Positive Climate News from September 2024 - We roll towards a major climate election in the US plus lots more amazing renewables news!
Find out how renewables are going up and up, oil demand may have peaked in China and why the US election offers a chance to make change!
A busy month has passed and I’ve gathered a lot of news to share with you - as ever there is plenty of worrying climate news that is easy to find, but remember every fraction of a degree of warming we stop, matters!
The format I use here is to cover the last month (September) for positive climate news. A big reminder positive change does not happen on its own; it happens by people taking action. Politics is one of the main areas you can act on and there is another historic opportunity in a month's time in the US to make that change - so please if you are in the US or can share with people in the US - get ready to vote!
Some other US election related links of note:
If Trump wins the election, this is what's at stake (spoiler, everything!)
The 10 Senate Races That Will Decide the Next Few Years of Climate Policy
Top 50 Biden-Harris Accomplishments for Combating Climate Change
Democrats Introduce Federal Bill to Make Climate Polluters Pay
Biden’s green policies will save 200,000 lives and have boosted clean energy jobs, data shows
Plan to vote; https://iwillvote.com/
If in US, take action;
Technology & Research Innovations
Human ingenuity moves at an ever faster pace and this is one of the areas that gives me hope. There are a lot of people working in a range of areas, some of which may herald breakthroughs that transform the battle against climate chaos.
(Image; Still from a video shows the inside of the JET tokamak during a shattered pellet injection experiment. Source. Notable as UK reveals next STEPs toward prototype fusion power plant)
We can’t rely on this area alone, but it's always good to hear what is going on!
Silent Wind Revolution: New Motionless Turbines Could Redefine Renewable Energy
Data centres are a major energy user, so this is positive; Startup spun out of Google's X 'moonshot factory' aims to revolutionize data centers
Huge, if we get the political will; 52 billion solar panels could soon be covering the American highway network. Researchers … have proposed a historic initiative which could see major global highways covered with solar panels.
The world's biggest electric ferry is being built in Tasmania, Australia
Renewables News
As ever, renewables continue to go from strength to strength, as it has month after month. This is a remarkable quote on how far and fast this area is coming on;
"In a single generation, the cost of solar panels has plummeted by an astounding 99%. The price collapse is remarkable. It also proves that energy markets are being propelled by technology."
Take for example this graph of Australia’s coal and renewables mix from 2000 to 2023;
(Image source here)
This section rounds of some more of this good news;
Globally we’re on track to install 29% more solar than last year (source)
Portugal; Renewables meet 75% of Portugal’s electricity needs in first eight months of 2024
The EU; The EU now generates more electricity from wind and solar than from fossil fuels
Middle East; Is this the oil-producing nations seeing the writing on the wall? Middle East oil states announce four mammoth solar projects totaling 7.5GW
India is moving on! India to add record renewables this year as green push gains momentum
Africa; A $90 Billion World Bank Plan to Electrify Africa Gets Underway
Botswana; Go Africa! Botswana launches tender for feasibility study on floating solar at dams
South Africa is seeing a growth of solar, for example this.
Brazil; Judge in Brazil orders slaughterhouses to pay for Amazon reforestation
Australia is seeing huge changes in the energy mix; The national grid has reached a halfway point, as strong winds & the continuing growth of rooftop solar brings coal generation below 50%, down from nearly 90% in the early 2000s!
Also in Australia, by lunchtime on 18th September, renewable energy facilities has produced more electricity than the country needed. Boom.
More! The world’s largest solar farm has been given the go-ahead in Australia!
Even more! Australia’s most powerful battery ready for commissioning after achieving grid’s biggest connection
Politics and People
The next big climate election is in the US (see top of this post) but the moves towards stopping climate chaos are everywhere. This caught my eye - Oil demand in China may be peaking; (Also here)
Oil products demand in China, long the driver of global crude consumption, peaked in 2023 and is forecast to decrease by 1.1% annually between 2023 and 2025, with the drop accelerating in subsequent years, a China oil researcher said on Tuesday.
Pretty huge if accurate, given Chain’s role in the global economy. Here is more posts on politics and people;
Past progress; we can do it, as the strong recovery of the Ozone hole back to 1908 levels shows
Climate communication - the science is in; if you talk about the consensus on climate chance, you increase support for action.
More climate communication; Both liberals and conservatives are more likely to support action that combats climate change when such action is framed as patriotic and a way to protect the status quo
Top future jobs? Working in clean energy
US (if you win this election!) is projected to reduce emissions by up to 56 percent over the coming decade
Making the right choices often leads to a cascade of positives, for example; If we switched to renewable energy, the number of ships crossing the ocean would fall by 40% because they're just carrying coal, oil, and gas!!
UK - More positive consequences from the UK election ousting a climate tepid party for one a bit more positive (not all the way there by any means, but better!); Renewable energy auction secures enough power for 11m UK homes
More from UK; Natural History Museum plans revamp to become climate ‘catalyst for change’
UK again, as coal use drops off looks like its not coming back! High court blocks Cumbria plan for UK’s first new deep coalmine in 30 years
Doing renewable energy as community project can not only stop CO2 but also power other positive change! Profits from community windfarm to fund a million native trees in Hebrides
Being pro-climate does not mean you have to be left-wing; Michel Barnier could be France’s greenest right-wing prime minister
EVs on the march (well, drive!) Norway: electric cars outnumber petrol for first time in ‘historic milestone’
Thank you for reading!
Please do share this news with others and keep using hope to power action. Why hope? This is why from Jane Fonda:
I don’t get depressed anymore. You know, Greta Thunberg said something really great: ‘Everybody goes looking for hope. Hope is where there’s action, so look for action and hope will come.’ Hope, Fonda added, is “very different than optimism. Optimism is ‘everything’s gonna be fine’, but you don’t do anything to make sure that that’s true. Hope is: I’m hopeful, and I’m gonna work like hell to make it true.”
Finally, some good f**king news