What mattered this week

Yemen, 11% solar. Lebanon, up 30×. Aleppo covered aLL the roofs. No civil servants involved.

Wait, what? Yemen has highest solar in Middle East. Lebanon's panel imports are up 30× since 2021 🤩. Aleppo's rooftops are saturated.

What bleeding heart liberal planned that? No-one. No subsidies, no green plan, no grid. Collapsed states, unaffordable diesel… and Chinese panels at $0.10/W.

The lesson? Where the state can't deliver, people install. The grid didn't get fixed. It got bypassed.Headline

Read more: The Invading Sea on Middle East solar; The Reynolds Centre on why the default answer to energy is now Chinese solar, not gulf oil

The missing gas isn't Iranian. It's leaking pipes.

Sorry, what? Oil & gas operations leak 200 bcm of methane a year. Hormuz is taking ~100 bcm off the market. The industry leaks twice the war.

And fixing it? A third can be saved at zero net cost — the gas saved pays for the fix. Why not, you ask? Well, why indeed.

Read more: IEA on why methane emissions are now energy security

Second largest tsumani in history was… last year. And it’s because our glaciers are disappearing

Sorry? August 2025, Tracy Arm, Alaska. A glacier retreated enough to destabilised a 900 foot thick rock face. The 100m wave ran 481 metres up the fjord wall - second-tallest tsunami ever recorded. Went higher than the Empire State Building.

Any one hurt? It’s a tourist boat spot, luckily empty at the time. Glacial retreat is now an real tsunami risk.

Read more: Earth.com 

One thing to worry about

The American West had its hottest March in 170 years of records.

11.5°F above mid-century baseline.

Not summer. March.

Berkeley Earth says it would have been "virtually impossible" without climate change Duh.

One thing to be optimistic about

In Mongolia, 6,000+ yurt households are moving to solar. Running electric heaters and modern appliances in their tents.

The steppe got electric. (UN)

If you’ve got more time…

The final objections to renewables are now dead 🪦. Solar + storage now delivers round-the-clock power CHEAPER than gas.

Read IRENA's new 24/7 renewables: The economics of firm solar and wind

• We’re at $54–82/MWh in good wind / sun regions

• Against $70–85 for new coal - that’s in China

• And $100+ for new gas power, globally (and you can’t get a turbine before 2030 anyway)

• And nuclear, costs much more and will take you 20 years

How? Solar PV costs down 87% since 2010. Batteries down 93%. Another –30% projected by 2030.

The argument was always: "yeah but what happens when the sun goes down?" The answer now: it's still cheaper than gas.

How do you like them apples 🍎.