The Xylom

10/24/2025

This week, researchers from the George Mason Center for Climate Change Communication and the Yale Program on .change.communication released a new research article, “Advancing and integrating climate and health policy in the United States: Insights from national policy stakeholders.”

We invite you to our next news webinar on November 5th at 1pm, moderated by our Publisher and Editor, Alex Ip. Two of the study's authors, Drs. Julia Fine and Joshua Ettinger, will join us to discuss the findings of the study, how they play out in an uncertain federal environment, and the ways countries in the Global South can take action.

Tap the link in the bio to sign up.

10/03/2025

Hong Kong is a dense city with little space for large-scale energy systems. Relying on imported fossil fuels, electricity generation is the largest source of carbon emissions here. Only less than 1% of the city’s electricity came from renewables in 2022.

The city has found an important way to increase renewable energy: rooftop solar. In 2018, the government began offering a financial incentive program, Feed-in Tariff (FiT), prompting residents and non-governmental entities to install rooftop solar systems.

Although the FiT scheme has helped reduce the time to recover the cost of one solar system installation by nearly 25 years, installations have decreased every year since the launch of the program, and the government intends to sunset the program by 2033. What's next for Hong Kong's clean energy transition?

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香港地少人多，而且依賴進口化石燃料發電。在2022年，香港只有少於1%的電力來自可再生能源；發電是其碳排放最大來源。

該市找到一個增加可再生能源的重要方法：天台太陽能。在2018年，香港政府推出一個財政補貼計劃 — 上網電價（FiT），令居民和非政府團體更積極安裝太陽能系統。

在上網電價計劃推行之前，居民安裝太陽能系統的回本期是30年，現在只需3至6年; 然而，新申請宗數和新批準發電容量自計劃推出以來按年持續下降；現時，政府計劃將於2033年終止上網電價。究竟香港的潔淨能源未來何去何從?

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Read more／閱讀更多: https://www.thexylom.com/post/hong-kong-solar-power-tariff-renewable-energy-carbon-neutral-goal

📹: Selena Liang／梁錫嵐
🎬: Aorui Pi／皮奧睿

09/19/2025

Our 250th story:

Since last December, apple orchardist Suresh Boorish has been driving about ten kilometres uphill the Ropa Valley in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh every few days to bring back a special “fertilizer” for his crops: piles of snow.

This “white manure” hauled from the upper slopes has become an unlikely but essential lifeline for apple growers in the Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh. Without snow at their roots, apple trees in the region can’t grow.

“It’s only in the last 2–3 years that we’ve started doing this,” Boorish says. “Other than moisture, it also provided the plants with nutrients — almost like a natural fertilizer. But earlier, there was no need. The valley used to get enough snow. ”

As the quantity of snowfall in the valley shrinks due to warmer winters, apple farmers find themselves going higher and higher up the valley to bring back snow for their crops, something they never imagined doing. “It hardly snowed this year. Almost nothing in the valley,” the 35-year-old says, pulling his woolen cap down against the cold wind. “The trees are flowering, and this is when they need the most care.”

“At this point, it’s not about a good harvest — it’s about keeping them alive.”

Tap the link in the bio to read more.

09/01/2025

08/08/2025

NEW: “Solar energy is a green source of electricity, and I can earn income from it,” said Yintung Cheung, one of the first Hong Kongers to take advantage of governmental rooftop solar financial incentives via the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) Scheme.

It took Cheung less than four years to recoup the cost of his own 20kW solar power system; had the FiT Scheme not existed, it would have taken him three decades. 

In the ten years before 2018, when the FiT scheme took effect, only 200 non-governmental renewable energy systems were connected to the grid; since then, around 26,800 FiT applications have been approved, and around 25,000 systems have been connected to the grid.

Rooftop solar promises to thread the needle, taking advantage of Hong Kong’s dense, vertical landscape to provide clean, reliable, affordable energy. Yet, despite being one of the densest, wealthiest, and most energy-efficient cities in the world, halfway into the FiT program, only 0.8% of Hong Kong’s power comes from renewable sources. Why?

Tap the link in the bio to read more.

✍🏽: Selena Liang .journalist.selena
📸: Alice Chuck .serene, Alex Ip

Reporting for this story is supported by .

08/07/2025

NEW: Before his hearing loss became permanent, Ashok Suryavanshi noticed his ears had become worse and worse for six years. 

“I kept thinking that it would get better in a few days,” the 66-year-old said. But time passed, and he did nothing.

Those few days turned into weeks, months, and years until even the horns of passing vehicles in his village of Jambhali in the western Indian state of Maharashtra became barely audible. “I couldn’t afford to visit a doctor as I had to work the farms to make ends meet,” Suryavanshi said.

He finally visited an otolaryngologist, who initially prescribed ear drops that brought no relief. “He had warned us that it was too late and suggested only a hearing aid could help,” said Akkatai Suryavanshi, his mother, who is now in her 90s.

A growing number of studies have found an unusual connection between air pollution and hearing loss. Older populations living in underprivileged regions can be especially vulnerable to these risks, writes . Tap the link in the bio to read more.

08/03/2025

Congratulations to our Advisory Board members who won 2025 Journalism Excellence Awards:

· Priyanka Runwal, Excellence Award in Science/Environment/Health Reporting, and
· Yangyang Cheng (not pictured), Excellence in Audio Storytelling, Long-Form!

(📸: )

07/26/2025

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07/15/2025

NEW: We're excited to announce that critically acclaimed scientists-turned-writers Dr. Yangyang Cheng (right) and Priyanka Runwal (left) are joining The Xylom's Advisory Board, effective today.

Both are first-generation immigrants and this year's Journalism Excellence Awards winners.

"I have been a big fan and loyal reader of The Xylom for years,” said Yangyang. “I remember my astonishment when I learned how young its team members are, and continue to be deeply impressed and inspired by their dedication to truth and to stories that matter, which both represent the best of journalistic tradition and give one hope for the future of this embattled yet essential profession.”

“It's a huge honor to serve on The Xylom's advisory board. I'm looking forward to supporting and helping the newsroom navigate its mission to cover community-centric science and environment stories,” said Priyanka. “It's rare to find an immigrant-run newsroom serving an Asian American audience. I'm excited to lend my experience as a South Asian science journalist based in the US, but more so, learn from The Xylom's editors and reporters shaping critical stories that amplify underrepresented voices.”

Together with our current Advisory Board members, Tyler Jones, Betsy Ladyzhets, and Paola Rosa-Aquino, Yangyang and Priyanka will evaluate whether The Xylom's coverage best serves our audience, provide insights on reporting projects and fundraising, and connect us with peer reporters, newsrooms, and donors.

“At a time when stories of science and the environment occupy not only national headlines but the forefront of geopolitics, independent reporting from an Asian-American newsroom like The Xylom brings a much-needed fresh lens and transnational perspective to these critical issues,” added Yangyang. “The future of science and technology should not be dictated from the center, but must be fought for from the margins, and we need teams like The Xylom in this collective endeavor."

Tap the link in the bio to learn more about their appointments.

06/30/2025

UPDATE: Thanks to nearly 200 individuals, including eight of you on Instagram, we met our $7,500 fundraising goal on the first day we made a public plea and raised over $12,000 in a week!

Your generosity will keep our lights on through the summer, enabling us to do the accountability- and solutions-oriented science journalism that changes lives, with the depth and cultural competency you deserve.

Now comes the hard part: making sure we never have to do an emergency fundraiser again.

We're relaunching our fundraiser on FundRazr to raise $7,500 in monthly recurring donations. If you've previously given to our legacy Open Collective platform, you do not need to cancel your existing recurring donations; our payment processing software, Stripe, is set up to ensure your tax-deductible donations continue to flow into our account securely.

Let's close out the quarter strong and keep the only Asian American-run science news outlet running!
https://fundrazr.com/sustain-the-xylom/

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We grow science with words: the only Asian American-run science newsroom is independent, nonprofit, and led by Gen-Z! The Xylom needs to raise $7,500 in monthly recurring donations. Please help us go above and beyond!

06/29/2025

NEW: In a marathon, seven-hour rate case hearing Thursday, the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) weighed Georgia Power’s request to keep base consumer power rates frozen at their current level for three additional years.

The five-member PSC will likely vote to approve that request next week, which would extend the alternative rate plan that it approved in 2022 for the utility monopoly. That comes after the PSC has approved six rate increases implemented by Georgia Power since late 2022.

Unlike the 2022 plan, the proposed extension doesn’t include any pre-approved rate hikes, but there’s a catch. Georgia Power signaled it will file a separate rate case in 2026 to recover an estimated $860 million in storm costs, mostly due to Hurricane Helene, from its 2.7 million customers. It will also file a case to recover fuel costs from customers by February 2026. If the PSC agrees, that could further raise consumers’ power bills.

What’s more, if the PSC approves extending the 2022 alternative rate plan, Georgia Power will be allowed to defer certain costs for consideration for three years until its subsequent 2028 rate case.

This story is copublished by The Xylom and . Tap the link in the bio to read more.