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What you need to know

UK energy bills up, thanks to high gas price. Cost £1,300 per person since Ukraine started

Why this matters? UK’s power prices are set by global price of gas. Big rises globally, so UK bills are going up.
Government’s challenge? Analysts calculate the increased gas price since 2022 has cost the UK £90bn.
Read more: Cornwall Insight on power prices; ECIU on costs of war

California: Astounding growth in renewables

How much? Two months into the new year: Solar up 34%, gas down 28%, and battery use up 78%.
Wow. And despite it being winter, solar is touching 100% of grid some moments.
What does this mean? We’re in an unstoppable technological revolution 🥳.
Read more: PV Magazine

Finns smoke $10B on biofuel no-one wants

What? Neste (big Finnish company) invested billions to produce Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and biodiesel. But it’s expensive, so sales slow, losing a ton of money.
Why this matters? The world needs sustainable fuel. But we don’t want to pay for it. Hmm.
Read more: Reuters; FT(£)

One thing to worry about

Ice loss is accelerating, says a new report led by the University of Edinburgh.

• We’ve lost 6,542 billion tonnes, or 5% of all glacier ice, since 2000

• This has caused a 1.8cm rise in sea level

• Varies by region - Antarctica has lost 2%, the Alps have lost up to 40% of glaciers

36% more ice melted in the 2010s than 2000s. Right now, global ice is melting at 3 Olympic-swimming-pools-per-second 😣.

One thing to be optimistic about

China’s oil demand is falling.

Imports down 1.9% last year. Sales of petrol and diesel peaked in 2023. Predicted to fall by 25-40% over the next decade (Oilprice.com).

Why? Massive sales of Electric Vehicles, plus fuel efficiency rules.

If you’ve got more time, think about this…

Why is nuclear power not the answer to climate change?

Should be, shouldn’t it? Zero carbon, 24/7 power, impressive safety. France runs on it.

But, realities:

💰 Expensive . Nuclear is eye-watering to build: the only tech that has gotten considerably more costly over time. UK’s Hinkley Point C: originally £18B, now £46B. Dominion Energy in US saw a $10B plant hit $25 billion before… they just cancelled it.

🐌 Excruciatingly slow. We fret about safety, so the regulatory process takes years. Building requires the highest standards. Meanwhile, the climate clock is ticking and we’re burning gas. Hinkley was promised for 2025, but it’s at least 2031 now.

☀️💨 🔋Other things are better choices. Solar is quicker: a nuke’s worth of power can be running in under a year. That’s 20+ years of avoided emissions. And price: now same or cheaper. IEA analysis shows solar+batteries much cheaper in sunny places today. And every year, costs fall.

Yes, a functioning nuke is golden 🥇. Safe, economical, and churns out juice 24/7. But new ones? Delays, cost overruns, public freak-outs—you name it. 

The big hope is Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). Standardised, built in factories - they might be faster and cheaper. Might. At some point.

☢️ But right now, big nukes won’t solve the climate problem.

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