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by Brian Kaller

Hot composting offers a faster way to turn household and garden waste into useful soil. Also known as Berkeley composting, the method relies on heat-generating aerobic bacteria, supported by a careful balance of carbon- and nitrogen-rich materials. With proper preparation and regular turning, a compost pile can reach temperatures high enough to destroy weed seeds and many plant diseases, while processing organic waste in weeks rather than months. Brian Kaller explains the principles behind hot composting, the materials and ratios involved, temperature management, and possible uses for the heat generated. The method also offers practical benefits for reducing household waste and fossil-fuel use.

by Rahul Banerjee

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s target of 10 million medical tourists a year won’t create new capacity in Indian healthcare, it will pull capacity out of a public system that’s already short on it

We republish below the policy passed by the Scottish Green Party at its 2023 Autumn Conference. The party is affiliated to and works with Ukraine Solidarity Campaign Scotland, and its co-leader Ross Greer is one of USCS’s sponsors. You can contact USCS, and via it Green Ukraine Solidarity activists in Scotland, at uscscotland@gmail.com. For the … Continue reading The Scottish Green Party supports Ukraine

"Crappy ideas don't have to be forgotten to be abandoned"

Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri’s Empire became a campus sensation because it offered a master theory for globalization at a moment when old Marxist categories seemed exhausted. But the capitalist internationalism they saw as permanent has now crashed and burned.

It used to be that Americans turned to GoFundMe to pay off their medical bills in a dysfunctional, privatized health care system. Now they’re doing it just to afford groceries.

Recent weeks have seen a flurry of discussion over potential artificial intelligence doomsday scenarios. We shouldn’t forget that AI is already killing people, as it is increasingly used to direct weapons systems with minimal human oversight.

Welcome to Inside Climate, a podcast from the staff of Inside Climate News. Ahead of Climate Week NYC, Inside Climate host Jake Bolster speaks to U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and asks why so many Democrats are leaning away from climate messaging at a time when the fossil fuel industry’s influence is dramatically […]

Read this article in Chinese 阅读本文中文版. China’s electric grid has a dirty secret: Despite leading the world in renewable energy expansion, it is also the largest emitter of the planet’s most potent greenhouse gas. Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is a synthetic chemical that plays a critical role as an electrical insulator in high-voltage equipment. The gas is […]

Read this article in English. 中国的电网有一个肮脏的秘密：尽管它在可再生能源发展引领全球，它也是地球上最强效温室气体的最大排放源。 六氟化硫（SF6）是一种合成化学物质，在高压设备中作为电气绝缘介质发挥着至关重要的角色。这种气体无色无味、无毒、且不可燃。但它也是气候杀手，按等质量计算，其使地球变暖的效力是二氧化碳的24,300倍。一旦释放，六氟化硫会在大气中存留1,000年。 排放主要来自电力行业。该行业中将这种气体用于断路器和其他高压设备中，以防止电弧放电。六氟化硫几乎无法被破坏，是任何现代电网的关键安全屏障，确保电力只在需要时流向所需之处。然而，当中国的电气设备达到使用寿命终点时，其中大部分的气体很可能被排放到大气中。 早在2014年，中国政府研究员就警告称，六氟化硫“对全球环境构成重大潜在威胁”。然而，这种气候污染物的排放在中国仍是未受监管的。 中国生态环境部最近表示，中国电力企业当前回收—或有能力回收—其废弃六氟化硫气体的90%。然而，Inside Climate News估算，实际回收率要低得多，仅为30%。这些企业只需付出很低的成本，就能将回收率提高到约90%，从而大幅减少温室气体排放。 该分析参考了数百页的政府文件、中国主要电力企业的年度报告、经同行评审的研究，以及对数十位学者和政策专家的采访。根据这项评估，Inside Climate News估算，中国国有的输配电企业每年可将从电气设备中回收的六氟化硫量增加约1,400吨。这样做有望减少中国所有行業该污染物的总排放量近三分之一，预计每年成本约为600万美元，这仅占中国每年投资电网约700亿美元的一小部分。 如果把这种气体排放到大气，而不是将其回收，那简直就是一场三级火警，美国环境保护署前含氟温室气体排放分析师黛博拉·奥廷格在谈到Inside Climate News的评估时说道。“这是一项非常显而易见且可以立即实施的措施。” 生态环境部、位于华盛顿的中国驻美国大使馆，以及国家电网有限公司和中国南方电网有限责任公司，均拒绝就调查结果发表评论。国家电网和南方电网是两家国有电力企业，共同为几乎全国供电。 据2024年发表于《自然-通讯》期刊的一项研究，全球超过一半的六氟化硫排放量来自中国。尽管其他地区的该气体排放量有所减少，中国的排放量在2011年至2021年间几乎加倍，预计还将继续攀升。在2021年，目前有数据可查的最近年份，中国排放了5,100吨六氟化硫。这污染量相当于2,900万辆燃油汽车的年度温室气体排放量。 去年，全球大气中六氟化硫浓度出现了自1998年有记录以来最大的年度增幅，显示中国的排放量仍在上升。 “就全球变暖潜能和大气寿命而言，这几乎是最糟糕的温室气体。” 布里斯托大学大气化学教授、《自然-通讯》研究的共同作者马修·里格比说。“一旦进入大气，从人类的时间尺度而言，它就会永远存留在那里。” 减量化、再利用、资源化 1980年代末，当时西德一家化工厂的工人发现他们遇到了一个问题。他们生产的六氟化硫对“温室效应”有着异常巨大的影响。如果他们不做什么来解决，监管机构很可能会介入。 问题不在于化学物质本身，而是在于他们的客户—电力公司—如何使用它。当高压设备需要维护或达到使用寿命时，电网运营商会直接将六氟化硫排放到大气中。 比利时化工企业索尔维，在德国巴特温普芬设有一家工厂，转而与在欧洲的公用事业公司合作，回收这种废气。 索尔维前环境评估小组负责人赫尔曼·克雷林，曾于1990年代任职于该公司，负责评估六氟化硫的影响。他将索尔维的成功归功于将不同的利益团体汇聚到一起。 “不只是索尔维，”克雷林说，并补充道，设备制造商、电力供应商、监管机构，甚至环保倡导组织，都帮助塑造了这项回收工作。 1997年，德国环境部因其六氟化硫再利用项目，授予索尔维“欧洲回收奖”。 2000年代初，公司负责人在美国环境保护署主办的行业会议上分享了他们的所学。到2015年，德国和美国的电气设备排放量下降了三分之二或更多。 如今已经退休的克雷林赞扬了中国正在持续推进的可再生能源建设。然而，他称中国未能遏制六氟化硫排放是一场“灾难”。 索尔维近期也面临自身的排放挑战。2025年发表的一项大气研究显示，这种气候污染物在德国的排放量高于此前报告的水平，约为每年30吨六氟化硫。这些排放很可能来自德国西南部的一家化学品生产和回收设施；索尔维位于巴特温普芬的工厂是欧洲唯一一家此类设施。 12月，环保组织“德国环境援助协会”就污染对该公司负责人提出刑事控告。同月，索尔维与德国当局签署了一项协议，以减少排放并加强监测工作，该协议于5月被延长。 索尔维一名发言人在书面声明中表示：“测试阶段证实，索尔维的常规日常运营完全符合规定的平均排放限值。” 花小钱，办大事 全球最大的电力公司国家电网，2007年在三个省份启动了六氟化硫回收试验项目。中国环境保护部十多年前出版的一本书得出结论称，这项技术较为成熟，是电力行业近期减少温室气体排放最有效的措施，而且“其成本对于电力行业的整体成本而言并不大。 这本书的政策建议呼吁实施一个全国的六氟化硫管理项目，目标收集和回收再利用百分之百的废气。中国目前有超过30家回收中心，负责净化废气以供再次利用。然而，它们的努力似乎远未达到以上目标。 根据去年发表于《环境科学与技术》期刊的一项研究，截至2020年，中国电力行业每年仅具备处理需回收六氟化硫总量30%的能力。剩余的大部分气体可能被排放到大气中，尽管其中一部分可能被收集并储存起来。这些数据是基于对国家电网、南方电网以及数家在中国运营的气体回收公司行业专家的采访。 实际数字和他们的描述值得更仔细的检视。这项研究得出结论，在2020年，中国电力行业在总计2,518吨的废气中，具备回收727吨六氟化硫的能力。但实际回收量可能比这一回收能力所允许的更少。 国家电网和南方电网报告称，2020年两家公司合计回收的六氟化硫不到300吨。这表明，当年废弃六氟化硫的实际回收比例可能远低于30%。报告显示，在2024年，回收量增至635吨，这是目前两家公司均有数据可查的最近年份，尽管在此期间，需要回收的废气量可能也有所增加。 2024年，中国研究人员在中国广州的一场国际能源会议上报告了相近的回收量，约为每年600吨。 Inside Climate News的一项评估发现，这些公司每年花费约600万美元，就可以额外回收再利用1,400吨的六氟化硫，这还不到中国每年约700亿美元电网投资的0.01%。 这项评估部分基于美国环保署2025年的一项分析。该分析估算了在190多个国家的不同产业中，减少1吨二氧化碳或等量的温室气体需要多少成本。该机构估算，在中国电力行业，通过回收六氟化硫减少相当于1吨二氧化碳的排放，成本约为18美分。 相比之下，2025年发表在《环境科学与技术》上的研究显示，通过安装风力发电机减少能源生产过程中的二氧化碳排放，每减排1吨二氧化碳的成本为11美元。通过安装太阳能板减排的成本甚至高，每减排相当于1吨二氧化碳的成本为31美元 “如果你减少六氟化硫，你绝对可以花小钱办大事，”美国环保署前项目经理萨莉·兰德说。她曾主导与美国各行业的合作，聚焦于减少长寿命含氟气体的排放。 六氟化硫回收的成本数据，是基于美国和欧洲采用的方法，这些方法优先考虑在现场对气体净化和再利用。中国的回收高度依赖集中式的异地再生设施，这些设施能够生产纯度更高的气体，但建设和运营成本可能也更高。 Inside Climate News 无法获得集中处理设施的精确成本数据。然而，即便集中处理模式的成本是优先现场回收的 10 倍，大幅扩大回收工作的成本也会相对有限。 实际缺陷 […]

Democrats controlled the Senate and the presidency when Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse first sought to roust his colleagues from the chamber’s floor, warning them that they were sleep-walking into climate disaster. Fourteen years and more than 300 “Time to Wake Up” speeches later, the Rhode Island Democrat is again prodding members of his own party—but now […]

Nine days after Iran invaded Iraq in 1982, the Fourth International's Japanese section drew the whole conclusion its centre would take six months to reach. A lost document, online for the first time

by Prof. Suresh Deman

Xi Jinping’s China cannot be understood simply as a return to Mao or a continuation of Deng Xiaoping. This article examines how Xi’s leadership is responding to contradictions produced by decades of reform and rapid economic development. It traces Mao’s concern with bureaucratic privilege and Party accountability, Deng’s emphasis on developing productive forces, and Xi’s focus on Party discipline, anti-corruption, national sovereignty and Common Prosperity. The article argues that Xi has retained the economic and technological foundations built since 1978 while revisiting questions of socialist distribution, political discipline and ideological purpose. At the centre is Mao’s unfinished question of how the Communist Party can supervise itself.

by Eman Abusidu

Tension between American control and Venezuelan sovereignty lies at the heart of a broader geopolitical struggle over who will shape the country’s economic and strategic future.

by Pablo Stefanoni

Bolivia’s new era has also produced a powerful image: the exile of Morales in the Chapare, the subtropical region of the Cochabamba Department known for its coca leaf crops. Coca-growing peasant unions, which function like militias, are protecting the former president from arrest stemming from several ongoing judicial proceedings—including one involving the alleged abuse of a minor, a partner said to be underage when the relationship began.

by Ramon Capote

So far in 2026, Cuba has received a single shipment of oil: some 100,000 metric tons of crude donated by Russia—and nothing else.

by Vijay Prashad

Brazil holds around 23 percent of the world’s known rare-earth reserves but produces only a small share and lacks the industrial capacity to process these minerals into high-value products. As foreign companies move to secure Brazilian deposits, the country risks repeating a familiar pattern of exporting raw materials while retaining environmental costs and limited economic value. Vijay Prashad examines the growing rare-earth rush, its impact on rural and quilombola communities, and the technological choices shaping extraction. He argues for stronger public oversight, domestic processing, technology transfer, environmental safeguards, and investment in Brazilian research and manufacturing capacity.

by Claudia López Pardo

Bolivia’s persistent fuel shortages are exposing the limits of an economy built on hydrocarbon extraction. Long queues for gasoline, diesel and propane are affecting households, farmers and rural communities, while preferential access for agro-industrial businesses highlights unequal distribution. At the center of the debate is the Tariquía Flora and Fauna Reserve, where the government is promoting gas exploration despite opposition from communities that depend on the forest and its ecosystems. Claudia López Pardo examines the links between fuel scarcity, extractivism, energy policy and social reproduction, arguing for an energy transition that reduces Bolivia’s dependence on fossil-fuel revenues and protects territories andcommunities.

Instead of inspiring an awakening as filmmakers hope, The Uprising repeats tired liberal calls for “healing,” and, when those disappoint, turns to fantasies of individual violence. The real 1381 English Peasants’ Revolt, however, still inspires us centuries later.