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What you need to know

LA fires: Yes, it’s climate

But Don says it was the Democrats? California is 15% dryer, 5°C warmer and 20% windier (Climameter) . LA hasn’t seen rain in 8 months: A tinderbox. California needed to manage that, and didn’t.
What do we do? Teach your kids to spell this: A-D-A-P-T-A-T-I-O-N. We’re going to change where and how we live.
Biggest short-term challenge? Insurance: some places will lose coverage. No insurance, no mortgage.
Read more: Noahopinion: “Learn smart lessons from the LA fires, not stupid ones”; Take down of Trump talking points by Bulletin of Atomic Scientists

Toyota dumps hydrogen cars, finally

Good. Have they learned their lesson? Not entirely. Now say hydrogen for buses, vans and trucks.
But it’s batteries all the way? Yes. EVs better in all ways for all road transport. Hydrogen on wheels won’t happen.
Read more: FT.com (£)

China announces orbiting power station 1km wide, covered in solar panels, to send electricity to earth by laser

Um? Well, it’s feasible says European Space Agency. You just need a lot of money, a lot of scientists and a lot of balls. And put it 22,000km high…
Seriously, the Chinese are out of control. Yup. But mega-projects like this aren’t going to come from Peru or the Chagos Islands, are they? Or, sadly, Europe or the US.
Read more: South China Morning Post (£)

One thing to worry about

How long will it take you to use your 2025 personal carbon budget? A new Oxfam report has some estimates:

• If you earn more than $140k, you’re in the richest 1%. On average you will use your budget inside 10 days.

• The world’s poorest 50% will use their allowance up in… three years.

• And if you’re a billionaire? In 90 minutes (yes) you emit more carbon than an average human does… in their entire lifetime.

One thing to be optimistic about

Prices for battery minerals like cobalt, lithium and nickel have collapsed - even with increasing demand. (Reuters).

Why? Too many discoveries - as now we’re actually looking. Turns out we have more than we need.

If you’ve got more time, watch this…

Where does energy policy go in our Trump-led world?

Worth reading oil analyst Arjun Murti’s Super Spiked. He reckons Net Zero is well behind abundance and reliability. Next affordability and geopolitical security. Lots of cheap power for the apocalypse then.

• We’re in a power market super-cycle, with huge investment in electricity generation and distribution

• Natural gas and solar do well everywhere

• Wind and hydrogen do okay in niches

• Nuclear power and long-duration battery storage have longer-term potential

• Coal in developing nations is inevitable

• EVs do well but it’s not hockey-stick growth

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