Aaron Larson

For the 2024 NFL Draft, here is a breakdown of WISC's RB Braelon Allen looking at his college production, measurables, & film takeaways.

Artificial intelligence (AI)-based platforms have taken the world by storm. Perhaps the best known of these is ChatGPT. OpenAI, the company that developed the innovative chatbot, released the tool widely to the public in November 2022. Analysts have said ChatGPT crossed the million-user mark five days after launch. Less than three months later, it had more than 100 million active users, making it the fastest-growing consumer app in history. Other similar platforms, including Google Gemini, Microsoft Bing Bard, AI21 Studio, Mesa, and Cohere, have also experienced rapid growth.

The future of gas turbines and hydrogen are intricately intertwined. Gas turbine manufacturers know that they need their equipment to be ready to operate on higher levels of hydrogen as electrolysis technology advances, production projects come online, and clean hydrogen becomes more readily available to help end-users decarbonize their power systems.

Molten salt reactors (MSRs) represent a fascinating intersection of nuclear history and modern innovation. The concept of using molten salts as both a

There are several obstacles to overcome when building a clean-energy project, but perhaps the biggest is getting through the generator interconnection queue (GIQ). Every regional transmission organization (RTO) and independent system operator (ISO) in the U.S. has a significant backlog in its GIQ and processing interconnection requests can take years to complete. This has created a significant barrier to deploying renewable energy, as companies often face long wait times, and high costs for new transmission lines and other upgrades when the local grid is near or at capacity.

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) reported in March that the U.S. solar industry installed 32.4 GWdc of capacity in 2023, a remarkable 51% increase compared to 2022. It was the industry’s biggest year by far, exceeding 30 GWdc of capacity for the first time. Overall, photovoltaic (PV) solar accounted for 53% of all new U.S. electricity-generating capacity additions in 2023, making up more than half of new generating capacity for the first time. The utility, commercial and industrial, and residential sectors all set annual installation records, while the community solar sector was within 5 MWdc of an annual record.

The U.S. was one of the world leaders in solar equipment manufacturing a few decades ago, but then the Chinese stole the show. Now, however, American companies are finding a lot of new opportunities as a

It’s no secret that power grids around the world need to expand to accommodate more renewable energy and the so-called “electrification of everything.” The latter, of course, refers to the growing trend of using electricity to power various sectors and applications that have traditionally relied on fossil fuels, such as natural gas or petroleum-based products. The electrification of everything includes the push toward electric vehicles; the transition from fossil fuel–based heating and cooling systems to electric alternatives, as well as the adoption of electric appliances; and the shift to more electric motors, furnaces, and other electric-powered equipment in manufacturing processes. Add to that the expected power needed to supply data centers and the growth of artificial intelligence-related computing, and current estimates of 50% load growth by 2050 could be vastly understated.

It’s no secret that the U.S. electric power system has undergone a remarkable transition that continues today. Coal-fired generation, which was the leading source of power generation during the 20th century, often providing more than half of the country’s electricity supply, fell to about 16.2% of the mix in 2023. Meanwhile, the U.S. solar market installed 32.4 GWdc of electricity-generation capacity last year, a 51% increase from 2022, and the industry’s biggest year by far, exceeding the 30-GWdc threshold for the first time. Solar accounted for 53% of all new electricity-generating capacity added to the U.S. grid in 2023, far greater than natural gas and wind, which were second and third on the list, accounting for 18% and 13% of new additions, respectively.

Wildfires have had a devastating impact on California and on the state’s largest utility company, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). PG&E’s equipment has been linked to several major wildfires in the past including the 2018 Camp Fire (the deadliest wildfire in California history, killing 85 people, according to CAL FIRE, the state agency responsible for, among other things, protecting natural resources from fire) and the 2021 Dixie Fire (the second-largest wildfire in state history, burning more than 963,000 acres).