Menu
Search
 
October 05, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

ENVIRONMENT

Energy

Climate change
Energy
Sustainability
Wildlife
Earth science
Data storage tapes at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center facility in Berkeley, California. Data centers consume massive amounts of electricity and water, and that will only rise as generative artificial intelligence takes off in earnest.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Japan faces fresh energy challenge as it seeks to expand power-hungry data centers
The growth could have major effects on both Japan’s standing in the fight against climate change and its industrial competitiveness on the world stage.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
As Japan keeps buying gas, Aboriginal Australians pay the price
Japan is Australia’s second-largest export market for energy and natural resources, giving Tokyo a certain political weight when it comes to Australian energy matters.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
China’s green push may cut global fossil use by 2030, says think tank
"China’s surge in renewables and whole-economy electrification is rapidly reshaping energy choices for the rest of the world," Ember said.
A worker wearing protective equipment walks near the Electric Arc Furnace at the 7 Steel facility in Cardiff, Wales, on July 18.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Aug 28, 2025
Sky-high electricity costs hindering the U.K.'s progress toward net zero
By Kate Holton and Susanna Twidale
Energy bills have stripped firms of money to improve efficiency, deterred the shift to lower-carbon power sources and made wind-farm, pylon and battery production less competitive.
One of Swiss startup Enerdrape’s energy-harvesting panels is seen in this screenshot taken from video posted to the firm's YouTube account.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Aug 17, 2025
A startup is tapping underground parking garages for clean energy
Globally, heating accounts for nearly half of all energy consumption. That could make decarbonizing it a half-trillion-dollar market.
The World Energy refinery in Paramount, California
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Aug 12, 2025
The airline industry's dirty secret: Clean jet fuel failures
By Joanna Plucinska, Joe Brock, Marleen Kaesebier and Paul Carsten
An analysis has found that the airline industry's plans to go green before regulators start penalizing them are little more than a pipe dream.
Wind turbines beyond an array of solar panels on the hillside in the Canical district of Madeira, Portugal, on Feb. 9, 2023. Renewables are now among the cheapest forms of electricity, especially after an energy crunch and the Ukraine war bolstered gas, oil and coal.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Aug 11, 2025
Hedge funds flip on green energy and start betting against oil
By Natasha White, Liza Tetley and Ishika Mookerjee
The outlook for solar and wind stocks is starting to improve.
A geothermal energy station in Geretsried, Germany, on Aug. 24, 2023
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Aug 7, 2025
Germany moves to fast-track geothermal energy projects
According to a 2023 study, Germany holds some of Europe's largest geothermal reserves, with the potential to supply over a quarter of its annual heating needs.
Journalists next to heliostat mirrors at the site of Dunhuang Shouhang 100 megawatt Tower Solar Thermal Power Generation Project in Gansu province, China, in 2024
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Aug 5, 2025
China struggles to capitalize on record renewables build-out as grid work lags
The biggest renewables hubs, in the sparsely populated interior, rely on power lines stretching thousands of kilometers to the major cities of the east.
Although the idea is still small in scale, Kitepower flying a giant kite to generate renewable electricity — with Padraic Doherty acting as the "pilot" on the ground — could yet prove to be a mighty plan as Ireland seeks to cut its reliance on fossil fuels such as oil and gas.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Aug 4, 2025
'Let's go fly a kite': Capturing wind for clean energy in Ireland
By Peter MURPHY
A sparsely populated spot in Ireland near the stormy Atlantic coast is home to the world's first designated airborne renewable energy test site.

Takaichi poised to become Japan's first female PM after winning LDP poll
Sanae Takaichi, the newly elected leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, holds a news conference after the LDP presidential election in Tokyo on Saturday.
A Japanese ski resort town is roiled by a debate over immigration
A Swedish snowboard instructor works at the Niseko ski resort area on Hokkaido, in Kutchan, in December 2022
Tokyo's newest stationery store sells 'a slower, more human rhythm'
Plotter's signature customizable leather binder is just one of many products contributing to the ongoing boom in the popularity of Japanese stationery.
One dead, one missing in Japan after bear attack
A bear warning sign. More and more wild bears have been spotted in Japan in recent years, even in residential areas, due to factors including a declining human population and climate change.
Japan’s jobless rate edges up to highest in over a year
August’s unemployment figures showed a slight tempering of Japan's job market, but the data still points to overall firmness amid an ongoing labor shortage.
The summer kabuki came roaring back
Kabuki has been trying for years to attract a new generation of fans. One way to do this has been to adapt manga and anime franchises, such as “Naruto,” for the stage. 
Tea ceremony experts see matcha boom as a big opportunity
Atsuko Mori, founder and director of Kyoto-based tea salon Camellia Tea Ceremony, prepares matcha during a tea ceremony in Kyoto.
Japan's far-right party courts Trump allies and vows not to get 'wacky'
Sanseito party leader Sohei Kamiya speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Sept. 25.
How Ohtani has boosted Japan's soft power and made LA even more baseball-obsessed
Fans at Dodger Stadium pose in front of a mural highlighting the Dodgers' Japanese stars from past and present during a game earlier this year.
Japan faces fresh energy challenge as it seeks to expand power-hungry data centers
Data storage tapes at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center facility in Berkeley, California. Data centers consume massive amounts of electricity and water, and that will only rise as generative artificial intelligence takes off in earnest.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons
Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

Latest News

Takaichi poised to become Japan's first female PM after winning LDP poll
9 hours ago
Retro-wrapped trains mark 100th anniversary of Tokyo's Yamanote Line
11 hours ago
Asahi ships beer using paper and fax after ransomware attack
U.K. confronts rising long-term terror threat from Gaza war
A Japanese ski resort town is roiled by a debate over immigration