Robbie Andrew

SATBA ramps up solar drive with over 5,000 MW under construction TEHRAN - Iran’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Organization (SATBA) has launched the installation of over 5,000 megawatts of solar power capacity at more than 850 sites across the country, as ...

Progress on solar in Iran.

Carbon sinks: Which countries are already at net zero? - Energy Monitor Energy Monitor takes you through the countries that claim to already be carbon sinks, with more carbon absorbed than emitted each year.

Bhutan, Comoros, Gabon, Guyana, Madagascar, Niue, Panama, Suriname, according to Energy Monitor.

Vatican strikes solar farm deal to become the world’s first carbon-neutral state Italy has agreed to a Vatican plan to turn a plot of land north of Rome into a solar farm that will generate enough electricity to meet the needs of Vatican City.

First? Not much of a deal when eight other states already claim to be carbon neutral?

Absurdly large table (only one page of several) of statistics in PDF format.

I'll see your biofuel data in PDF format and raise you Indonesian vehicle statistics in PDF format.

The letter Z isn't used in Norwegian except for foreign words and marketing. The language doesn't have the sound of the voiced S (zzz). That means Z is often pronounced same as S.
Which is why the fashion/lifestyle brand Boozt isn't meant to connote having a few too many of a Friday evening...

Graph showing: New Zealand new passenger car sales by type: Monthly

Update today for New Zealand, which was doing quite well until the new government removed all incentives.
S-curves don't model tech adoption when policy shifts so dramatically.
robbieandrew.github.io/carsales/

When CO₂ is captured from a mix of gases, you have to pull out only the CO₂, for which today we use amines (and have done so for almost 100 years). It's expensive partly because to release the CO₂ again you have to apply heat, and lots of it. When you have pure CO₂ already, this step is avoided.

SMA Mineral will be calling the product ZEQL (Zero-Emission QuickLime), pronounced 'sequel'.

in normal cement and lime production the CO₂ emissions from breaking down limestone are unavoidably mixed with the various combustion gases, making carbon capture expensive. By replacing the heat source with a plasma torch, the near-pure process CO₂ can be far more easily captured.

Both lime and cement production generate CO₂ in two ways: from combusting fossil fuels, and from the chemical process of breaking down limestone (CaCO₃) into CaO and CO₂. By replacing the heat source with a plasma torch, combustion emissions are avoided. And...

Lime is used for water purification, roadmaking, pH stabilitisation of soils, steelmaking, paper, mining, and a bunch of other things. In 2024, global production of lime was about 420 million tonnes (according to USGS).

World’s First Zero-Emission Lime Plant to Be Built by SMA Mineral - SMA Mineral SMA Mineral has decided to build a new pilot plant in Mo i Rana, Norway, the world’s first of its kind to produce quicklime entirely without carbon dioxide emissions. An agreement has been signed with...

📢SMA Mineral will build a zero-emission lime plant in Norway (Mo i Rana) using Electric Arc Calciner technology from Swedish company SaltX, which uses an electric plasma torch to generate the high temperatures necessary. Completion planned for 2027. This will be the first of its kind in the world.

A country has to have reached a certain level of development for the amount of recycled steel (from old infrastructure) to be sufficient to warrant use of electric arc furnaces. Iran is an exception, because of geopolitical circumstances.

Developed countries in particular make a fair amount of steel using electric arc furnaces, but they use part recycled steel and part pig iron (produced from blast furnaces). So in general you find electric arc furnaces where there is sufficient recycled steel available.

Iran has historically had plentiful access to natural gas but has had to import the coking coal necessary for blast furnaces (the most common way to convert iron ore to iron). So they use a different route, which produces sponge iron, and to make steel from that they need electric arc furnaces.

Good article but I feel this also goes beyond the national angle. The decline in the scientific dominance of the US won't just hurt them, it could delay global scientific progress where other states don't have the drive, resources or concentrated expertise to carry on the momentum. /1

Yep. Low GDP, low prices, long hours worked. At least according to that chart.

Collected vehicle registration data Frequently updated charts and data for new vehicle registrations across countries.

Updates today through July for India, Ireland, Italy, as the I's have it.

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

Irish car stats aren't easy to follow, with massive peaks in January and July. But July 2025 saw the largest ever number of BEVs sold in a July month, and almost the same as January's peak, both >4900. So far 17% BEV in 2025.
robbieandrew.github.io/carsales/

Graph showing: Californian new light-duty vehicle sales by type: Monthly

I should have written "decline in sales share", since the number of BEVs sold is about the same as the first quarter.

No, actually it wouldn't.
I apologise if my language was insensitive.

Ah, I see. Would have been helpful if you'd said that first. Yes, I'm aware of this, but didn't know it was upsetting. Most of the world knows it as the accident that happened at Fukushima. Yes, it's sad that this is the only thing most people know about this place.

Screenshot of Italian vehicle registration report for Jan-July 2025.

Top two BEV models sold in Italy so far this year (Jan-July) are Tesla Models 3 and Y.
unrae.it/files/08%20I...

Energy consumption of DRI method in Iran’s steel industry raises concerns Around 90% of Iran’s steel production relies on the Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) method, resulting in energy consumption levels four times higher than the global average. Growing gas demand, imbalances i...

Seems direct reduction with natural gas uses a LOT more energy than the normal blast furnace route with coking coal, but Iran is an unusual country in many ways.

Usually the main energy source by far is coal. It serves both as energy source and carbon source (for the reduction of iron ore). But seems Iran is heavily reliant on an alternative approach that starts with natural gas: direct reduction. Gas for iron->iron ore, then electric arc steel production.

This article takes a positive tone, but points out some of the headwinds.

But what are you actually saying? I'm not 'blaming' Fukushima, I'm saying that several countries changed direction after the accident at Fukushima when people became much more worried about nuclear safety. Do you somehow think Taiwan's decision was unrelated to the accident?

Iran’s steel industry grinds to a halt due to electricity cuts Nearly all steel production units in Iran have shut down due to severe electricity shortages, according to a senior industry official.

Iran is one of the top ten steel producers in the world. But "Nearly all steel production units in Iran have shut down due to severe electricity shortages" since late April.

Air pollution claimed 6,000 lives in Tehran over the past year, officials say Air pollution caused an estimated 6,000 deaths in Tehran last year, while the city has recorded just six clean-air days since the start of the current Iranian year in March, Tehran’s Air Quality Contr...

Interesting that an official agency in Tehran is allowed to say this.

Crypto mining accounts for up to 20% of Iran’s power shortage Iranian energy officials have sounded the alarm over the impact of cryptocurrency mining on the national electricity grid, saying that crypto mining now accounts for as much as 15 to 20 percent of Ira...

"Iran’s subsidized electricity remains among the cheapest in the world."
And yet the country has a power shortage. And 5% of power consumption is by crypto mining.