Hagen Engler

Global electricity generation from fossil fuels declines amid solar surge The share of renewables in the global electricity mix climbed to 34.3% in the first half of 2025, eclipsing coal (33.1%).

Global electricity generation from fossil fuels declines amid solar surge

theprogressplaybook.com/2025/10/07/g...

Well they have started with regional Conference eliminations.

Global CO2 emissions plateau Global CO2 emissions from the power sector fell marginally by 12 MtCO2 (-0.2%) to 6,963 MtCO2 in the first half of 2025. The decline was possible because solar and wind power exceeded demand growth and led to a slight fall in fossil fuel use. Without solar and wind growth, emissions would have risen by an estimated 236 MtCO2 (+3.9%) globally, which is equivalent to almost all emissions (251 MtCO2) from Africa in H1-2025. At the country level, there was significant variation. Among the four economies that account for the majority of global emissions (64%), emissions fell in China (-46 MtCO2, -1.7%) and India (-24 MtCO2, -3.6%), as clean electricity outpaced growth in demand in those countries. In contrast, emissions rose in the EU (+13 MtCO2, +4.8%), where strong growth in solar was outweighed by shortfalls in wind, hydro and bioenergy, leading to higher gas and coal generation. Emissions also rose in the US (+33 MtCO2, +4.3%), as clean electricity growth was smaller than demand growth, leading to an increase in coal generation, which was exacerbated by gas-to-coal switching.

A complete flip of the usual pattern we see in these updates - China's and India's emissions fell, and EU and US emissions increased.....

ember-energy.org/latest-insig...

@ember-energy.org

Robin Williams' daughter has some quality thoughts on AI slop

Bosa, Good and Rise Mzansi merge to contest 2026 elections Build One South Africa (Bosa), Good and Rise Mzansi have merged to form Unite for Change, ahead of the 2026 local elections. However, the parties’ current councillors, MPs, and MPLs will serve out the...

This is like a supergroup involving the keyboard player in Maroon 5, Judith Sephuma, the guy from Hootie and the Blowfish and someone who was a music journalist. Will totally vote for them! www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025...

BBC runs scared from Polanski’s truth-telling with embarrassing Kuenssberg spectacle Despite being both a Jewish person from Manchester and leader of a major party, the BBC ran scared from having Kuenssberg speak to Polanski

BBC runs scared from Polanski’s truth-telling with embarrassing Kuenssberg spectacle www.thecanary.co/trending/202...

Do these 4 bras always move together?

As a single parent I chose not to date while raising my daughter. Now she is 12 and her classmates are starting to date. She shows no interest whatsoever. Just wondering what's the nature/nurture on this. Does the idea of coupling have to be taught, or demonstrated? Surely not🤔

After a month of Summer I Turned Pretty I'm going to need some kind of palate cleanser really I am.

Brilliant! Pierneef vibes for me

“Terrible things are happening outside. Poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families are torn apart. Men, women, and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared.”

Diary of Anne Frank
January 13, 1943

Tawny owl

Six weeks ago, I picked up a year-old tawny owl with a broken leg off the main road near our home and dropped him off at our nearest vet.

After a few days, I received one of the most bizarre phone calls I’ve ever had, asking “So when are you coming to pick up your owl?” 🧵

War & Peace update: They just had the Battle of Borodino. Absolut bloodbath! Basically the pivot point of Napoleon's invasion of Russia, and perhaps life as we know it. Tolstoy outdoes himself. Could not stop reading. The insight into the essential nature of life and humanity is sublime!

Okay, I see what you mean. This is perhaps not the ideal time for an occasional excursion. I am of course at home reading Tolstoy and listening to Beehoven. But I watched the thing with the rugby jerseys and I say be grateful we did not lose, or there would be even more ruffness in the ruffians!

Boks fell into a nervy place in the last quarter, while Argentina had nothing to lose. But a valiant, deserved TRC win over the course of the competition.

Give it a chance, Matthew!

Eish sorry to hear about the smash-n-grab and good luck for your wedding! And wishing you financial tenacity and resilience for the month. Hold on to the lekkerness where we can!

Can already tell this month is going to put the mampara into Mampara Week. A few hundies would've been handy! 😭

They did an update. Giving grumpy sub-editor

To get a Bandcamp payment in US dollars into a PayPal account and thence into a ZAR account in South Africa is impossible.

The deals have been made, bud. These are the deals

So like a dictator waging war on his own people?

If the ANC can fix Eskom, they can fix the rest of our infrastructure and indeed our country. If they can materially prosecute the treason of corruption, that could give people a party to vote for who are not thieves, bigots, xenophobes or genocide apologists. Easier said than done, though.

Do you ever think about the fact that Wikipedia is the last good major website on the internet? You aren't bombarded with ads. It doesn't try to push video on you, and it doesn't redirect you to a scam site.

The total amount of eligible units sold in the secondary fell short of the $10 billion-plus worth of stock that the company allowed for sale, the person familiar said, which they interpreted as current and former employees demonstrating confidence in the long-term viability of the business.

I think I’ve read this paragraph 30 times. “They interpreted” is very easy to read as somebody trying to cope. Also: OpenAI themselves leaked that the round would be $10.3bn - up from the original $6bn. Why do that if you only expected another $600m? Was the interest not there?

Closing Central Madrid To Cars Resulted In 9.5% Boost To Retail Spending, Finds Bank Analysis City of Madrid significantly boosted the takings of its shops and restaurants last Christmas by banning cars from the CBD, finds an analysis by Spain's second largest bank.

Keep this in mind when people claim cars mean business — closing Central #Madrid to cars over holidays resulted in a 9.5% boost in retail spending on its main shopping street: STUDY.

There was also a 71% drop in air pollution.

Via @carltonreid.com in @forbes.com. #citymakingmath #citiesforpeople

Wow that is an extremely pretentious piece of typing! 😳

By 2050, total greenhouse gas emissions from polysilicon production are projected to exceed those of the entire aluminum industry, underscoring the importance of developing low-carbon solar supply chains.
☀️🔌💡

ok this breakdown of AI writing indicators is incredible. Huge shout-out to the Wikipedia community for this

Dunno about that. Even if far from spotless, his tenure was a long time ago. Still 🤷‍♂️