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

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).

Next time you hear "heat pumps don't work in old buildings" remember this:

Ireland’s oldest surviving purpose-built residential building has a heat pump providing all of its heating.

Built between 1699 and 1702 the Rubrics Building is the oldest building within Trinity College Dublin. It's a Protected Structure and Recorded Monument.

https://www.irishbuildinganddesignawards.com/building-project-of-the-year/the-rubrics-building

Unthinkable just a few years ago:

For the first time renewables (wind, solar, hydro) produced more EU electricity than fossil fuels in 2023.

2/3 of EU electricity is from non-fossil fuel generation.

Source @emberclimate

Solar and wind outpace nuclear, gas, coal and hydro power when it comes to how fast these technologies ramped up.

Note this is NOT capacity but generation in TWh vs years since generating 100 TWh.

Great visual by RMI.

This excellent quote by British philosopher Bertrand Russel sums up my experience with social media in one sentence.

Happy Friday to all the reply guys saying how renewables are a terrible idea.

I hate to break it to you but >80% of new generation capacity built is now renewable energy, mainly solar and wind.

See the trend? Coal (black) and fossil gas (grey) getting squeezed more and more.

The end of an era:

10 years ago coal generated almost 40% of the UK‘s electricity.

In less than 6 months the last remaining coal power plant will be shut down.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/apr/21/end-times-for-the-uks-final-coal-fired-power-station?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

BREAKING: Largest German heating system installer Thermondo stops installing gas boilers.

The last fossil fuel heating system has been sold in February 2024.

The company will instead focus on heat pumps, solar and other clean energy technologies.

https://www.fr.de/wirtschaft/erfolg-fuer-habeck-groesster-heizungsbauer-baut-keine-gasheizungen-mehr-ein-92845094.html

"But what about all the energy and carbon emissions to produce wind turbines and solar panels?"

They pay off the energy and carbon debt within a few months.

After that their existence prevents the continuous burning of fossil fuels for decades.

Data from @emberclimate

Two things we keep getting consistently wrong:

1⃣ Vastly overestimating future coal demand

2⃣ Massively underestimating future generation of solar PV

Love these graphics from @rethink_x