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⏳ Yes, you want an electric Range Rover
Essential energy & climate intelligence
Max Aitken
March 23, 2025
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What you need to know
Playing for the cheap seats: Kemi wholly, completely & unforgivably wrong
Why this matters? UK’s main opposition party dropped support for Net Zero in a rush to combat the poll-topping loonies of Reform UK.
Did they present a solid argument, with, let’s say, evidence? No. Zero thought & some outrageous claims.
Break it down? In a long must-read, Simon Evans goes toe-to-toe. Even The Telegraph’s Ambrose Evans-Pritchard thinks she’s bonkers 🤯.
What should we be doing? This, from the Energy System Catapult on how to get to Net Zero.
My take-
Physics doesn’t care what Farage thinks. Unchecked global warming would be catastrophic for the UK - public finances and everything else. “Net-Zero” is the only way to stop it (i.e. not putting more carbon up there)
Yes Kemi, there is a plan. For the UK, net zero is feasible by 2050. Good people have been working it out for years.
No, it’s not crazy expensive - Need investment, but 73% less than previously thought & likely drop further. Reduces bills from 2040 onwards (as far forward as 2010 is back…)
Renewables means security. No daily ships of fossils, nor Russia able to turn off the tap / ramp the price. Arguing China can stop our economy by halting panels is wrong. Once here, they work for 30 years.
There’s huge public support: Two-thirds UK backs net-zero by 2050
The world is moving with us. More than 80% of world’s population are covered by net-zero targets.
WTAF
Oz shows US how it’s done “That’s not a knife solar farm, this is a knife solar farm.” Rio Tinto smelter signs massive solar+batteries deal to replace coal
Why this matters? This is not greenwashing. This is Rio Tinto saving big money vs fossil energy.
And this is real industry? And how. Aluminium needs a lot of power: 600MWp solar with 2,400MWh batteries.
Were we expecting this? Yes, but not this soon.
The implications? Huge: solar and batteries will conquer all.
Read more: RenewEconomy
When this goes green, everything follows
One thing to worry about
Shocking temperatures across the world (@extremetemps).
Greenland: 20°C above normal
Algeria: Hottest March day in history at 41°C
Greece: 6°C above July average at night
Mexico: 47.5°C, highest Northern Hemisphere temp ever for March
Saudi: Minimum of 27°C across whole days
Kazakhstan: Earliest 30°C in history
And it is March… but I’m sure all’s fine 🤨.
One thing to be optimistic about
Waiting list for the electric Range Rover: 57,000 already. Released in November (CarsUK).
Admit it, you want one
If you’ve got more time, buy this…
We all need this dose of optimism from James Arbib and Tony Seba:
The root cause of our problems is “extraction” - the addiction to exploiting & destroying the planet’s resources for growth
This model is obsolete. New technologies, particularly solar, AI and robotics, mean we will now move beyond extraction
Today starts a rapid shift to a new world of abundance
I love this book - it reflects my central theme of this newsletter: We are human, we invent and we can solve problems: and create magic.
See what we humans did this week:
Deepseek is AI that costs pennies.
Unitree is Robots that cost less than a MacBook. DeepSeek + Unitree G1 = the future of cheap, scalable digital labor. It’s not science fiction anymore. ❤️🤖— Marc Benioff (@Benioff)
9:41 AM • Mar 22, 2025
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