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What you need to know

Xi Jinping is doing more for your children than you are

That’s a bit strong. Well, I’m sure you provide healthy breakfasts & all, but are you investing $150bn/year in industrialised clean energy to provide a liveable planet?
It’s not only because he’s a nice guy. Nope, it’s for all-out domination of future industries: solar, EVs, batteries and offshore wind.
Next step? Geo-political leadership, if US exits the Paris agreement.
Read more: The Atlantic “Trump Is Handing China a Golden Opportunity on Climate”; The Economist “Mega-polluter China believes it is a climate saviour” (£)

BP dumps hydrogen: Observers hear nail hammered into coffin

But Andrew Lloyd Webber says hydrogen is the future! Yes, Starlight Express’s revival added a hydrogen train. But, ain’t happening.
Examples please. BP cancelled 18 projects. Orsted stopped the ‘hydrogen island’. Fortescue suspended targets, fired 700.
Why? Batteries are cheap & easy. H2 is expensive and a pain.
Read more:The Energy Mix on recent failures; @alex_avoigt on cancelled transport projects

How big can solar farms get?

UK? UK’s biggest at 850MW means… protests (Stop Botley)
China? How about 1,000MW… in the sea? (PV Tech)
Australia? 70,000MW. A single solar site, bigger than… El Salvador 😳🤯🥳 (Interesting Engineering)

One thing to worry about

The World Meteorological Association (WMO)’s annual report makes depressing reading.

One thing to be optimistic about

The Economist is more cheerful with “The energy transition will be much cheaper than you think.” (£)

Why?

• Renewable costs always fall faster than the models predict

• We will expand energy production anyway, so it might as well be clean

• Populations are not growing as fast as models, so future demand lower

And they updated one of the great graphs of all time.

If you’ve got more time, read this…

Michael Liebriecht pleads with the UK’s Tory Party not to drop Net Zero.

• The UK is a leader in energy, and it always has been. We do not need to wait for others

• The reality is that solar, EVs and China dominate. Nothing will bring back the North Sea, or speed up nuclear

• A shift to fossils will alienate centrists and younger voters - dooming the party to permanent opposition

Perhaps they should revisit one Tory’s warning, from 1989.

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