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- ⏳ Killer drones: Houthis find a use for hydrogen
⏳ Killer drones: Houthis find a use for hydrogen
Essential energy & climate intelligence
Max Aitken
March 16, 2025
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What you need to know
LOL: Trump wants gas, but it can’t be built - no supply of power stations
Why this matters? Soaring power demand needs gas, says Trump. But builders booked past 2030. And prices up.
The good news? Solar+batteries are available & prices dropping. Say hi to Xi from me 🫣 🇨🇳.
Read more: BNEF summary on X; Heatmap
Gas turbines: Shortage
Yes, an actual use for hydrogen: Powering Houthi drones over Red Sea
So someone is using fuel cells?! Yup. Quieter than batteries and has 3x the range, perfect to blow up a passing ship.
Make a crass joke for energy nerds Will the Houthis count the exploding target in their lifecycle emissions? 🥁
Read more: Conflict Armament Research
Captured Houthi hydrogen tanks (smuggled marked oxygen, read the article)
So much cobalt, Congo stops mining to raise prices
Why this matters? Fossil lobbyists spread the lie that we don’t have material for batteries/EVs.
The reality? We have tons of minerals, so prices are on the floor (see past editions).
Read more: Reuters on Congo’s export ban
Cobalt: cheap, spiking recently on Congo news
One thing to worry about
What is Extinction Rebellion all about? Lachlan Philips lifted the lid: Communism.
“[Extinction Rebellion] was never about the climate. It was about controlling you. Specifically, it was about mobilising 3.5% of the population into permanent revolutionary protest in order to trigger a Communist revolution. (Per Trotsky, Sharp, Hallam, Mao). This was told to me directly by some of the leaders of the organisation.
I tried to organise some programs to help businesses lower their carbon footprints … and I was told in no uncertain terms that solutions were counter to the goals of the movement and that I should stop.”
As I’ve said since the beginning of this newsletter, we need to be builders not doomers. De-growth crushes people. We need to create a better world.
One thing to be optimistic about
Electric cars might reach 35% of UK car sales, this month (GB News).
Even the right wing media see the future is here
If you’ve got more time, read this…
A must read for energy & climate professionals: JP Morgan’s 15th Annual Energy Paper “Heliocentrism: Objects may be further away than they appear”.
The message is the scale of the challenge: we’ve spent $9T spent so far, but renewables’ share of final energy consumption only risen from 12% to 18%. Advancing at a modest 0.3%–0.6% per year.
The good:
Solar has won market share faster than any energy source in history
EVs are cheaper than ICE cars now in China, still a little above in the West
Utility battery storage is booming, helping solar roll-out
The bad:
Natural gas has gained more market share than renewables this century
Electrification is constrained by slow growth of grid transmission lines
Heat pumps, carbon capture and green hydrogen aren’t living up to their hype
Lots of good stuff, worth reading. For the casual reader, there’s a nice summary on X from John Arnold.
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