Notices by Jan Rosenow (janrosenow@mastodon.energy), page 2

After years and years of media reports that coal is having a comeback in the UK the last coal plant will go offline in just 2 weeks.

Coal in the UK is no more.

Credit for graph to Ketan Joshi.

After years and years of media reports that coal is having a comeback in the UK the last coal plant will go offline in just 2 weeks.

Coal in the UK is no more.

Credit for graph to @ketan

The use of gas will decline dramatically as part of the transition to net zero. Modelling at European level shows that by 2050 about 70% less gaseous fuels will be used.

But if fewer and fewer people use gas, how is the decline of the system managed, who pays for it and how does this work support a rapid energy transition?

Sign up for my talk at the University of Oxford here 👇

https://www.energy.ox.ac.uk/events/event/energy-seminar-week-8-gas-in-decline-what-to-do-with-the-gas-grid-when-we-no-longer-need-it/

THIS IS A HUGE ACHIEVEMENT:

The EU now generates more electricity from wind and solar than from fossil fuels.

Graph from Nat Bullard and data from Ember.

The UK government‘s target for near zero emissions electricity by 2030 will require monumental change.

Doubters will say that it‘s impossible. But if you said 10 years ago that in 2024 coal would be gone many would have laughed at you.

$7 trillion per year - that’s the amount of fossil fuel subsidies the world provides according to the the International Monetary Fund.

This includes both direct and indirect subsidies.

HT Assaad Razzouk

Range anxiety is frequently cited as one of the biggest turnoffs of electric vehicles.

Even as recent as 2021, the average range of an EV was just 217 miles (349 km), falling significantly short from the average gas car’s range of 413 miles (665 km).

Thankfully, as this infographic shows, EVs with over 300 miles of range are becoming more common.

Below are the top 10 EVs for 2023, ranked by their EPA combined driving range.

Coal once provided 70% of UK electricity. Soon it will be 0%:

On September 30, 2024, the UK's last remaining coal-fired power station, Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire, will close.

"If wind & solar were the answer, China would be building them at record speed." someone replied to my post on UK coal phase-out on X.

Good news: China IS building wind & solar capacity at record speed - almost 2/3 of world's utility-scale wind & solar under construction.

Will solar PV soon be the cheapest source of electricity in most places around the world?

This Nature paper says yes.

Most surprisingly this is AFTER including short- and long-term storage costs for renewable energy sources.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-41971-7#Sec6

Yes heat pumps work in very old buildings.

Here's an 11th century Norman church in Lympne, Kent that has been fitted with a heat pump.

My own 1880 Victorian house had a heat pump fitted in 2019 and it works very well.

More on why heat pumps work in old buildings in my piece here 👇
https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-18-misleading-myths-about-heat-pumps/

NEW RECORD: In July this year Germany broke a new record:

27% of all electricity generation was from solar, more than ever before in a month.

Source: Agora Energiewende

We continue to see misinformation about heat pumps being spread by parts of the media and on social media.

I debunked 18 common & largely misleading heat pump myths for Carbon Brief.

Don’t believe poorly informed commentators - listen to the evidence.

https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-18-misleading-myths-about-heat-pumps/

Who consumes the most energy per capita?

Top 15 countries ranked by energy consumption per capita in 2023.

Hard to believe but we're only a few weeks away from the beginning of the heating season.

Remember: "Heat pumps are the most efficient heating technology ever invented."

Find out more in my conversation with Switched On Australia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY-L2jlJU3E

A key factor for how many heat pumps get installed:

It is the ratio between electricity and gas prices (so-called spark gap).

European Heat Pump Association produced this helpful graphic showing that countries with the highest spark gap also see fewest heat pump installs.

Denmark is a global energy transition trailblazer.

Wind and solar now provide more than 2/3 of Denmark's electricity generation. In 2000 it was just 12%.

Fossil fuels used to provide 84% in 2000. In 2023 it was just 12%.

Data from @emberclimate

Wow!

More money is now going into solar PV than all other electricity generation technologies combined says International Energy Agency (IEA).

https://iea.li/3zxRsuC

When I was 14 I was told by a teacher in school: "You will end up in the gutter where you belong and never make a living."

Fast forward and I find myself graduating with a doctorate from Oxford University shortly after which I was appointed as a director of RAP’s European programmes.

What this episode taught me is that one should not pay too much attention to what other people say you can or can't do.

Coal is gone in UK electricity generation. Fossil gas is next.

For the first time wind and solar generated more electricity than gas (first 5 months of 2024).