Positive Climate News from October 2024 - If you're in the US, vote, vote, vote! (Plus much more from around the world!)
We are days away from a major climate election and there is a positive move US voters can make, plus more global positive climate news for your monthly fix!
Another month and another climate election - this one is a major one! (Probably THE major one!) Going forwards now I think we have to see all elections now as opportunities to move the needle in the right direction of stopping climate chaos. Victory here is not voting for the ‘ideal’ candidate who can’t win, but being pragmatic and voting for the candidate that moves us closer to where we need to be. (I’ve written more about this here)
“I Think of Voting as a Chess Move, Not a Valentine.” Rebecca Solnit
(Day 5 of construction at the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon - Source)
So you’re you are eligible to vote in the US election, as it is a two-person race, the climate-positive vote is Kamala Harris, sure some may argue she is not ideal in terms of climate policies, the current administration she is part of did pass the largest piece of climate legislation in history, she is pro-renewables and - most importantly - actually accepts the science. The alternative is a guy who does not accept the science, has a weird hatred of wind-power and will undo what progress has been achieved. So please do what you can - iwillvote.com - for voting and Hopium Chronicles for links to more actions you can take.
So for this issue, the US based positive climate news is going to take centre stage!
Continuing to invest in clean energy has and will continue to pay dividends—from growing American-owned manufacturing capacity to lowering costs in the long term to building greater energy independence. This is what a winning bet for America actually looks like, and it is only possible under a Harris-Walz presidency.
(Source - Evergreen Action)
US Positive Climate News
US per-capita carbon emissions are now down to levels last seen in WW1, yup, WW1!
An MIT study shows that altering driving behaviour can result in major savings of energy (Source)
‘Game-changer’: UC Berkeley chemists develop powder to suck carbon dioxide from the air (Source)
Mother Jones; Even Solar Energy’s Biggest Fans Are Underestimating It
Positive Quotes
Great quote from New Scientist
Earth is now gaining less heat than it has for several years, “It doesn't support a doomist narrative”
Interview with Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Ph.D:
I also want to be very clear that we already have most of the solutions we need—from restoring ecosystems, to green buildings, to public transit, to reducing food waste, to renewable energy. We just need to implement them...quickly! … And you know what? Even regardless of the outcome (which we can’t control), it will feel so incredibly good to have been part of the effort (which we can). Truly, every tenth of a degree of warming we can prevent, every centimeter of sea level rise we avoid, every bit of nature we protect and restore, really matters.
Interview with Rystad Energy founder (soft paywall):
Q: When are we going to see peak oil consumption, peak fossil fuel consumption?
Jarand Rystad: I think peak coal is very soon. It could even be this year or next year. We are close to peak thermal in China, most likely this year or next, meaning coal and gas electricity generation. China is half of the coal market, so it’s very relevant.
We’ve done global, huge and positive things before, we can do it again! Here’s a graph of % of kids dying under age 5 going from 43% to 3.7% in 100 years:
(Source)
Global Positive Climate News
A reminder of how fast things are changing - the IEA thought that by 2030 it might be that 5% of global energy came from solar. 7 years before that prediction date (of 2023) we’ve reached 5.5% and the line is going up! (Source) Things are changing fast!
“Between August 2023 and July 2024, nine countries saw solar alone exceeding 80% of their hourly domestic demand – this includes 🇳🇱 and 🇬🇷, where solar at times surpassed 100% of demand” (Source)
Yes, things are changing globally! This is the moment the UK’s last coal-powered power station went offline for ever!
(Source)
Australia - First solar panel recycling plant in Queensland opens, expected to recycle 240,000 panels a year
Austria - Hearing via beer 800 homes near the Puntigam brewery are heated using waste heat upcycled by two large heat pumps.
Africa - 20 nations have joined forces to build a ‘green wall’ to protect against desertification.
BRICS nations - will hit their clean energy milestone: Fossil fuels to drop under 50% by end of 2024 for first time
Brazil - Batteries cheaper than new gas plants for Brazil’s reserve grid capacity
More Brazil - Brazil surpassed 4 million consumers benefiting from photovoltaic energy in distributed generation (Source)
China - Renewable energy generation has turned energy prices negative! (Yes, negative!)
More China - 60% of the world’s renewable capacity is expected to come from China.
More China! China Unveiled Another Massive Wind Turbine
More China!! China’s EV and high-speed rail boom is already curbing global oil demand, data shows
Yup, More China! China! China's largest offshore wind project has been connected to the grid
Chile - Renewables made up 74% of Chile's electricity mix in September
Colombia - The country launches a $40 bln investment portfolio for energy and climate
More Colombia! Medellín, a city in Colombia, has COOLED its average temperature by 2C by planting an, impressive 2.5 million plants and 880,000 trees (Source)
Great Britain - Another brewer is using beer-production to generate heat, cheers!
Finland - “Finland just had its best-ever month for wind energy. Wind made up 28% of electrical output in September, according to Ember data” (Source)
Lithuania - The country has now reached a whopping 60% of wind + solar as a share of total electricity generation making it number 3 in the world (Source)
Switzerland - The Swiss are trying carbon capture via the biggest CO2 vacuum ever (Source)
Technology, Culture and More News
EVs are just going to win - Because they're a superior technology, and superior technologies win (Source)
Japan has made a groundbreaking advancement in hydrogen production by continuously generating it for 3,000 hours using a Spanish material (Source)
Renewable energy firm NoviOcean has developed a groundbreaking Hybrid Energy Converter (HEC) that harnesses wave, wind, and solar energy (Source)
When you need mobile energy in a set location - use a kite! (Very cool idea!!)
This is interesting - Enhanced weathering is a promising technology to permanently remove CO2 from the atmosphere
Thank you all, see you next month and a reminder - if you can vote in the US election, please do vote!
PS. A note on format here, where you see text in italics, I’m quoting directly from the source. Below each image (in brackets) is the source for that image. Thanks.