook 2026 (AEO2026), our long-term outlook, we project electricity consumed by data center servers will increase across the commercial building stock, increasing more in standalone data centers than in all other data center rooms combined. By 2050, server consumption alone reaches between 446 billion kilowatthours (BkWh) and 818 ... [continued]

The post Data Center Server Energy Use Grows Across The Commercial Building Stock appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Free Software Will Help Industry Understand the Full Value of Energy Projects Energy productivity—the measure of how much economic value is generated for every unit of energy used—can be underestimated when multiple benefits are overlooked. Multiple benefits are the operational and strategic improvements—such as productivity gains, quality enhancements, safety improvements, reduced downtime, ... [continued]

The post JUSTIFI Tool Could Unlock Value in Energy Productivity Projects appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Kestrel Supercomputer Advanced More Than 500 Energy Modeling and Simulation Projects By Julia Medeiros Coad The National Laboratory of the Rockies’ (NLR’s) advanced computing capabilities continue to grow with the demands and complexities of applied energy research, with key upgrades to the laboratory’s Kestrel supercomputer supporting hundreds of projects with ... [continued]

The post How High-Performance Computing and AI Accelerated Applied Energy Research in 2025 appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Bioprospecting Tool Could Boost Critical Mineral Refining By Anna Squires Throughout the 1800s, naturalists journeyed to far-flung corners of the world to catalog birds, mammals, minerals, and plants. Now, a team of U.S. researchers is assembling a catalog of their own: an atlas of naturally occurring proteins capable of binding ... [continued]

The post New “Atlas” Will Catalog Proteins That Bind to Rare Earth Elements appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Scientists have uncovered an astonishing new chapter in humpback whale migration: two whales were found to have traveled between breeding grounds in Australia and Brazil, crossing more than 14,000 kilometers of open ocean. One whale shattered records by covering at least 15,100 kilometers between sightings, marking the longest confirmed journey ever documented for an individual humpback whale.

The Channel Islands are home to hundreds of unique species, and an unchecked blaze is tearing through one of the archipelago’s most untouched lands.

By Kiley Price

An unrelenting wildfire has swallowed nearly a third of Santa Rosa Island, a small strip of land off the coast of California that is largely uninhabited by people but abundant with wildlife and plants, including several found nowhere else on Earth. 

As I wrote the other day, gas prices are up 56% in the United States since the US first bombed Iran. So, it’s not like things are going swimmingly in this industry. However, as several analysts and observers have been saying, we haven’t seen anything yet! Countries have been relying ... [continued]

The post “Real Panic” In Oil Industry Expected To Come In June If Strait Of Hormuz Doesn’t Open appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Landmark report calls for widespread air conditioning and says UK temperatures forecast to exceed 40C by 2050

British homes will need air conditioning to survive predicted levels of global heating, the government’s climate advisers have warned in a report, as measures such as drawing curtains, opening windows and growing trees for shade are not likely to be enough.

Air conditioning should be installed in all care homes and hospitals within the next 10 years, and in all schools within 25 years, according to the Climate Change Committee (CCC), which published a major report on adapting to the impacts of global heating on Wednesday.

Continue reading...

The government must act to redress the unequal impact of climate change, or risk rising temperatures making disparities worse

• UK ‘built for climate that no longer exists’ and needs urgent changes to survive global heating, report warns

It may not always feel like it, but Britons are going to have to get used to living in a hot country.

Temperatures are already 1.4C above the historic norm, and heading for a 2C rise in the next two decades. This may not sound like much, but it will mean far higher temperatures in summer – heatwaves as high as 45C lasting for more than a week, dwarfing the previous record of 40C in 2022 – as well as more frequent droughts and severe flooding, according to a major report published on Wednesday.

Continue reading...

Andrej Karpathy was Tesla’s AI lead well before AI was everywhere all the time. At the very early part of the AI hype cycle, he was the only AI guy many people knew. He led Tesla’s efforts toward Full Self Driving (FSD) for years, and it’s still not exactly clear ... [continued]

The post Tesla’s Former AI Lead Goes To Anthropic appeared first on CleanTechnica.

When people think about the Strait of Hormuz, they think about oil tankers, LNG carriers, naval escorts, insurance premiums, and the price of gasoline. They generally do not think about yellow piles of sulfur beside gas plants, phosphate fertilizer complexes, or the acid circuits that keep copper and nickel processing ... [continued]

The post Strait Of Hormuz Sulfur Shock Previews Fertilizer’s Future appeared first on CleanTechnica.

CEE Bankwatch’s May 2026 report, Hydrogen buses in Poland: Where did it all go wrong?, is useful because it moves the hydrogen bus debate out of the brochure and into the depot. It is not another model of what hydrogen might cost in 2035. It is a record of what ... [continued]

The post Poland Bought Hydrogen Buses. Then The Fuel Bills Arrived appeared first on CleanTechnica.

A broad swath of the Pacific Ocean is simmering from an exceptional marine heat wave that scientists warn could just be settling in. Marine animals are already feeling its effects.

A broad swath of the Pacific Ocean is simmering from an exceptional marine heat wave that scientists warn could just be settling in. Marine animals are already feeling its effects.

A new wave of start-ups are trying to harvest emissions-free energy from inside the Earth, but the industry still faces significant challenges.

Most people have no idea how cheap it is to charge an electric car. This hit me this morning while unplugging my car, so I decided I should write an article about it. Ironically, a few hours after I had the idea to write the article, Jake Richardson submitted the ... [continued]

The post Charging My Electric Car Is MUCH Cheaper Than Most People Think appeared first on CleanTechnica.

The finding effectively paves the way for continued use of atrazine, a widely used herbicide that has been linked to birth defects and cancer in humans.

After reading some user comments about saving money each month by driving an EV instead of a gas or diesel vehicle, an idea came to write an article asking some of you EV owners how much you are saving each month during this time of extra high fossil fuel prices. ... [continued]

The post EV Owners: How Much Are You Saving? appeared first on CleanTechnica.

An AI trained to use thermal images to detect whale body heat could help warn ships at risk of colliding with the marine mammals.

Various "experts" are predicting the Strait of Hormuz will be open for business soon, but what if those "experts" are wrong?

The post If Supply Drops But Demand Does Not, The Price Of Oil Will Soar appeared first on CleanTechnica.