Stefan Thorburn

Map of groundwater reserves in Europe

In Europe, a division is emerging: the south and south east grow drier, including parts of the UK. Meanwhile, the North and North East, including parts of the UK, are growing wetter:

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From Copernicus: This shows how the expected date for breaching 1.5C has been creeping ever closer in recent years. The orange date shows the baseline for the extrapolation; the red date shows when 1.5C is breached based on the trend...

Removing Asbestos and Regulated Materials Key to Power Plant Decommissioning Decommissioning a coal power plant comes with challenges, but successful projects have begun with the surgical removal of asbestos and regulated materials.

www.powermag.com/removing-asb...

Why electrification, not repealing green laws, will save Europe's industry According to Oxford professor of energy Jan Rosenow, rapid electrification of Europe's industry, not rolling back the EU's Green Deal, will save European industry.

According to Oxford professor of energy Jan Rosenow, rapid electrification of Europe's industry, not rolling back the EU's Green Deal, will save European industry.

Good morning with good news: Poland's coal plunged from 91.1% of its electricity in June 2015 to a record low monthly share of 42.9% in June 2025!

Down 48.2 points of market share in just 10 years.

How?

Mostly Wind/Solar.

They jumped from 4% in June 2015 to 38.9% in June 2025. #energysky

Won’t ‘break the bank’: Passengers say green jet fuel levy will not deter travel The sustainable aviation fuel levy of between $1 and $41.60 will kick in from October 2026. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

First levy on flying is far too timid...
"Singapore will impose a sustainable aviation fuel levy on flights departing from October 2026, ranging from $1 to $41.60, depending on flight class and distance."
www.straitstimes.com/singapore/tr...

Andrew Forrest says real zero is already the “winning business case” in three key fossil fuel guzzling industries Andrew Forrest says “game-changing” tipping point in renewables means “real zero” is the winning business case for even heavy fossil fuel guzzling industries.

Andrew Forrest says real zero is already the “winning business case” in three key fossil fuel guzzling industries #energysky -- via Renew Economy:

NEW data | Less than 50% of Australia's electricity generation came from fossil fuels in October 🇦🇺⚡️

This was the first month ever where renewables have overtaken fossil fuels in Australia's electricity mix.

10 years ago, in October 2015, fossil fuels made up 86%.

Half of the world’s habitable land is used for agriculture More than three-quarters of global agricultural land is used for livestock, despite meat and dairy making up a much smaller share of the world's protein and calories.

ourworldindata.org/global-land-...

Ranked: Countries With the Largest Forests in 2025 Discover the countries with the largest forests in 2025 and how just five nations hold more than half of global woodland.

Exactly 0.1% of all the carbon we capture from the air isn’t via forests. Top 10 Countries with Largest Forests:

1 Russia: 833m hectares (20.11% share of world)
2 Brazil: 486m (11.74%)
3 Canada: 369m (8.91%)
4 US: 308m (7.46%)
5 China: 227m (5.49%)
6 DRC: 139m (3.36%)
7 Australia: 134m (3.23%)

Shockproof: how electrification can strengthen EU energy security | Ember Electrification, using homegrown clean power, is the main tool to reduce the EU’s exceptionally high and risky dependence on imported fossil fuels.

Late night reading:
Denmark's car fleet is currently 12% EV.
Those EVs reduced oil imports by 11%
That saved about 225m euro.
From here: ember-energy.org/latest-insig...

There was another time that Denmark's oil consumption went down by 11%...

Yara is delivering on CCS. European policy must catch up. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is vital for industrial decarbonization. Yara leads with a major CCS project, but EU policy must urgently be completed to create a viable business case for low-carbon production and a mature CCS market.

Yara is delivering on CCS. European policy must catch up.

Whirlpool promises to fix one huge issues with refrigerators: 'The biggest innovation in refrigerator technology in the last 50 years' "There’s a lot of work to be done here."

tech.yahoo.com/home/article...

Going to highlight this one since I used to work in the biz.

Whirlpool developing a "highly porous powder" to replace polyurethane foam in refrigerator insulation, improving both energy efficiency and recyclability.

How BECCS Can Help Deliver Europe’s 2040 Industrial Carbon Removal Targets Achieving EU climate neutrality by 2050 requires new technologies, such as Carbon Dioxide Removals. Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) in particular offers a mature, scalable solution. Retrofitting existing biomass plants could meet 2040 targets, provided stable regulation, investment certainty, and coordinated CO₂ infrastructure are ensured.

How BECCS Can Help Deliver Europe’s 2040 Industrial Carbon Removal Targets

Solar panels installed on a bright blue body of water standing upright and facing east-west.

Floatovoltaics (solar on reservoirs) can be installed vertically too! In this way (facing east and west) they maximize morning and afternoon power generation and avoid overshadowing the water, keeping oxygenation high for aquatic habitat.
www.worldrecordacademy.org/2025/11/worl...

Finland has a goal to be net zero GHG emissions by 2035.

Emissions were declining, the LULUCF removals were strong, the plan was looking good, but then LULUCF collapsed.

Net GHG emissions have actually risen over the last decade!

www.treasuryfinland.fi/investor-rel...

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The U.S. economy has grown by $20 trillion since 2000 … about $7.7 trillion of that (36% of all the growth in GDP) is spending related to recovering from or preparing for climate disasters per Bloomberg Intelligence #EconSky

The Electrotech Revolution | Ember The annual slidedeck from Kingsmill Bond and the Ember Futures team unpacks how electrotech is rewriting the economics and geopolitics of energy.

Renewable energy is much more energy efficient than fossil fuels. EMBER-ENERGY has a new report that shows this quite clearly. Here's a 🧵 and the source to start: ember-energy.org/latest-insig... 🧪🔌💡☀️💨💧🔋

When gas passes

Wholesale electricity prices respond to market forces: renewables are now so cheap that, once they set the majority market price, everyone benefits (oh, except legacy fossil gas and fossil coal generators.)
www.linkedin.com/posts/raywil...

Zurich votes to ban petrol leaf blowers Residents of Zurich voted Sunday to ban the use of petrol-fuelled leaf blowers and leaf vacuums over noise and air pollution concerns in public and private spaces.

Go Zurich. Zurich votes to ban petrol leaf blowers share.google/ufg77ss63R1W...

"Our measurements show that wheat and grass-clover mixtures grow just as well between vertical solar panels as in open fields. At the same time, the panels produce electricity in a daily pattern that better matches energy demand. It's a win-win,"

Get these to Kansas ASAP

Perhaps the coolest thing I've learned from the rapidly-growing YIMBY tent -- the most carbon-efficient electric vehicle is one we've all used our whole lives:

The elevator.

Elevators not only move people under 100% electric power, they dramatically reduce pollution across the entire economy.

Vertical agrivoltaics in a temperate climate: Exploring technical, agricultural, meteorological, and social dimensions The combined use of land for agriculture and photovoltaic electricity production (agrivoltaics) could be a strategy to capture benefits for both crops…

Researchers installed two types of bifacial solar panels: traditional, south-facing tilted, and vertical, east-west-facing. Vertical panels produce higher ROI, as generation peaks coincide with morning and late afternoon demand #AgPV 🔌💡@commercialsolarguy.com
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The Electrotech Revolution | Ember The annual slidedeck from Kingsmill Bond and the Ember Futures team unpacks how electrotech is rewriting the economics and geopolitics of energy.

The electrotech energy revolution is here

The energy system is being transformed by the rapid growth of electrotech. Here's how.

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

#energysky

The winter peak is coming. There are numerous potential solutions out there, from right-sized heat pumps to geo-exchange (ground source heat pumps) and thermal storage to thermostatic control. Time to work on the right mix to meet the moment.

Electricity consumption for data centres is set to surge through the end of the decade

But this additional power use accounts for less than 10% of global electricity demand growth, outpaced by other sectors like industry & transport

Learn more 👉 iea.li/4lR8Ii6

Is the industrial sector hard to decarbonize or hard to model? A comparative analysis of industrial modeling and net zero carbon dioxide pathways This paper examines the results of the Energy Modeling Forum Study 37 on Deep Decarbonization & High Electrification Scenarios for North America (EMF …

You can check out the paper here:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 8/8

🚗💨 EVs are holding up better than combustion cars, says ADAC.

In 2024, ICE cars aged 2–4 years were 2.5x more likely to break down than EVs.

EVs on the road ↑ 97%
EV breakdowns ↑ only 46%

Decarbonization improves energy security for most countries Researchers analyzed trade-related risks to energy security across 1,092 scenarios for cutting carbon emissions by 2060. They found that swapping out dependence on imported fossil fuels for increased ...

Shifting away from fossil fuels by 2060 would improve energy security and reduce trade risks for most nations, says new study.
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202...