Not sure if you noticed, but as of yesterday, the UK only had one coal-fired power station remaining
UK coal use is now the lowest it's been since 1757
https://t.co/N9odr1x3wG
It's become a bit of a cliche to call it a paradox or a contradiction that China is building staggering amounts of both new clean power generation and new coal power plants.
It only is one if you fail to grasp the scale of China's electricity consumption growth, as most people inevitably do.
China today generates enough power from clean sources to power Germany SIX times over, up from two times a decade ago. In a few years, China's clean power generation will be equal to U.S.' total electricity consumption. China's power generation from wind&solar alone is about to hit three times Germany's total electricity consumption next year.
If China's power demand had stayed on 2009 level, the massive increase in CO2-free power generation would have made the grid 80% clean, instead of the current 33%. CO2 emissions from the power sector would have fallen by 75%.
What happened instead is that electricity demand doubled and clean power generation didn't keep up, while it did manage to increase its share from 20% to 33%. Predictably, the difference was delivered from coal, and CO2 emissions went up by 90%.
China now uses twice as much power as the U.S., after overtaking the country only in 2010. Put another way, China's additional power demand since 2010 is equal to the total consumption of the U.S.
60% of that electricity demand growth went to industry, mainly basic manufacturing like steel and other metals, cement, glass and chemicals, so it's really a function of China's extremely investment- and construction intensive growth model.
And no, it's not just about the size of China's population: per capita electricity consumption in China overtook Germany in 2022.
The good news is that China's clean energy growth is finally reaching the scale where it can cover all of the growth in power demand. This is happening even as power demand growth likely slows down with the economic slowdown.
These trends have been masked in the past year by the collapse in hydropower generation which is readily visible in the graph, but will likely become apparent in the year or two.
Most of the data for the post and the graph is from the amazing datasets of @EmberClimate.
In South Korea, they've covered this protected bike lane with solar panels - cyclists are protected from the sun, isolated from traffic, and it produces clean energy.
We have so many solutions. Implement them. #ActOnClimate#Climate#energy#renewables#GreenNewDeal
The U.S. Department of Commerce has made it official: It’s imposing import duties on Chinese solar manufacturers that have been evading tariffs and are "undermining American industries," according to the trade law arbiter. https://t.co/CjLeQis0gf
UK's largest community-owned 120-acre #SolarFarm backed
"Shares being sold to local people and organisations who then effectively become its owners, with any surplus revenue going towards funding projects of "community benefit"
#RenewableEnergy
https://t.co/WUUatmb6wK
Top 5 solar inverter suppliers accounted for 71% of shipments in 2022: Huawei, Sungrow, Ginlong, Solis, Growatt, and GoodWe emerged as the top solar inverter vendors in 2022, driving a significant portion of… #renewableenergy#solarenergy#sustainability https://t.co/xtBRGk38oS
The Inflation Reduction Act's "direct pay" provision could dramatically expand clean energy growth and boost community ownership for cities, tribes, nonprofits and other entities that don’t pay taxes.
Reporting by @jeffsaintjohn: https://t.co/iYQVVJIsSS
The permitting process is one of the biggest bottlenecks for residential #solar installations across the country. Check out how a @ENERGY supported and @NREL created platform has saved ~22,000 hours in permitting reviews at: https://t.co/7O70moEb7W
Newly installed solar PV & wind capacity is set to save consumers in the European Union €100 billion from 2021-2023
Wholesale electricity prices in Europe would have been 8% higher last year without the additional renewable capacity 👉 https://t.co/qheANkq9eM
Renewables could overtake coal as the largest source of electricity generation for the first time ever as soon as 2024 ⚡️
This is even earlier than expected, but reaching this milestone will require favourable weather conditions ➡️ https://t.co/6EaSdLt2XZ
Renewables could overtake coal as the largest source of electricity generation for the first time ever as soon as 2024 ⚡️
This is even earlier than expected, but reaching this milestone will require favourable weather conditions ➡️ https://t.co/LMvPPVffWU
European solar startup funding hits $6 billion in first 5 months of 2023: Total investment in European solar startups surged by nearly 400% year on year in the January-May period. Companies secured $6 billion… #renewableenergy#solarenergy#sustainability https://t.co/cbpv0vPYUV
The EU generated more electricity from renewables than fossil fuels for the first winter on record.
Renewables accounted for 40% of the electricity mix between October and March, with fossil fuels at 37%.
https://t.co/QcTbKJo4cQ