Peter

Decoupled: how Spain cut the link between gas and power prices using renewables | Ember Spain has some of the lowest wholesale electricity prices in Europe, largely owing to the country’s strong solar and wind growth which reduced the influence of expensive coal and gas power on the elec...

Spain has some of the lowest wholesale electricity costs in Europe. What can we learn from this?

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

The Climate Change Paradox | Quanta Magazine Earth’s climate is chaotic and volatile. Climate change is simple and predictable. How can both be true?

Climate Change Paradox

No one will ever be able to say we weren't warned.

Meet the Hidden Architect Behind America's Racist Economics Nobel laureate James Buchanan is the intellectual linchpin of the Koch-funded attack on democratic institutions, argues Duke historian Nancy MacLean

Only money nerds will know about this guy but Buchanan was quite possibly the most evil economist in history. (Oh, of course he won the Nobel)

All the warning signs are flashing....

Global Electricity Mid-Year Insights 2025 | Ember Solar and wind outpaced demand growth in the first half of 2025, as renewables overtook coal’s share in the global electricity mix.

Ember report from 7 October shows promising progress in renewables adoption. Feels good to see some hopeful news.

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

How close are we to solid state batteries for electric vehicles? Superionic materials promise greater range, faster charges and more safety.

Good explainer from arstechnica on solid state EV battery technology and market dynamics.

arstechnica.com/cars/2025/10...

Xi winning.

The ‘profound’ global impact of China’s rise as an electrostate The country’s companies now dominate many clean technology industries

“I think China is using [clean technology] in a very, very geopolitically savvy way, taking advantage of America’s stupidity and regression back into a petrostate. China just wins. America has abrogated the playing field.”

www.ft.com/content/013e...

Whether you like it or not, this is our painful truth in America.

Not a good time to be doubling down on fossil fuels while also hamstringing renewables. But here we are.

BS running hot today for sure.

hockey stick

A deeper dive into the Earth’s Energy Imbalance Ladder A quarter of a century of satellite data tells us a lot about the different aspects and drivers of the accelerating global warming and resulting climate changes.

Thanks to Dr Tom Harris for this detailed explanation of Earth's energy imbalance.

drtomharris.substack.com/p/a-deeper-d...

Look at this and try to imagine the future thats coming for us.

Chartbook 410: Malign coincidence - MAGA & the moment of hyperscaling. The engagement of big tech with the Trump Presidency has been one of the big surprises of the second term.

insightful and scary from Adam Tooze

adamtooze.substack.com/p/chartbook-...

Follow The Money

Global clean energy transition 2015-2025 is huge!

Renewables UP 109% to $780 billion
Electrification UP 131% to $344 billion
EE UP 42% to $429 billion
Nuclear up 64% to $74 billion

Oil DOWN 34%
Gas DOWN 19%

Coal grew but is ~33% of RE.
www.iea.org/reports/worl... #energysky

A Tale of Two Countries Two superpowers, one behaving pathetically

Bill McKibben on the current moment - a moment the USA plans to miss badly.

billmckibben.substack.com/p/a-tale-of-...

Insurance in the Polycrisis | Kate Mackenzie & Tim Sahay The future is triage on an uninsurable earth.

Phenomenal World with a detailed update on insurance, climate risk and signaling. My hope has been that insurance markets will pave a path to rational climate policy. We'll see.

www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/ins...

Excellent thread. Looks like China is in the lead to shape much of the next world economy.

Here are 10 provocations on climate and energy. Tell me if you agree, disagree or have a nuanced take. Drop your own provocations in reply or quote post.

Start:

1. By 2030, the use of air conditioning will lead to greater increase in electricity demand than data centers. And it's not even close!

Thanks to Zeke, some more of that pesky BS-refuting data.

pragmatism? more like appeasement.

Can We Afford Large-scale Solar PV? In the US solar energy has steadily risen in how much of our electricity it supplies.

Just found this post on Construction Physics (from May) with a cost analysis of large scale solar PV. Kind of a long read but very useful to help understand the financial dynamics.

www.construction-physics.com/p/can-we-aff...

Shout out to Brian Potter for the write-up.

How dumb and self-defeating this all is. Laughably absurd if not such a tragic example of an advanced country disassembling itself as fast as it can.

So much disturbing results being published.

Sigh.

I was really thinking about the country where I live. Coulda been clearer about that. Appreciate any gov't and institution that is taking the issue seriously.

Was there ever another time when government policy so failed to meet the moment?

So are the days of oil as a geopolitical choke point winding down? Solar in particular is on a favorable technology curve, getting less expensive and more effective each year.

Green is a bonus, a desperately needed bonus.

Shoutouts to Albert Pinto and Kate Mackenzie.