What you need to know

German industry hurting, tries another €12B energy subsidy sticking plaster

Why this matters? German energy-intensive industries remain down 17%, after billions in subsidised energy. Doubling down for 2024. Was the German industrial miracle really just cheap Russian gas?
Your challenge? Your basic materials need lots of cheap energy. If your suppliers relied on despots’ gas and shuttered a nuclear fleet - China eats everyone’s lunch.
Read more: Clean Energy Wire 

China’s Jinko shipped 22 nuclear plants worth of solar… in Q3 alone

Why this matters? 22.5GW 🤯- enough to power half the UK on a summer’s day, from one company, in one quarter. Read that again. Oh, at record low prices and 20% gross margins.
Your challenge? To love solar’s scale & cost, while coming to terms with China dominating now & forever. Yes, the upstream supply chain is stained by cheap coal and near-slave labour, but (a) be careful preaching, so was our industrial revolution, (b) it’s changing. You could also pay for Korean panels.
Read more: JinkoSolar results, Woodmac on China’s solar growth

Sunak makes eco-King promise oil. Uproar: predictable. Also: whole thing idiotic

Why this matters? PM Sunak made King Charles, an environmentalist, announce more North Sea drilling (‘to help net zero’ 🤷‍♂️). Cue, outrage. Yet - licencing always happens (see: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 etc). So announcing it: theatre.
Your challenge? To ignore politicians claiming local fossils reduces your energy costs. Oil & gas prices are set globally. Anyway, the North Sea is so over (see below).
Read more: UK Government’s announcement, Carbon Brief take down

One thing to worry about

Warmest. October. Ever. Another month, another record. 2023 is a banger.

One thing to be optimistic about

Lots of “EV sales are down” stories (even the FT).

But… EU sales up 63%. US up 60%. China up 34% (to nearly 40% of all sales, inc hybrids).

So much misinformation, as always.

If you’ve got more time, read this…

We solved one global atmospheric problem: acid rain, the most important environmental issue of the 1990s.

Hannah Ritchie (of Our World in Data) breaks down the lessons in this piece for Scientific American.

Thanks for reading. For the last 15 years, I’ve been founding energy transition businesses including Estover Energy (industrial biomass CHP), and co-founded 3ti (solar/EV charging/batteries in one). I sit on the board of Active Energy Group (high carbon bio).

My new business is Beaverbrook Energy - the energy services company of the future. Follow us on LinkedIn ahead of our 2024 launch.