If you read one thing on climate this week, read this - renewable growth is off the frickin' chart!
I started this newsletter looking for hope within the climate chaos and oh boy! Has it been found in the ongoing rise and rise of renewable energy. Here I detail why I think this.
I have covered renewables in this Substack a few times and since starting this project I’m lurking on a few Reddit spaces on energy (as well as climate) and while this will have an element of confirmation bias, once you start looking for stories on renewables, the big thing that strikes you is that renewable growth is off the frickin' chart!
Let’s dig into it some examples:
At the top of the list is the story of Uruguay, which because it had no domestic oil supply and because oil prices were so turbulent, was forced to find a solution; renewables. This story is a great read on this journey, and by the end you have a country powered by between 90% and 98% of renewables. Those numbers are amazing! So it is very possible to ditch fossil fuels: Uruguay proves it.
The experience of Uruguay tracks with a global trend of an ever-increasing growth of global renewable capacity. According to the IEA, this growth is at the fastest pace ever. We can see this in the graph below, showing how the IEA keeps needing to up its projections of future renewable growth! (Source)
This assertion by the IEA is backed by a paper published in Nature Communications on the momentum of the solar energy transition. In it the authors state that we’ve probably passed a tipping point in solar that means it’s going to be cheaper and easier than alternatives even without more changes in policy! “Due to the reinforcing co-evolution of technology costs and deployment, our analysis establishes quantitative empirical evidence, from current and historical data trends, that a solar energy tipping point is likely to have passed.” (The full report is worth a read!)
Over in the US, the money is in place now for the largest clean energy infrastructure project in US history! The amount is $11 Billion and while I don’t know how this may (or may not) connect to Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, it is clear that the mix of technology and policy in the US is moving the needle in the right way.
Even with all these impressive gains, the technology is far from sitting still. Here’s just two examples of innovation in a sector that is poppin’ off! One is a ‘Wind Panel’ which would allow the generation of wind energy without needing turbines mounted high up with huge blades (though that does work and very well!). Another comes from a world-record breaking new wind turbine tower which reaches 150 metres high! Finally in this section are innovations in ‘rooftop wind’ which if it follows through adds to the impressive tally of rooftop solar!
Collectively this shows the huge trajectory we’re on. It is impressive - yes it needs to go faster and yes there will be those trying to stop it. But where we are with renewables is that the momentum is with them and if we keep pushing in that way, there are many more gains to be made. Let us hope this is the future and let us use hope to power action!
(Image - Wind turbines in northern Uruguay)
PS. A note on hope - I liked this from Katharine Hayhoe; “I find there’s a lot of misunderstanding about what hope is. Many mistakenly believe it is positive thinking or even denial, when in fact real hope begins with a clear perspective on exactly how bad things are and how much worse they could get, before envisioning the better future that action can bring.” I agree!
PPS. A note on Substack - As a user of the platform, I have noticed the worrying accounts of how this platform has basically nazi writers making money from it. That is bad and I don’t think any platform that wants to be a serious space can allow this for long. I am pondering if I should stay here. Currently I don’t monetize (nor plan too for now) so I’m not giving Substack any means to cash-in on my work here. Many writers whose views I value have moved (see here and here) which I respect. However as someone who has been involved in politics for many years, there’s a difficult point of when/if to move from a platform as in the past I’ve been in groups that have moved off a space for moral reasons yet ended up ceding the space to those very people. Which is fine if they are the only ones there but less fine is there are also a lot of unaligned people they can proselytise too. So right now I’m thinking I would not monetize with the current policy but as I’m gaining an audience from here, I don't want to leave the space just yet. I very much hope Substack moves in the right direction on this point. You can contact them here.