What will cheer you up this week

Electric cars are better in all ways… mainly SPEEEEED

Aren’t you forgetting “quiet, efficient & no coughing children?” Ha! Focus on the important stuff.
How fast? Rimac’s EV demolished ALL (well, 24) car world records. In one day. 1.6s to 60mph. 0-249mph-0 in 25 seconds. Etc 🤪🤪🤪
Best commentary: Motortrend “Bonkers on a whole new level.”

Q. Why is solar Ireland’s favourite energy source?
A. Because it keeps… Doublin’ 🤣

You crack me up. But, remind me how meteoric solar is? From 1954 we waited until 2022 for 1 terawatt of PV. Second came in 2024, and the third - later this year. Doubling every 3 years.
Texas records. Hit 28GWe this week, nearly 40% of daytime grid. Then batteries kicked in 6GWe for the evening. (@douglewinenergy)
EU records. 22% of all power in June. 13 countries broke records. (Ember). Coal demolished to 6% from a quarter a decade ago. 👏
Read more: The New Yorker: “46 billion years on, The Sun is having a moment”

25% truck sales now electric in China. No-one saw that coming

Big surprise. Sales up a crazy 175%. Forecasts of 80% market share inside three years.
Diesel down? Losing 6.3% this year. Down 40% by 2030.
But, chargers? They’re installing plugs. Not hard.
But, cost? Cheaper, silly (over full lifecycle).
Read more: Reuters

One thing to worry about

Last week Derek Thompson looked into life in 1776. And the energy story ain’t pretty.

• Heat was such a luxury that Thomas Jefferson couldn’t write in winter - his ink froze

• George Washington spent equivalent of $15k a year on candles to beat the darkness

• Firewood was 28% of US GDP 😅

For all the problems of our energy system, let’s be grateful for what it gives us. Going backwards (‘degrowth’) is not the answer.

Tech is the answer. And we have the tech. Let’s roll it out. 💪💪💪

One thing to be optimistic about

Puerto Rico runs 62,000 Tesla Powerwall batteries. Coordinated, they are a virtual power plant.

But Jesse Peltran points out, there’s nothing “virtual” about these power plants. Last week, they saved the island from blackout. Systems with batteries are more flexible and resilient.

And now costs getting so low you soon you’ll store the power from $1,000 panels in $300 batteries. 🥇

If you’ve got more time…

Some climate history. In 1610, global carbon suddenly dipped.

Why?

Answer: “The Great Dying”. Following the introduction of European diseases into the Americas, about 56m people perished.

Millions of hectares fell out of cultivation. Trees took over, sucking in carbon and methane - and creating the coldest point of the ‘little ice age’.

For more, read this thread from Ryan Katz-Rosene.