Interesting stats on EVs and energy use in the US, developments in wind and tidal power, a plastic recycling microfactory, and an "unprecedented collapse" in EU fossil fuel generation.
According to the head of the International Energy Agency, our chances of staying within the 1.5°C limit on global warming have increased thanks to the “staggering” growth of renewable energy and green investment in the past two years.
IEA executive director and leading energy economist Fatih Birol says that much more still needs to be done but that the surprisingly rapid uptake of solar power and electric vehicles around the world gives him cause for hope.
“Despite the scale of the challenges, I feel more optimistic than I felt two years ago,” he is quoted as saying in this Guardian article. “Solar photovoltaic installations and electric vehicle sales are perfectly in line with what we said they should be, to be on track to reach net zero by 2050, and thus stay within 1.5C. Clean energy investments in the last two years have seen a staggering 40% increase.”
Of course just because solar and EVs have had a huge uptake in recent years, that doesn't mean everything is sunshine and roses. But hearing the head of the IEA say he thinks net zero by 2050 is possible at our current rate of transition seems encouraging.
