This is literally the plot for The Last of Us www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-f...

Heard a new phrase this morning on RNZ: "When the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow...and it doesn't rain" - that's when they'll take more water. Feels like incumbent energy is still trying to do anything other than promote the obvious solution of rooftop solar + home battery solutions.

NEW – Analysis: India’s power-sector CO2 falls for only second time in half a century ✍️ Anubha Aggarwal @laurimyllyvirta.bsky.social Nandikesh Sivalingam Read here: buff.ly/2OHaLGM

Preliminary data from @electricitymaps.com showing Aotearoa New Zealand running at 99% renewable as at 9am. Proving that when hydro output is strong, coal and gas aren't needed for firming. Wind and solar will only increase hydro storage by reducing its need, so lets get more of it in place.

I'm going to do a deep dive on @ember-energy.org electrotech revolution report, there's so much brilliant info in there. Do yourself a favour and have a read: ember-energy.org/latest-insig...

🌞 Australian households and small businesses are powering ahead with rooftop solar! In H1 2025: 🔹 Rooftop solar generated 12.8% of all electricity 🔹 Battery sales hit 85,000 units, up 191% YoY thanks to rebate schemes 🔹 Queensland leads NSW in new rooftop solar installations Full report below

Encouraged to hear that Labour NZ will likely be heading into the next election with a capital gains tax proposal on second homes and residential land. Should go further but it overcomes that first barrier around CGT in NZ. Via @bernardchickey.bsky.social and his great thekaka.substack.com

Brazil and Australia have for a long time been on my list of countries to watch re Energy transition. Both doing it very well. ember-energy.org/latest-insig...

NEW – Analysis: UK foreign aid for nature hits £800m record due to cash for carbon credits | @joshgabbatiss.bsky.social Read here: buff.ly/Ug7Znf9

📉 Russian revenues from the sale of fossil fuels have fallen almost by half compared to the 2022 level. The main buyers of Russian energy resources remain China, India, Turkey, the EU and South Korea. Hungary and Slovakia are far ahead among the EU countries.

FACTCHECK: No, North Sea gas is not "four times cleaner" than LNG imports After Kemi Badenoch pledged to extract every last drop from the North Sea, we've been engulfed by waves of long-dead zombie factoids. "Four times cleaner" is one of the silliest. www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-no...

@ember-energy.org Just released their China Electricity review 2025 - showing positive signs that China's fossil fuel use in electricity production is plateauing. ember-energy.org/latest-insig...

The cost of living crisis is as much a mental state as it is an economic one. We've stopped buying eggs (too expensive) and we dilute our milk with water to make it last longer. But we're happy, healthy, and hey, at least we don't have polio! Still never a better time to be alive.

I've just discovered @transitionzero.org and their open data for mapping countries solar assets. It's an amazing free tool to track how the solar transition is going in your country. Here's NZ: solar.transitionzero.org/explore#5.11...

I stand by my consistent prediction that Australia is going to be the renewable energy super-power of the second half of this and next century. Making strong moves to unlock renewables and feels like the first country where the penny has fully dropped re:societal and environmental gains.

Loved this graph from the latest Ember report on electrification showing where countries sit on the "renewables/electrostate" scale. China a dominant electrostate, Mexico not far off (cool) but many western countries pushing their electricity sector hard but final demand sector not enough.

The car’s out of the bag 🤯 Live at the #EnergyTechSummit, @gjuk.bsky.social launches Britain’s first EV vehicle-to-grid bundle with BYD. Power Pack Bundle gives a car lease, two-way charger, and a smart tariff for £299/m with 100% FREE smart charging - saving £1,000/yr on fuel vs petrol.

Always enjoy starting my day by checking in on the Peregrine chicks on @stalbanscathedral.bsky.social - glad to see they seem to be coping with the heat so far, the parents are doing great with feeding and keeping them cool. Webcam: www.stalbanscathedral.org/peregrine-li...

This is *potentially* huge news. If NZ is indeed sequestering more carbon than expected AND that increase in sequestration is due to native forest regeneration after invasive mammal control, then this is a story all NZ can get behind. www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

🚨 Oversized SUV fronts = danger on our streets. Thanks to the insights of a @transenv.bsky.social and @cleancitiescampaign.org report we have signed a joint letter to the @ec.europa.eu demanding action to cap bonnet heights and protect pedestrians. #BonnetHeight #PedestrianSafety

Britain's energy intensive businesses are being battered by energy prices. Our factories and data centres have 50% higher prices than French and German factories, and 3-4x higher than Norway and Sweden. But it doesn't have to be this way 👇

The Labour gov spending review promises lots of long term infrastructure dev, but it's no secret that Labour need some quick wins this parliament with the electorate. Zonal pricing could be one of those. If implemented quickly it could be a political win in many of the northern regions Lab needs.

I'm seeing more and more evidence (anecdotal in YouTube comments) of people who lean politically right advocating solar as a way to go "off-grid". Comments like "screw the gov, get solar and go off grid". I think this is the start of the end of mainstream weaponising solar as a lefty tech.

So British DOGE's search for wasteful spending discovered that... councils need more money to update their IT systems? www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Before the 1970s, a child diagnosed with leukemia had a 90% chance of dying within 5 years. Today, those odds are flipped: they have an almost 90% chance of survival. My colleague @scientificdiscovery.dev's article on progress against childhood cancer. ourworldindata.org/childhood-le...

Hey New Zealand! @ember-energy.org has a cool new tool that allows you to visualise electricity generation change. Remember how 2024 was a dry year for hydro and we had to import all that fossil fuel to fill the gap? Imagine if there was a sun based source of electricity that we could have used!

Hey @ember-energy.org - loving the new look data explorer!

NEW ANALYSIS: UK's solar power surges 42% to a new record, after the sunniest spring on record * For the first time, solar was >10% of UK generation in consecutive months (April/May 2025) * In 2025, solar has already avoided gas imports that would've cost £600m www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uks...

The more I learn about Operation Spiderweb the more I realise that it will be a defining moment for warfare and non state aggression. Flexible, unpredictable asymmetric warfare. Every modern state is taking note. It's comparable to LRDG/SAS in North Africa during WWII #OperationSpiderweb

Listening to “Determined” by Robert Sapolsky — it’s reigniting my love for social science. The book explores how societies reward certain genetic traits: Western societies value individualism, Eastern ones value family cohesion.

Not sure I fully believe the polls here. They adjust for population demographics based on Stats NZ demographic data on who is living in a region (2023 Census), but so many young, working and non-home owning Kiwi's are leaving and going overseas. They're still eligible to vote. Is that factored?

‘Chilling and dangerous’: Grassroots groups sue over Louisiana law that censors air quality data #Climate

This is absolutely the case, and appears to be happening in NZ. But thanks to groups like Rewiring Aotearoa the economic fallacies of fossil fuel preservation are increasingly being exposed. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Is there any modelling out there on the expected impact of the Home Battery Subsidy being introduced by the Australian gov? I'm reading uptake levels are extremely high so curious to know what the predictions are for downward pressure on coal/gas during peak times.

Could this be the biggest climate story of the year? For the first time on record, China's emissions are falling due to clean energy growth, not slow power demand Full analysis + outlook by Lauri Myllyvirta: www.carbonbrief.org/... 1/7

NEW – Analysis: Clean energy just put China’s CO2 emissions into reverse for first time | @laurimyllyvirta.bsky.social Read here: buff.ly/6eAcjRU

Labour wants to curb immigration: but doesn't want to engage in social care reform It wants to curb student visas and encourage more UK training: but wont fund unis or FE colleges. It just tells voter they can have both. /2

A 2.4GW offshore wind farm paused - multiple editorials explaining how offshore wind and Labour's clean power plans are doomed. Two days later. Plans for 4.7GW of offshore wind farms advance - *crickets* www.businessgreen.com/news/4413398...

Good morning with good news: Brazil's solar output surged 44% in March 2025, compared to March 2024! Solar was 13.29% of Brazil's electricity in March 2025 versus 9.66% in March 2024. Solar was at 0.47% in March 2018 & 1.7% in March 2020. Brazil ranked 4th (18.9 GW) in 2024 new solar. #energysky

Another solid month in April for EVs. I hear less political chatter around them in the UK, does anyone know any good research that looks at how 'embedded' a tech must become in society before it stops being politicised. No one gets political about washing machines! Are EVs going that way?

I've long thought that Australia is learning from China and playing the long game, positioning itself now to be one of the dominant super-powers in the next century, driven by cheap renewable energy for it's people and clean tech. theconversation.com/australia-is...

Very good news. (France already does this)

Denmark just hit 83% BEV share in private new car sales (April 2025)—up from 51.5% a year ago! Total market BEV share rose to 65%. Skoda Elroq leads the charge. The pace now outstrips Norway’s early days. This is what a tipping point looks like. ⚡🇩🇰 #EV #Disruption #BEVRevolution

NEW – Q&A: What we do – and do not – know about the blackout in Spain and Portugal | @mollylempriere.carbonbrief.org @daisydunne.carbonbrief.org @joshgabbatiss.bsky.social Read here: buff.ly/ycaIGgX

The sudden loss of two generators yesterday in Spain reminds me of a similar event in the UK in 2019. A lightning strike and faults at two plants (one gas, one wind) a few seconds apart exceeded the grid operator's reserves. As frequency dropped a partial blackout was triggered to rebalance the grid

I have been very disappointed, although not really surprised, to see commentators attempt to blame renewables for yesterday's blackout in Spain and Portugal. Let me explain what they've said and why it is wrong. /1

If anyone talks about how Spain and Portugal going dark due to renewables, remind them that California (worlds 4th largest economy) regularly runs on 100% intermittent generation, with BESS proving the stability needed for grid management. The solution isn't less solar, it's more batteries.

My guess is there will be short term negative press on solar/wind and a hype about 'intermittency' - which will slowly dissipate as the renewables shift quietly continues. Grid stability is extremely important in renewables, but is already well in development. Yesterday was likely a black swan.

REE are indicating (not confirmed) that two consecutive disconnection events, possibly both solar generation, led to the grid instability that caused the blackout yesterday. his will likely lead to headlines that 'net zero causes power cuts', which is not true. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c9...

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