- Jaiswal slams majestic 161 but Australia fight back in Perth
- Edinburgh's alternative tour guides show 'more real' side of city
- IPL teams set to splash the cash at 'mega-auction' in Saudi Arabia
- Olympics in India a 'dream' facing many hurdles
- Wounded Bangladesh protesters receive robotic helping hand
- Majestic Jaiswal 141 not out as India pile pain on Australia
- Giannis, Lillard lead Bucks over Hornets as Spurs beat Warriors
- Juan Mata agent slammed as 'cowardly' by angry A-League coach
- Marta inspires Orlando Pride to NWSL title
- Palestinian pottery sees revival in war-ravaged Gaza
- Main points of the $300 billion climate deal
- Robertson wants policy change for overseas-based All Blacks
- Israel retreat helps rescuers heal from October 7 attack
- Afghan women turn to entrepreneurship under Taliban
- Mounting economic costs of India's killer smog
- At climate talks, painstaking diplomacy and then anger
- Uruguayans head to polls with left hoping for comeback
- Trump's mass deportation plan could end up hurting economic growth
- Iran director in exile says 'bittersweet' to rep Germany at Oscars
- US consumers to bargain hunt in annual 'Black Friday' spree
- Cheers, angst as US nuclear plant Three Mile Island to reopen
- Scientists seek miracle pill to stop methane cow burps
- Australia ditches plans to fine tech giants for misinformation
- Developing nations slam 'paltry' $300 bn climate deal
- Red Bulls win 'Hudson River derby' to reach conference final
- Neuville wins world title after Tanak crashes at Rally Japan
- Neuville wins world rally title after Tanak crashes in Japan
- Colapinto cleared for Las Vegas GP despite heavy crash
- 'Smiling One' Amorim vows he has ruthless streak Man Utd need
- Marseille down Lens to stay in touch with Ligue 1 leaders, Lyon draw
- New Zealand beat 'proud' Italy in Cane's Test farewell
- Barca collapse in Celta draw without Yamal, Simeone hits milestone
- Thailand's Jeeno equals Yin for lead at LPGA Tour Championship
- New Zealand beat Italy in Cane's Test farewell
- Marseille down Lens to stay in touch with Ligue 1 leaders, Lyon held to draw
- Liga leaders Barca suffer late collapse in Celta draw
- Retegui fires Atalanta top of Serie A ahead of Inter
- Greaves hits maiden Test century as West Indies dominate Bangladesh
- Venezuela opposition calls for mass anti-Maduro protest on Dec. 1
- 'Fragile' Man City in uncharted territory, admits Guardiola
- Erasmus hails Springbok strength in depth after thrashing Wales
- Postecoglou calls for consistent Spurs after Man City rout
- 'We've never lived this situation' admits Guardiola
- Lebanon says more than 55 killed in Israeli strikes
- 'We've never lived this situation' admits Guardiola as Man City lose five in a row
- Under-fire Gatland 'motivated' to continue as Wales coach
- South Africa send Wales crashing to 87-year low in Test rout
- Spurs condemn Man City to fifth straight defeat as Arsenal win
- Defeated Leipzig lose more ground on Bayern, Frankfurt go second
- South Africa put Wales to the sword to wrap up season
Tech's green wave hits choppy waters
Tech entrepreneurs have spent years selling the dream that we can save the planet without changing our ways, but the current focus of innovation is dividing experts and investors.
The tech industry loves splashy world-saving ideas and spends billions on the hunt for new energy sources, often clashing with calls from activists and experts simply to use less energy.
The Web Summit in Lisbon this week, one of Europe's biggest tech events, gave top billing to a Californian firm called Twelve that claims to be able to make sustainable jet fuel out of the carbon dioxide in the air.
"In a lot of ways we're mimicking trees and plants," Twelve cofounder Etosha Cave told the audience, describing a process that takes carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and converts it into fuel.
Cave painted a picture of a future where her company's tech could power long-haul flights and even help exploit mineral wealth on Mars -- a utopian vision that has helped her firm raise some $650 million.
The interviewer on stage with Cave told her it "sounds like magic".
Climate expert Mike Berners-Lee, a professor at the University of Lancaster in the UK, told AFP that world-changing claims about sustainable fuel or new energy sources needed to be viewed sceptically.
"Everyone's looking for a silver bullet that would mean we wouldn't have to do anything difficult," he said.
More broadly, the green wave in tech is entering a tricky period.
While Twelve and other major startups are attracting massive investment, Bloomberg recently reported that funding for climate tech was on track to fall 50 percent this year compared with last year.
- Big losses -
And climate tech has long been subject to the whims of politics and global economic trends.
The current green wave is the second this century.
The first -- now called Clean Tech 1.0 -- was fostered by US politician Al Gore, whose calls for funding were met with an estimated $25 billion of investments.
The period ended in 2011 after the global financial crisis ended cheap loans and China ramped up its solar panel output, wiping out most US startups and roughly half of investors' cash.
But those investments were not wasted.
They led to an era of inexpensive solar and wind power and laid the foundations for the electric vehicle revolution.
Clean Tech 2.0 began around 2018 as companies and governments committed to net-zero carbon targets laid out by the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
However, the US has re-elected Donald Trump as president with support from many leaders in the tech industry.
Trump -- an avowed climate-change denier whose campaigning slogan on fossil fuels was "dig baby dig" -- withdrew the US from the agreement in his first term and analysts believe he will do the same again.
And the global fight against climate change is still fraught, with national leaders meeting for the UN's COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan this week divided on the idea of phasing out fossil fuels, the main driver of global warming.
- 'Severe reservations' -
All this leaves climate tech in a precarious moment, and startups without world-saving narratives are scrambling to get funding from a smaller pot.
Web Summit hosted dozens of them, hawking everything from blockchain-backed "virtual power plants" to smart widgets for stopping household leaks.
While some experts are cynical about the utility of these "shark tank" style events, Elisabeth Gilmore, a professor of environmental engineering at Carleton University in Canada, said she had no problem with young entrepreneurs making big claims.
"These innovations should be eyebrow-raising," she told AFP.
She said events like the Web Summit could focus minds, but cautioned that entrepreneurs must look beyond the profit motive and make products that help communities.
Berners-Lee questioned whether some of the most eye-catching ideas could be as good as they sounded.
"If these are real solutions that are ready to go, if they're as good as they look, they would be scaling up like crazy," he said.
Sustainable jet fuel, he said, was one of the toughest nuts to crack and would need major breakthroughs in storage and power usage.
Cave conceded on stage that Twelve needed "utility-level" renewables as well as power from the grid for her firm's plants, though she said it used far less land and energy than biofuels.
More broadly, Berners-Lee questioned whether the search for new power sources should even be an aim for humanity.
"I would have severe reservations about giving humanity an unlimited energy supply beyond carbon -- we're causing enough damage with the energy we've already got," he said.
O.Bulka--BTB