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The chefs turning down the heat by switching from gas to electric

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By Fiona Harvey , The Guardian.  Excerpt: Leaping flames, searing heat, copious sweat and scorchingly inventive swearing – restaurant kitchens are never a place for the faint-hearted, but this summer they have been sweltering in successive heatwaves to a dangerous degree. Some restaurants, cafes and bakeries in the UK grew so hot that they were forced to close , or reduce their hours , for the safety of their staff. ...tens of thousands of kitchen staff are thought to have carried on working in “furnace-like” conditions . Now a number of chefs are calling for one route to cooling kitchens.... Swapping gas hobs for electric induction cooking can reduce temperatures by as much as 10C, as induction cookers only heat the food in the pans . They are more efficient, ...are safer as they avoid the harmful pollutants emitted by gas cookers, and make it easier for air conditioning to work in crowded kitchen environments. ...A report from the Global Cooksafe Coalition found that restaurant...
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Africa set for solar installations record in 2026

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By Preeti Jha , Semafor.  Excerpt: Africa is set for a record year of solar installations, according to new analysis. The continent is on track to install 17 gigawatts of solar in 2026 , up 45% year-on-year, according to the global energy think tank Ember and the African Tech Futures Lab. ...International Renewable Energy Agency...IRENA said solutions such as solar mini-grids were “ crucial for expanding access to dispersed and underserved populations ” in Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Senegal, where rural electrification rates can range from 2% to 10% in certain areas. Inadequate energy and infrastructure investment has meant nearly 600 million people in Africa still lack access to electricity. Many countries are turning to the potential of solar power: Last year, Nigeria struck a $200 million deal with a renewable energy company to connect rural areas with solar mini-grids....  Full article at https://www.semafor.com/article/08/28/2026/africa...
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Is That a Solar Farm, or a Train Track? In One Swiss Town, It’s Both

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By Quinn Glabicki , The New York Times.  Excerpt: More than 3,000 miles of railways crisscross the Swiss countryside, linking Alpine villages to big cities like Zurich and Geneva. It’s the most dense rail network in Europe. Now, a start-up company and a local rail operator have found a way to use that land to generate clean electricity: Lay solar panels between the rails. Starting last April, in the shadow of a craggy mountaintop in the village of Buttes, the company, Sun-Ways, began running a test project on a short stretch of track that proved the idea can work. Similar projects are now expanding to France, Italy and South Korea....  Full article at https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/28/climate/solar-power-railway-train-tracks.html . 
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California Lawmakers Pass Plug-In Solar Bill

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By Ivan Penn , The New York Times.  Excerpt: California lawmakers passed a bill late Wednesday that would allow residents to install solar panels that can be plugged into standard electrical outlets in a bid to lower their electricity costs and reduce their contribution to climate change. The bill passed with broad bipartisan support in both chambers of the Legislature despite opposition from the state’s investor-owned utilities, highlighting the growing political salience of energy affordability . California has the highest residential electricity rates in the 48 contiguous states, and those prices have climbed sharply in recent years. If Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, signs the measure, California will become one of nearly a dozen states that have legalized plug-in solar systems, often referred to as balcony solar. These systems, typically made up of a handful of panels, first became popular in Germany , where the panels are sold online and in stores. Last year, Utah became the...
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Climate Change Raises Risk of Disasters Like Nepal Floods

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By Maxine Joselow and Leo Sands , The New York Times.  Excerpt: Climate change is heating up the Himalayas and supercharging the risk of disasters like the deadly flash flooding in Nepal and Tibet, though scientists are still determining the exact cause of this week’s catastrophe. A group of glaciologists and geologists said on Thursday that the flooding was probably unleashed after an enormous chunk of bedrock collapsed underneath a glacier, triggering a landslide high in the mountains. At the same time, a chunk of ice snapped off the glacier itself and cascaded thousands of feet to the valley below, the scientists said. As humans warm the planet by burning fossil fuels, the Himalayas are losing their permafrost, a mixture of soil, rocks and organic matter that has remained frozen for thousands of years. The thawing permafrost is destabilizing the foundation underneath glaciers, raising the risks of precisely these kinds of landslides and glacial collapses....  Full article...
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First Michigan solar farm to seek state approval gets green light

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By Lucas Smolcic Larson , MLive.  Excerpt: Michigan law allowing renewable energy developers to bypass local opposition by seeking approval for sprawling solar and wind farms at the state level has passed its first test. State regulators approved a settlement agreement between an energy company and three Ingham County townships Thursday, Aug. 27, giving the green light to more than 600-acre solar farm. The Acceleration Solar project was the first to seek review by the Michigan Public Service Commission, under a divisive 2023 law passed by Democrats to speed renewable energy development that had been bogged down by a patchwork of local zoning rules....  Full article at https://www.mlive.com/news/2026/08/first-michigan-solar-farm-to-seek-state-approval-gets-green-light.html . 
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2026-08-27. Climate change is strengthening El Niño, coral records suggest . By Julia Vaz , Science. Excerpt: ...corals growing around the [Galápagos Islands] archipelago in the tropical Pacific Ocean are providing clues to another enduring puzzle: whether global warming is changing El Niño, the recurring Pacific climate cycle that drives extreme weather around the world. Climate models have offered conflicting answers so far. ...a 1000-year archive preserved in fossil corals from the Galápagos offers some of the strongest evidence yet that global warming is already making El Niño stronger. Reporting today online in Science , researchers found that temperature swings recorded in Galápagos corals—a place where the El Niño signal is strong—have intensified by 36% over the past 4 decades, far beyond anything seen in previous centuries.... Full article at https://www.science.org/content/article/climate-change-strengthening-el-ni%C3%B1o-coral-records-suggest . 
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