Excellent thread for my #climate nerds #energysky #greensky

In a classic conflict of environmental outcomes, I find myself cheering for sunny days that fully charge my batteries, while bemoaning the lack of rain to sustain my native plants. All moderated by my love of fall hummingbirds enjoying my Mexican sage. The world is not simple but there is joy. 🪶

When we address climate change and biodiversity loss, we increasingly focus on the "co-benefits" for people. But what if we flipped it and put people first? And *then* worked to address climate and biodiversity issues? It might be a compelling way forward... drawdown.org/news/interna...

This is the way technology has real impact. It solves the problem of 24/7 industrial heat from on-site PV. 10 years from now it is going to be like iPhones - how did we ever live without it? Geologists reverent of hot rocks. Get them hot, they stay hot until you run water through. See below 😀.

¡¡¡100MWh battery!!!

There’s a lot of great stuff in here one thing that we wrote about is the California Energy Commission’s Opt-In siting process, which requires the community benefits agreement, in exchange for expedited environmental review. The largest solar + storage project in the US was just approved via Opt-In.

Great light for hummingbirds 🪶 this morning. A handful are hanging out in my sycamores, desert willow, and mexican sage. I see these out my office window, so if I am ignoring you on a zoom, they might be the cause!

Hummingbird yoga. In my front yard this morning. 🪶

Mt Fuji from my Tokyo hotel room this week. As many times as I have been there, I have never seen it from the city. It must have been spectacular before urban haze obscured it most of the time.

Slow reductions=LESS CDR I often see the argument that the more emissions remain the more CDR is needed. Example below But it's the opposite! If a lot of emissions remain it means there wasn't enough political will & capital to address them. That will & capital won't magically appear for CDR instead

The UK's goal of 95% clean power by 2030 might sound Herculean. But the UK has made more progress than many people think: it's already on 74%. New official figures out today www.gov.uk/government/s...

Want to reduce electricity bills 20% by 2030? Release the data! We have over 37GW of batteries, water heaters, etc that can participate in demand flexibilty. But without data access they can't bid into the PJM/MISO capacity auction to bring down costs.

Yup

77% of conservative Republicans prefer bigger houses in drivable communities 65% of liberal Democrats prefer smaller houses in more walkable places https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/08/02/majority-of-americans-prefer-a-community-with-big-houses-even-if-local-amenities-are-farther-away/

I think a lot about why we are not making more progress on climate. This graph from the Yale Program on Climate Change is telling - there are just too many more urgent problems. And I can't really argue with this outcome. climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications...

India has broken my graph. 30 GW of renewables added so far this year, ahead of 28.6 GW for all of 2024. robbieandrew.github.io/india

Our latest episode, out today, is on innovation and learning, 'Moore's Law' ('Swanson's Law), and technological change. Check out #EnergyMatters on all the usual podcast services. @johnshopkinssais.bsky.social @energyinnovation.org

Is Carbon Capture the Same as #CarbonRemoval? 🏭 We answer this and other #FAQs about Carbon Capture, Utilization and Sequestration 👉 bit.ly/3QIWpWl

This will be a preview of my book project on the history of solar in the western US.☀️🔌💡

Sand batteries are literally just silos of sand that retain heat exceptionally well -- so well that they can be tied to heat exchange systems to serve as proxy *electrical* batteries. Finland's new model can store enough power (100 MWh) to heat an entire town for a week. newatlas.com/energy/large...

Geothermal is getting a shake-up. ⚡️ Ormat Technologies, Inc., one of the world’s largest geothermal players, has inked a major deal with startup @sagegeosystems.bsky.social to pilot its Pressure Geothermal technology. Full story by @alexckaufman.bsky.social www.latitudemedia.com/news/geother...

As we reported in this white paper, solar projects under a master planning framework/CEQA are approved via mitigated negative declaration on average somewhere around 35 days. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

In 2019, a University of Wisconsin professor wrote a book explaining how solar power got cheap. Now he’s back with a new edition and we spoke with him about the big picture of solar power.

Solid new analysis of China from the best source - @laurimyllyvirta.bsky.social and @carbonbrief.org . Lauri has been the best China energy analyst for years. He shows that in the first half of 2025, new clean sources greatly exceeded electricity demand. www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-rec...

Join us on September 19 for a discussion of #mCDR law and policy.

We’re living through a relentless era of extreme weather — yet, fewer people are dying from it than ever before. How? @bryanrwalsh.bsky.social explains: www.vox.com/future-perfe... @vox.com

Looking for a way to do something? read the EPA reversal of the endangerment finding, and then file a public comment explaining why it is false, wrong, misguided. Your comment can be scientific, legal, or just about what the American people want.. Reversal: www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/...

Great advice from the folks at @yaleclimatecomm.bsky.social‬: ✔️Engage audiences when awareness is highest ✔️Use high-impact events as entry points ✔️Help support the most under-prepared populations ✔️Show how today’s disasters are different–and why that matters mailchi.mp/yale/what-pr...

Hey! Me and @costasamaras.com will be on @kqedforum.bsky.social tomorrow morning to talk about electricity bills. Check it out at 9am: www.kqed.org/forum/201010...

Stunning landslide of Les Rocher du Genepy (Pralognan) yesterday evening around 9 pm! 😲 Departure area ~2850 m asl In fact, part of the crest collapsed! 🔥 📷 Gérard Girod (today) Théophile Cailhol (fall 2024)

Today, the folks at the New Atlantis have lifted the paywall on the latest installment in my series, How the System Works--a series about the systems that undergird our days, that have greatly improved life for billions of people, and that--arrgh--we seem to be forgetting about paying attention to.

My backyard pond provides endless entertainment from native wildlife - especially in a suburb. Today was pretty special with a visit from our great white egret. But wait for it...🪶

I am so pleased to see this recognition of the work that @NativeRenewables does for energy access, local capacity building & energy justice An honor to serve on the board: www.nativerenewables.org/who-we-are/o... @nativeamericans.bsky.social @iwrising.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/c...

🔌💡 Really excellent newsletter from Saul Griffith, thinking about exactly the questions we need to think about in US post-OBBBA. There's a lot we can do without the federal gov't (and that the federal gov't can't do).

This is fascinating. Like genomics, this provides the massive amounts of data we need to disentangle the complicated factors that affect our health. I'm thrilled that this exists.

In contrast to the United States, the European Union and China are massive net importers of fossil fuels, giving them a strong incentive to decarbonise besides the negative externality from burning fossil fuels.

This is such an excellent example of two important issues in technology maturation and cost: 1) Gradual cost decreases correlate well with the amount of the technology that gets used (Moore's law), and 2) Technology jumps occur when there are radical changes in approach (shotgun sequencing 2007).

Truly. It’s one of the biggest challenges of being a science communicator. Too many comms offices take it as fact that people are stupid, or otherwise in deficit, when in my experience it’s simply not true. It’s a really hard mindset to combat when it comes to colleagues.

Tackling misinformation is a long game: journalists can help www.absw.org.uk/resources/ta... v @absw.bsky.social 1) Publish on a topic widely & repeatedly 2) Prebunk—inoculate your audience against common misinformation tactics 3) Report on science with extreme care 4) Choose your experts carefully

I'll note an error at one point where I say China's solar capacity has now exceeded 600GW. This is out of date. As of the end of June 2025 the correct figure is now 1080GW. Apologies--I'd been making frequent use for weeks of Ember's data on installed capacity in a wide range of countries...

BREAKING: Over 100 U.K. advertising organizations have joined forces to back a nationwide ban on fossil fuel advertising and sponsorship. 💪 #FossilFuelAdsMakeMeSick #GreenSky 🗞️

When I was a child I would have regarded these holes in my Sycamores (platanus racemosa) as pest damage. Now I realize that these are the result of the native insects - and that the native songbirds depend on them to feed their babies. Nature can be a hard sell, but everyone likes songbirds. 🪶

To really confront my own mortality and the uncertainty and the fact that, you know, there wasn't a miracle cure that, you know, I'm not dead, but I'm also not fine. And that is, for me, of a parallel with thinking about living on this changing planet.” Full chat: revkin.substack.com/p/meet-kate-...

As someone who works on uncertainty is science policy, the thing to remember is uncertainty goes in both directions, good surprises and bad surprises. You want to better incorporate uncertainty? Prepare for the bad surprises and hope for the good ones. All this points to doing MORE climate action.

In order to keep global warming below 1.5C or 2C, we need to move industrial activity to clean energy. This will MORE THAN DOUBLE our global need for electricity. We are going to need a LOT more wind, solar, geothermal, and other clean electricity than most people are expecting. ⚡🧵

US climate scientists need all the help they can get. Including from foul-mouthed comedians! 🤡😱😱 Watch Emmy Award-Winning David Cross team up with Prof Michael Oppenheimer in the US launch of the hit series "Climate Science Translated". #climate #arresteddevelopment #climatescience

When I was in college at Carleton in Minnesota, the state was loosing all its elm trees. I worked for a tree service in the summer and learned that with heroic measures, big trees could be saved. I talked the school into doing some - and here I am 50 years later with one of those trees. I'm proud.

Steam powers much of the modern world—but it’s largely missing from climate conversations. I joined ‪@catalyst-pod.bsky.social to unpack the role of steam in industry, the challenges of electrifying it, and why it’s finally getting attention. www.latitudemedia.com/news/catalys...

Utilizing new streamlined permitting process, California approves world’s largest solar-plus-storage project www.renewableenergyworld.com/energy-stora... Giant 1.15 GW / 4.6 GWh battery + 1.15 GW solar project in Fresno County is first permitted under California expedited process. #Upshift 🔌💡