Leaders in the geothermal industry came together last month and admitted a hard truth: Geothermal energy isn’t well understood by the public. And to change that, geothermal companies need to come together and work on clear messaging and visuals to help educate the world about geothermal’s potential.

To do so, Kristina Hagström-Ilievska, chief marketing officer at geothermal company Baseload Capital, brought big names in the geothermal market together for a Declaration of Communication to start a united campaign explaining what geothermal is.

“The [geothermal] bottleneck [is] always that I have to stop to explain it in order to continue to talk about it,” Hagström-Ilievska told Tech Brew. “This is actually a problem. We need more airtime to get more investments, but we don’t get airtime, so we don’t get investments.”

Geothermal is energy derived from heat stored within the earth’s crust, or rock underground. That heat can be in the form of steam or hot water. Geothermal energy can be used directly for heating or indirectly by converting it into electricity, and is extracted by drilling wells into the ground.

Because geothermal energy depends on pulling something out of the Earth, like oil and natural gas, it might not seem like a renewable energy source at first glance. But geothermal sources regenerate over time—some quicker than others—so “that energy is continually percolating up to the surface,” Cornell University Professor of Sustainable Energy Systems Jefferson Tester told Tech Brew.

Keep reading here.—TC

All eyes were on Tesla as the EV maker reported Q1 earnings Tuesday amid one of its most turbulent periods in recent memory, thanks to slowing demand, President Donald Trump’s trade war, and CEO Elon Musk’s controversial foray into politics.

Financial falters: Tesla’s net income plummeted 71% YoY to $409 million. The company would have reported a loss were it not for the $595 million in regulatory credits it sold to other companies.

Results largely missed Wall Street expectations. Revenue of $19.3 billion was down 9% YoY, while automotive revenue fell 20%.

Tesla said vehicle deliveries fell 13% YoY in Q1. Analysts have attributed Tesla’s recent woes to its outdated product lineup, growing competition in the EV sector, and Musk’s role in the Trump administration and explicit embrace of right-wing politics.

Analysts at Wedbush called it “a disaster quarter” but expressed optimism about Musk’s announcement that he’ll soon be stepping back from his role at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Musk said that, starting next month, he’ll resume a more hands-on role at Tesla—though he plans to remain involved at DOGE for the remainder of Trump’s term.

Keep reading here.—JG

It’s no secret that President Trump wants to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, landmark climate legislation that provides tax credits and deductions to businesses and homeowners who invest in clean energy technology. Despite threats to its existence, though, the IRA and its tax provisions remain standing.

But green tech buyers are getting cold feet: According to a recent report from environmental business think tank E2, 16 clean energy projects have already been scrapped in 2025, resulting in almost $8 billion in clean tech investments lost. E2 attributed the cancellations to “concerns over [the] future of federal clean energy tax credits.”

“Clean energy companies still want to invest in America,” E2 Communications Director Michael Timberlake said in a press release. “But uncertainty over Trump administration policies and the future of critical clean energy tax credits are taking a clear toll.”

Rob Kaercher, CEO of Absolute Solar, is experiencing this phenomenon firsthand. Absolute Solar is a Michigan-based solar, energy storage, and EV charging provider, and Kaercher told Tech Brew that clients are pausing or canceling their clean energy projects with the company because they’re nervous that they won’t receive tax credits.

“If you insert a little bit of uncertainty into the system, that has a ripple effect,” Kaercher said. “It’s frustrating, because the law is there. It’s working. There is bipartisan support for it.”

So Kaercher said he’s been reassuring customers that the IRS is still providing tax credits per the IRA, and that—if anything—now would be the time to purchase clean tech and recoup the incentives in case the IRA is repealed in the near future.

“I never thought I would be in a position where I would have to be reassuring people that the IRS will follow the law,” Kaercher said.

Keep reading here.—TC

Usually, we write about the business of tech. Here, we highlight the *tech* of tech.

It’ll be watching you: If you wear a smart watch or ring (or other “wearable” device that tracks your health info) and you care about data privacy (but perhaps don’t thoroughly read user agreements), this writeup from Healthcare Brew is for you.

Just browsing: Well over half of internet dwellers use Google’s Chrome browser. What happens if, as the result of ongoing antitrust trials, the Justice Department forces Google to sell Chrome? The Washington Post has notes on what breaking up Google could look like.