Christoph Bertram

Wow, amazed to see that they still are so popular. Are so many people just indiferrent to the owner's politics, or even supportive? Or do you think it's more that they still offer the most convenient charging experience, especially for road trips through Europe?

Jane Goodall on stage being interviewed at the Global Climate Action Summit in California in Sept 2018. Behind the people is a scene of a lush forest.

RIP Jane Goodall. As someone who learned about her work in elementary school, it was pretty cool as an adult to see her in her 80s on stage at the Global Climate Action Summit in 2018, talking about the advantages of eating more plants/less meat for animals, our health, nature, and the climate. 💚

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Lots of new climate targets aka #NDCs coming in this week, many having BAU based targets, here the overview:

🎯 Russia: GHG reduction of 65-67% by 2035 (vs 1990 )
🎯 Bangladesh: GHG reduction of 20.31% by 2035 (vs business-as-usual)
🎯 Mauritius: GHG reduction of 40% by 2035 (vs BAU)

Buy the Ebikes! 🚲⚡️

I should also flag the upcoming 2026 AASHE decarb academy for you, @jeffmanuel.bsky.social, and anyone else following.

bsky.app/profile/alex...

That can be the case, especially if you have lots of HPC or other high demand lab stuff on campus, but if it is more mostly buildings with offices and seminar rooms that need power, heat and coolness, then it can also be more than 30% or higher, especially after tackling efficiency

How cold? So cold that energy demand in winter is > summer? In any case, solar on-site (particularly on parking lots, but also larger buildings) can make a meaningful contribution, but the economics of course improve a lot if summer demand > winter demand (as is the case here at UMD).

Webinar: Experts discuss what China's new climate pledge means for the world - Carbon Brief Carbon Brief hosts webinar with China climate policy experts to discuss assessments of what the NDC means for China’s emissions pathway.

Thank you to everyone who joined our webinar on China’s new climate pledge🎙️

Thanks also to our panelists: Li Shuo @laurimyllyvirta.bsky.social @rynacui.bsky.social @anikanpatel.carbonbrief.org @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org

If you missed the webinar, you can watch it here ⬇️
buff.ly/zUSLhUp

Would be interesting to see a survey in US: "Do you think that electric vehicle sales as share of total vehicle sales are higher in Thailand or the US?"
I have the impression that many Americans are not aware of how the US is far behind in a clearly superior technology that will dominate the future

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New working paper out: "Four scenarios for an @ipcc.bsky.social navigating Artificial Intelligence"

Led by @hollyjeanbuck.bsky.social, with @shinasayama.bsky.social and Oliver Geden

Thread 🧵

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I'm on my way to Vienna to participate in the first Overshoot Conference, at IIASA.

I'll present in the theme of "Highest possible mitigation ambition under overshoot":
"Towards a framework for aligning national mitigation scenarios with 1.5°C in an era of overshoot" with @roisinmoriarty.com

I'm not American, so I can't confirm that this is un-American, but it's certainly unIntelligent.

Germany lost both the exports to China, but also a significant share of exports to third countries to competition by Chinese EV manufacturers, so Ingolstadt would probably be in a much better situation with a faster and more ambitious green transition. Allowing Audi to stick to ICEs instead...

Limits academic mentions? Trans rights are human rights. Get lost.

“Maryland led all states with a 49% reduction in per capita CO2 emissions from energy consumption between 2005 and 2023, as the state’s total CO2 emissions fell 43% and population grew 11%.”

Two years after the Nazis came to power, they changed the name of the 'Reichswehrminister' (Minister of Defense) to 'Reichskriegsminister' (Minister of War) and even before that had all military personnel pledge an oath to Hitler instead of to the constitution
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_...

Roosevelt Events

Join me and @greenprofgreen.bsky.social on Tuesday at 1 pm ET to discuss her new book, "Existential Politics: Why Global Climate Institutions Are Failing and How to Fix Them."
events.zoom.us/ev/AtXUfZzc-...

My fantastic colleague @rynacui.bsky.social is now also on bluesky!
If you miss the webinar on Monday, or want to read our analysis on High Ambition for 2035 for China and 11 other large emitters (currently incorporating the new China targets):
www.country-ambition.cgs.umd.edu/

Great to see this product of work over the last half year with many great colleagues at @ctrglobsust.bsky.social launched.

What are possible high ambition emission pathways until 2035 for major countries, and their implications in the electricity sector and for fossil fuels? Find out 👇

GHG emissions in China from 1990-2023, and in future scenarios under "Current Policies" and "High Ambition"

Headline number of Chinese 2035 NDC just announced:
7-10% below peak level, "striving to do better", also 3600 GW of solar and wind.
According to our analysis www.country-ambition.cgs.umd.edu/china
this is more in line with what "Current Policies" will already deliver, rather than "High Ambition"

🚨 Two postdoc openings in my group at Princeton!

-Position 1: Multi-scale energy modeling
- Position 2: Incorporating political economy insights into energy modeling

Reviews begin mid-October. Please help spread the word!

More: www.weipengenergy.com/opportunities

CGS Research Director Ryna Cui will discuss China's #NDC on a @carbonbrief.org webinar next Monday.

To track the performance of countries in meeting their NDC goals, visit CGS's new Country Climate Ambition website: www.country-ambition.cgs.umd.edu

For more on how to understand a good target, visit @ctrglobsust.bsky.social’s new website on country climate ambition: www.country-ambition.cgs.umd.edu

It was an honor to attend the #UNGA Climate Summit and hear from UN Secy. Gen. António Guterres and @lulaoficialbluesky.bsky.social about the importance of #ClimateAction as countries finalize their #NDCs.

This chart from Rush Doshi is one of the most important in the world - from his great NYT oped.

Too bad the US president does not get it.

The article is better and more nuanced then the headline. What it omits however is that the announcement also included the "striving to do better", which is an acknowledgement of the fact that faster and deeper reductions in Chinaare also doable (beyond those abroad you rightly mention)

China’s plans to cut emissions too weak to stave off global catastrophe, say experts Xi suggested US not rising to the climate challenge in his UN speech, but critics say new cuts fall ‘far short’ of what is necessary

Very mixed feelings abt this headline & interpretation. No country is doing enough on climate. But the *indirect* effects of China's green industrial policy are HUGE, & catalyzing big parts of the energy transition. Both natural and social science are needed to understand impacts. #COP30

Graph showing: Chinese new passenger car sales by type: Monthly

The rise and fall of the internal combustion engine, China edition.
robbieandrew.github.io/carsales/

Onward. Forward. Steady. Things have really changed. Now I need your help.

ICYMI yesterday: I need your help
 
I re-launched my newsletter at a new platform called “Steady” – and most importantly, I officially started my new life as a full-time independent writer.
 
I am extremely excited this moment has finally come. And I am utterly terrified.

The worst part of the announcement is not shown in this figure though: as the reduction is expressed relative to a non-specified peak level, China would be in compliance with the target even if emissions increase further (say 8%) until 2029, and then only go back to 2024 levels in 2035