Climate, in brief

AEP, one of the biggest US power companies, signed a deal on Monday with X-energy to study building a 960-megawatt nuclear plant in Sullivan County, Indiana. [1]

Amazon is paying for the development work and plans to buy the plant's power under a long-term contract that covers its costs. [1] Amazon says it will pay its full costs rather than pass them to other customers. [2]

The plant would use 12 of X-energy's Xe-100 small reactors, 80 megawatts each, set in groups of four. [1]

The site is the former Breed coal power station near Terre Haute, which has been torn down. [1][4]

No start date was given. An X-energy representative told a local paper the plant could be finished as early as the mid-2030s. [5]

X-energy has not yet built a working reactor. Its first, four reactors at a Dow chemical plant in Texas, is still waiting for a construction permit. [4][5]

No small modular reactor is working in the US, and only one company, NuScale, holds a design approval that lets it build anywhere. [5]

Other designs need a permit for each site, so a Texas permit would not cover Indiana. [5]

Indiana Michigan Power, AEP's local arm, expects peak demand in Indiana to pass 7,000 MW by 2030, up from 2,800 MW, as big new users connect. [2]

The same day AtkinsRealis, the engineering firm that looks after the CANDU reactor design, signed with Indiana and Hoosier Energy to study up to eight CANDU reactors, up to 6 GW in all. [6]

The study also weighs building gas plants first to get power sooner, and turning retired power stations into nuclear sites. [6]

Indiana has tried before. Work on its Marble Hill nuclear plant stopped in 1983, half-built, after $2.5 billion had been spent. [3]

Why it matters. Watch whether the US nuclear regulator grants X-energy its construction permit in Texas, the first test of its reactor, because the Indiana site would still need a permit of its own. [4][5]

A study published on Monday found that animal life in the deep middle waters of the Gulf of Mexico fell by about 60% after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill. [7] The BP-run well leaked 134 million gallons of oil. [7] Fish fell 63.5%, shrimp and krill 62%, and squid and octopus 59.7%, between the year after the spill and 2015. [7] Sampling until 2023 found no lasting recovery. [7][8] The researchers ruled out temperature, oxygen and food as causes. [7]

Why it matters. Krill and lanternfish are food for whales and dolphins, and the study's lead author says no sperm whale has been seen off the Mississippi River in 10 years. [7][8] An outside scientist warned that deep-sea mining could do similar harm in these waters. [8]

An outside inquiry into Neso, the body owned by Britain's government that keeps the country's electricity supply and demand matched, published its findings on Monday. [9] Control room staff had accused bosses of hiding how close the grid came to blackouts in the June heatwave, when Britain needed emergency help from neighbouring countries. [9] The law firm that ran it found no evidence that operating decisions were interfered with. [9] It did find serious problems with culture and governance, and high stress among engineers whose worries went largely unheard. [9]

Why it matters. Ofgem, Britain's energy regulator, is running its own inquiry into whether those problems affected decisions or costs, due by 31 March 2027. [9] The inquiry found engineers worried about keeping the grid balanced as renewable power replaces old fossil fuel plants. [9]

More than 160 workers on five oil platforms run by Apache, a Texas oil company, will strike for 24 hours from Wednesday, the Unite union said on Monday. [10] Those platforms feed the Forties pipeline, which carries about 30% of Britain's oil. [10] Unite says stopping them could drop the pipeline's pressure and disrupt fuel supplies. [10] Apache says contractors will keep production going and other companies on the pipeline would not be hit. [10] A separate 48-hour strike at Harbour Energy platforms starts on Tuesday. [10]

Why it matters. The strikes come before Britain's 28 October Budget, as oil companies blame a 78% tax rate on their profits for cutting investment. [10] Apache plans to leave the North Sea completely by the end of 2029. [10]

Singapore will send notices to three more Indonesian companies over fires on their land in Kalimantan, Indonesia's part of Borneo, its environment agency said on Monday. [11] Seven agroforestry firms in Sumatra got notices on Friday, so ten are now named under Singapore's cross-border haze law. [11] The notices order them to put out fires, stop burning and send in action plans. [11] They are not a finding of guilt, but they open the way to prosecution and fines. [11]

Why it matters. Singapore's security minister, K. Shanmugam, called the smog entirely preventable and said Singapore would press the firms through their lenders and investors. [11] Indonesia said it would not declare the fires a national disaster for now. [11]

Survivors of three 2025 US disasters, a tornado in St Louis, floods in Texas Hill Country and the Los Angeles wildfires, still have no long-term rebuilding money. [12] It comes from a scheme run by HUD, the US housing department, that pays to rebuild after FEMA's emergency help ends. [12] No disaster since Hurricane Milton in October 2024 has received any. [12] Officials estimate Los Angeles county and St Louis alone need more than $10bn. [12] The scheme has no standing fund, so the US Congress votes money one disaster at a time. [12]

Why it matters. Survivors of Puerto Rico's 2020 earthquakes waited 655 days for this money, and it has been 21 months since the Los Angeles fires were declared a disaster. [12] A bill backed by Congresswoman Judy Chu would create a permanent fund, so survivors would not wait for the US Congress after each disaster. [12]

Nature found at least 30 public-records requests since 2024 aimed at US scientists who link extreme weather to climate change. [13] They went to 13 public universities and asked for the emails of dozens of scientists, legal scholars and lawyers. [13] One group behind them, the Patriots Foundation, did not tell Nature why. [13] The field, called attribution science, estimates how much warming caused a flood or heatwave, and lawsuits against big polluters now lean on it. [13]

Why it matters. One of those suits, Boulder County's case against the energy company Suncor, was heard by the US Supreme Court this month. [13] Scientists say the requests are legal but cost time and public money, and may make colleagues afraid to debate openly by email. [13]

The sea in the eastern Pacific is about 40 centimetres above normal, a University at Albany scientist told New Scientist. [14] El Nino pushes warm water east across the Pacific, which raises the sea there for months. [14] An Oxford team estimates rises of up to 40 cm in the Galapagos, up to 33 cm in Peru and Ecuador, and up to 13 cm in California, peaking around late November or December. [14] The east Pacific has had 22 named storms this season, more than a usual full year. [15]

Why it matters. In California, unusually high tides from the moon's cycles add about 5 cm, and the highest fall in Thanksgiving and Christmas weeks. [14] San Clemente, a California beach town, is already losing sand, and storm waves closed the railway along its shore several times in early September. [16]

Indonesia's president, Prabowo Subianto, has ordered a full overhaul of PLN, the state-owned power company. [17] He met ministers and PLN last week about making it more efficient and speeding up a plan for 100 GW of solar within three years. [17] PLN has a new head, Suroso Isnandar. [17] IESR, an Indonesian energy think tank, says PLN has had blackouts in several regions this year and leans heavily on government subsidies. [17]

Why it matters. IESR says PLN must earn from keeping the grid reliable, not only from selling power, if the solar plan is to work. [17] The head of Indonesia's investment board said the aim is fewer subsidies and better efficiency. [17]

Burundi signed a 25-year, $1.4 billion electricity deal with Anzana Electric Group, a company backed by the US government, Semafor reported on Monday. [18] It aims to connect more than 1.2 million homes and businesses through a local arm, Weza Power. [18] Only one in five people in Burundi had electricity in 2024, World Bank figures show. [18] The country has nickel, gold and rare earths, but power shortages have held back mining. [18]

Why it matters. The US government says the deal supports American supply chains, part of its push for minerals in Africa against China's lead. [18] A US-listed miner, Lifezone Metals, already has exclusive rights to study Burundi's Musongati nickel deposit. [18]

Bangladesh plans a 70 MW solar plant on an unused ash pond at the 1,200 MW Matarbari coal power station, due to start in December 2028. [19] The state-owned coal power company will build it, with the European Investment Bank expected to help pay. [19] The site already has security walls and power lines nearby, which cuts costs. [19] Prime Minister Tarique Rahman asked for faster building as fuel shortages hit the country's power supply. [19]

Why it matters. Bangladesh wants 20% of its electricity from renewables by 2030, and has cut import taxes on solar equipment from 17% to 1% for 180 days. [19] A 442 MW solar plant is also proposed on spare land at another coal plant, Rampal. [19]

ACME Solar signed a contract with SECI, the Indian state agency that buys clean power, to supply 300 MW for four hours a day outside sunny hours. [20] Solar panels will charge batteries in the day, and the batteries will deliver 1,200 MWh after the sun goes down. [20] The price is 6 rupees, about 6.3 US cents, per kilowatt-hour. [20] ACME must keep the supply available at least 90% of each month. [20]

Why it matters. The contract pays for power at night, when solar panels alone cannot supply it. [20] ACME now has 4,310 MW under construction with signed buyers. [20]

FERC, the US agency that oversees power grids, approved a plan on Friday for ISO New England, the region's grid operator, to review utilities' repair projects on old power lines. [21] These projects have usually been built with little outside review. [21] From January, ISO New England will report on each one's need, its value for money and the alternatives. [21] Two FERC commissioners urged other regions to do the same. [21]

Why it matters. States and consumer groups have asked for more oversight of these projects. [21] Ohio's consumer advocate says utilities there planned more than $4.3 billion of them with too little review. [21]

Toyota will build the next Corolla, including a fully electric version, in China from 2028, the Japanese paper Nikkei reported. [22] FAW Toyota, its joint company with China's state-owned FAW Group, will make it alongside hybrid and petrol versions. [22] The Corolla is Toyota's best-selling car ever, with more than 57 million sold since 1966. [22] Toyota's sales in China fell 23% in the latest month, its seventh drop in a row. [22]

Why it matters. Building in China is expected to cut Toyota's costs and speed up development. [22] It is not yet clear whether the electric Corolla will be sold in the US. [22]

Yinwang, the car business controlled by Huawei, signed a deal on Monday to use the battery-swap network of CATL, the world's biggest battery maker. [23] At a swap station a car drives in and has its empty battery replaced with a charged one, which CATL says takes 99 seconds. [23] Its Choco-swap network had 2,520 stations in about 200 Chinese cities on 29 September. [23] No car models or dates were announced. [23]

Why it matters. Electrek notes that swapping works across brands only if carmakers share one standard battery pack, and CATL makes roughly 40% of the world's electric car battery cells. [23] Its partners already include GAC, BAIC and NIO. [23]

Volkswagen opened orders in Germany for the cheapest ID. Cross, a small electric SUV, at 27,995 euros, about $31,500. [24] This version has a 37 kWh battery and an official range of up to 324 km. [24] It is built in Pamplona, Spain, and is the electric twin of the T-Cross, VW's best-selling small SUV. [24] A version with a bigger 52 kWh battery went on sale in July. [24]

Why it matters. It is the second model in VW's new low-priced electric range, after the ID. Polo. [24]

Arizona's first three fast-charging stations paid for by NEVI, a US federal program for electric car chargers, are open in Tucson, Green Valley and Wellton. [25] The program began in 2021, and the state took its first bids in January 2024. [25] In February 2025 the Trump administration froze states' plans, and Arizona cancelled 35 planned sites after losing about $48.1 million. [25] A judge ruled in January 2026 that the money had been unlawfully withheld. [25]

Why it matters. Arizona plans up to 79 stations with $76.5 million, and two more on the I-40 highway are due before the end of 2026. [25] Bids for another 49 sites are due on 15 January 2027. [25]

Endurance Energy, a Seattle start-up, said on Monday that it had made electricity from an undersea volcano. [26] Its 3-ton test unit sat about a mile down at Axial Seamount, roughly 300 miles off Oregon. [26] On 27 September it used hot water from a natural vent to spin a turbine and made about 60 watt-hours over 29 seconds. [26] A safety cut-out and then a broken cable ended the run. [26]

Why it matters. The company has raised $63 million and plans a 2 MW project with Tonga to cut the island nation's use of imported diesel. [26] A geologist told Canary Media that islands could more easily use cheaper solar and batteries. [26]

JinkoSolar, one of China's biggest solar panel makers, showed a new solar cell design called TAC at an event in Shanghai on Saturday. [27] It puts all the wiring on the back of the cell, so none of it shades the front. [27] Jinko says its factory cells turn more than 27% of sunlight into electricity, with a best result of 28%. [27] Its paper names no outside test of the 28% figure. [27]

Why it matters. In the first half of 2026 Jinko reported an outside-checked 27.2% for a different research cell. [27] A higher figure means more electricity from the same area of panels.

Suntoward, a Taiwanese maker of floats that hold solar panels on water, will open its first site in the Philippines. [28] It will make plastic floats, walkways and moorings in Pampanga from early 2027. [28] Floating solar projects won more than 2.2 GW in the Philippines' fourth green energy auction, several on Laguna de Bay, the country's largest lake. [28] Neither company gave the size of the investment. [28]

Why it matters. Suntoward's president said the factory brings its making closer to the region's solar projects. [28] Acen, the renewable energy arm of the Ayala group, plans 1 GW of floating solar on that lake. [28]

Six Green Party members of Norway's parliament have proposed making plug-in solar panels and batteries legal. [29] They are banned in Norway today. [29] The proposal asks for a national safety standard by the end of 2027, so kits that meet it can plug into an ordinary socket. [29] The MPs say an 800 W kit costing about 5,000 kroner, around $532, could give a household hot food and water in a crisis. [29]

Why it matters. They argue the kits would cut household bills and ease the peaks on Norway's grid. [29]

A study found that money from the Inflation Reduction Act, the 2022 US climate law, helped sitting members of the US Congress from both parties in the 2024 election. [30] No Republican voted for the law, yet 79% of its investment went to Republican districts. [30] Doubling the investment in a district added about 0.9 percentage points to the sitting member's share of the vote. [30] The researchers set out the findings in The Conversation. [30]

Why it matters. The Trump administration and the US Congress have since removed many of the law's tax credits, including those for buying electric cars. [30] The researchers say voters seem to respond to money arriving in their area more than to what it is for. [30]

Recycling aluminium uses only 5% of the energy needed to make new metal in a smelter, Canary Media reports. [31] Yet millions of tons of US scrap end up in landfills. [31] Americans threw away about 61 billion drink cans in 2023, worth $1.2 billion, industry groups say. [31] New US smelters need huge amounts of cheap power, at a time when data centres want it too. [31]

Why it matters. SAFE, a US think tank, published a report this month on the country's aluminium shortage and wants more recycling. [31] Only ten states pay deposits on drink cans, and New York's has stayed at 5 cents since the 1980s. [31]

An oil well plugged in 2006 is still leaking gas inside a new housing estate in southwest San Antonio, Texas, Inside Climate News reports. [32] Texas has replugged the Thompson Callaway Spears #1 well five times. [32] In June, contractors told the Railroad Commission, the state's oil and gas regulator, that methane was moving through the soil toward homes and could cause an explosion. [32] The homes were built around the well in the early 2020s. [32]

Why it matters. Texas suburbs are spreading onto old oilfields, and buyers are not always told what lies underneath. [32] A resident across the street said no one told her family anything when they moved in. [32]

Foxconn, a big Taiwanese electronics maker, agreed on Friday to buy half of Mitsubishi Electric's car parts business for 115 billion yen, about $727 million. [33] The two will run it together and develop electric car platforms to sell to Japanese carmakers first. [33] The business makes alternators and radar sensors as well as electric motors. [33] The deal is due to close on 1 October 2027. [33]

Why it matters. Foxconn has talked for years of building electric cars and is now buying into an existing supplier. [33] The business's sales fell last year, and it expects 820 billion yen this year. [33]

Volunteers grew and planted more than 1,000 tower mustard plants across London this year. [34] Tower mustard is one of the capital's rarest native wildflowers and feeds bees, butterflies and rare moths. [34] The seeds came from its last two London sites, in Bexley and Richmond-upon-Thames. [34] Two conservation groups, Citizen Zoo and Habitats & Heritage, led the project. [34]

Why it matters. The plants went back to parts of London where tower mustard used to grow. [34]