What mattered this week

India hits 50% non-fossil power target 4 years early 🎉

Fantastic! Sort of - but it’s 50% of capacity (theoretical size of power stations). Generation (actual hours running) is a different thing - that’s around 25%.
Coal down? Dropped 3% - but still building new coal plants😔
Read more: Reuters

Sustainability is good business - Morgan Stanley 😀

But it’s a post-ESG world? Yes: So it’s lucky being virtuous makes $$$.
Who says? Bleeding-heart bankers Morgan Stanley. 88% of companies surveyed say sustainability drives shareholder value.
Are they hurting? Climate impact is real. 57% of companies were disrupted by climate issues in the last year.
Read more: ESG News

One thing to worry about

Rivers are warming - so the fish are dying.

Yellowstone Park in Wyoming has just shut its rivers to fisherman, to preserve fish stocks.

Water temperatures over 68°F for multiple days due to high temperatures and low water flows (SFGate).

One thing to be optimistic about

Why electric cars are better, reason no.147.

An EV drivetrain has about 40 moving parts. An ICE vehicle might have 2,000-3,000.

Easier to build, easier to service, easier to reduce cost.

If you’ve got more time…

What does the fossil fuel industry think the outlook for oil is?

Arjun Murti is a thoughtful ex-Goldman oil trader who writes the Super-Spiked blog. In his latest piece “Obliterating Peak Oil Demand” he puts forward the argument that the IEA is wrong - oil demand will not reduce in the coming decades.

His arguments are:

• Fuel efficiency won’t increase, people want bigger cars (agree)

• EV adoption won’t be as fast globally as we’ve seen in Norway and now in China (disagree)

• 7 billion people without access to energy won’t want to remain poor: “a repulsive implicit assumption” that western countries make (fair)

The core of his argument is that while OECD countries and China are now reducing oil use, the rest of the world will pick up the slack.

I disagree - my view is that solar+batteries+EVs will be more attractive, and lift the whole world out of poverty. Cheaper. Cleaner local air. No need to be dependent on volatile fossil fuel imports.

Let’s see.