What mattered this week

Carbon Capture: Turns out most places… will leak it out again

What’s carbon capture? Big oil’s idea: burn the fossils, intercept the bad gases & pump into caverns. Brush the dirt under the carpet. No-one will know it’s there! 
Cool. What’s the problem? It won’t stay there. Only c10% of locations are safe. Not the legacy we want to leave.
Read more: Carbon Brief

Car battery prices plummeting, as EVs hit staggering 38% of new UK cars

Batteries dropping? Yes, & in Europe this time: down 27% over past 36 months. Forecast -28% by 2027. And dropping 46% more by 2030 (Transport & Environment)
EVs killing it AGAIN? Yes, I’m like a stuck record, but this INCREDIBLE: 50% of cars sold in the UK in August can run on electric power. A quarter fully electric. ⚡️😁

What have wind and solar ever done for us? Well, replaced half of OECD coal, for starters

And stopped your grandmother coughing? Yes. Huge air quality improvements.
Result? One-third of OECD (developed) countries are now coal free. Unthinkable in 2010.
Best commentary: @cleanpowerdave

One thing to worry about

Aide memoire as to why the whole carbon thing matters: The world’s temperatures have been very, very different in the distant past.

And if we don’t do something, will differ again.

One thing to be optimistic about

Many say solar means replacing farmland.

Let’s ask Mr Harpal Dagar of Delhi, India, who installed agrivoltaics (a fancy word for solar on stilts, with farming underneath) on his land five years ago:

“I believe it was the best decision I made. My income has tripled, and I sleep peacefully without the stress of climate or crop failure," he says. "Even the turmeric I grow on the same land is mine to sell. How can I complain?" (BBC)

If you’ve got more time, listen to this…

The world could be on the verge of an era of energy abundance. Not Trump - but huge quantities of renewable power at low costs.

The Angry Clean Energy Guy’s podcast is, for once, less angry. Well worth a listen.