In article by Fiona Harvey, Environment Editor of The Guardian called "'Staggering' green growth gives hope for 1.5C, says global energy chief," her optimistic view is encouraging. The subtitle adds more embellishment - "IEA's Fatih Birol says uptake of solar power and EVs is in line with net zero goal but rich countries must hasten their broader plans."
A few paragraphs add the necessary color:
"The prospects of the world staying within the 1.5C limit on global heating have brightened owing to the "staggering" growth of renewable energy and green investment in the past two years, the chief of the world's energy watchdog has said.
Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, and the world's foremost energy economist, said much more needed to be done but that the rapid uptake of solar power and electric vehicles were encouraging.
'Despite the scale of the challenges, I feel more optimistic than I felt two years ago,' he said in an interview. 'Solar photovoltaic installations and electric vehicle sales are perfectly in line with what we said they should be, to be on track to reach net zero by 2050, and thus stay within 1.5C. Clean energy investments in the last two years have seen a staggering 40% increase.'
But Birol also noted that greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector were 'still stubbornly high,' and that the extreme weather seen around the world this year had shown the climate was already changing 'at frightening speed.'"
While the final paragraph is a necessary caution, it is good to see some optimism in the struggle to accelerate renewable energy development. Two keys to greater growth are the development of infrastructure to harness and distribute the energy and improved battery storage when the sources, wind, solar, tidal et al are not at full tilt. It surprises me how quietly oil rich Texas developed electrical grids near the sea of wind mills created in the state. And, I love that at least five states in the US Midwest are getting more than a 1/3 of their electricity from wind energy, with Iowa leading the way with about 45%.
While Texas comes in 5th in US solar energy, California dwarfs its nearest competitors in North Carolina by a multiple of five. Just following North Carolina are Arizona, Nevada and Florida. If measured as its own country, California would be the 5th largest solar energy producer in the world. Like Texas with wind energy, North Carolina benefitted from infrastructure development which surrounded the more than several electricity intensive data centers (Amazon, Facebook, Google et al) that were set up in the state coupled with some phased-in renewable energy mandates on utilities.
We tend to harp on the bad news, but this shows hope that we can do this. I hope my post the other day about the kids making change helps promote and leverage this building success.
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