Why every Sankey diagram you've ever seen is wrong. open.substack.com/pub/mliebrei...

This week on @cleaninguppod.bsky.social I was joined for a 2nd time by @hannahritchie.bsky.social. She's got a new book called Clearing the Air. 50 common questions about climate solutions? 50 little misinformation demons laid to rest! Hannah's is such a valuable voice. youtu.be/voLbbuPEWY4?...

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 100% RE Last 212 weeks: 98.5% RE (1/5)

BREAKING from us at #4Corners: Former Morrison govt Health Minister Greg Hunt working for a Brethren company which received $54 million in COVID-19 contracts from Health Department while he was Minister. Mr Hunt says decisions made by his department, not him. #auspol www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

Chris Bowen’s defining climate moment is nigh. And he knows what it means ‘if we get it wrong’ www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

The Israeli Government has made an ad about the Global Sumud Flotilla headed for Gaza, and it's surprsingly honest and informative.

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 100% RE Last 211 weeks: 98.5% RE (1/5)

Thing you wonder with this is how close these leaking *coal exploration* boreholes were to active coal seam gas extraction. CSG extraction locally dewaters the seam to provoke release of adsorbed methane. Once the gas flow gets going it tends to be self-accelerating; the seam becomes pressurised.

Great news. SA now only needs to run one synchronous generator (gas) for system security reasons (was 2). This reduces the min amount of gas SA needs from ~80MW down to ~40 MW. In turn, this will reduce the annual average gas requirements down by ~16 MW (from ~20% to 19%) (cont)

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 98.5% RE Last 210 weeks: 98.5% RE (1/5)

The Norwegian Government has made a new tourism ad, and it's surprsingly honest and informative! 🇳🇴

Sore point. My @smh @theage cartoon.

Well this one was a quick bit of fun. Have you heard the line about if you don't have solar and a battery, it's more efficient to heat your home with gas than electricity? You'll be stunned to learn that it's bullshit.

Round and round. My @smh @theage cartoon.

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 100.0% RE Last 209 weeks: 98.5% RE (1/5)

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last 2 wks: 96.5% & 96.9% RE Last 208 wks: 98.5% RE (1/5)

Tax breaks for huge, American-style utes cost the Australian government $250 million in 2023. But it gets worse. Emissions from passenger cars have fallen since 2005, but that drop was wiped out by the increased use of big utes. #auspol

You're likely to hear a lot about Australia and climate and emissions next month. Here's part of the backdrop. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

And, as the piece points out, if the electricity is from an evaporatively cooled fossil fuel power station (much still is), about two times as much water will additionally be consumed at the power station, to cool it. So multiply the data centre water take by 3.

My latest in The Shot. "The pro-lsrael lobby in Australia do not have the power - they have bluff. They're a farce, a smokescreen, a collection of paranoids intent on defending a foreign power’s despicable actions at the expense of Australia’s own social democracy." 👇🏽 theshot.net.au/uncategorize...

Ever noticed how, in many countries, there's 3 or 4 mobile phone towers on each hilltop ... and in Australia there's just one? That's because we legislated that towers are a public facility, and whoever builds one has to offer access to it to others, on just terms. Is not low Earth orbit similar?

Good article by Adam Morton. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Temperature Check is back - by @readfearn.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/environment/...

And there you have it. A leaked letter shows an astro-turf, pro-Israel group pressured Bendigo Writers Festival + LaTrobe uni. The group claimed the inclusion of a Palestinian author was "antisemitic" and that organisers should "implement immediate measures". www.deepcutnews.com/p/exclusive-...

And I tell you why this is important. Because that recent anti-semitism report from from Jillian Segal? The one where she wanted the govt to police funding to universities on the basis of their control of "antisemitism"? It's already happening. bsky.app/profile/ronn...

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 96.9% RE Last 206 weeks: 98.5% RE (1/5)

July Update: 🔌💡

If the oxygen production weren't almost entirely balanced by respiration, not only would O2 keep increasing in the atmosphere (until you had spontaneous burn-off of vegetation, probably) but it would convert all the CO2 in the atmosphere into O2 and organic C, and trigger a Snowball. ...

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 96.7% RE Last 205 weeks: 98.5% RE (1/5)

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 99.1% RE Last 204 weeks: 98.5% RE (1/5)

What's better than a subsidy-free renewable project? How about 2 subsidy-free wind farms that have returned over $6.5m to ACT electricity consumers since early 2023 /1

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 100.0% RE Last 203 weeks: 98.5% RE (1/5)

One would have a hard time attempting to find @MaryKostakidis making antisemitic remarks scrolling through her feed on X, she hasn’t done so. She has criticised only the political and criminal acts of the Israeli state. #auspol #antisemitism #IsraelPalestine

This is wild. Credit to @theklaxon.bsky.social to working out this connection.

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 99.1% RE Last 202 weeks: 98.5% RE (1/5)

Stunning! China set a huge annual solar deployment record in 2023: ~216 GW China smashed its huge 2023 solar record in 2024 by deploying 277 GW Now China is crushing in 2025 its huge 2023 and 2024 solar deployment records. China deployed 93 GW just in May & may deploy ~380 GW in 2025! #energysky

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 85.0% RE Last 201 weeks: 98.5% RE (1/5)

The energy provisions in the Republicans' One Big Horrible Bill are truly so bad! Who wants this? The country's automakers don't want it. Electric utilities don't want it. Data center developers don't want it. Manufacturers in energy intensive industries don't want it. 🔌💡

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 97.4% RE Last 200 weeks: 98.6% RE (1/5)

Note that our 10+GW of hydro assets are pretty good at offsetting the variability of wind generation. The fig below shows how hydro is ramped down on these windy days, but ramped up during the wind droughts. A thread that explores this further. threadreaderapp.com/thread/17138...

A new instantaneous NEM wind record of 9.49 GW at 22:35 last night. Perhaps more impressive was the entire day averaged over 8 GW of wind generation, a new daily record! In contrast, the bad wind drought 2 weeks ago on June 12-13 had average wind of ~1.3GW wattclarity.com.au/articles/202...

June 12 was one of the most challenging days of my mostly renewable simulation of the last ~4 years. 'Other' provided 30% of the day's supply. This was mainly due to very low wind on a day with extreme demand. 'Other' set a new record value of 10.2GW, up from the previous value of 9.0GW

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 89.7% RE Last 199 weeks: 98.6% RE (1/5)

“The minimal methanol, maximal electrification economy” - Great paper by @nworbmot.bsky.social at #IEW25 arxiv.org/html/2505.09...

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 98.6% RE Last 198 weeks: 98.6% RE (1/5)

Today's column: Neither glib lines nor warm thoughts can hide the cynicism of Labor’s North West Shelf decision www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Here come the batteries... 🔌💡 Mean contribution to evening peak almost increased by ~45% since beginning of the year

In 2024, China's total renewable generation grew TWICE as much as it every had done before. It added 494TWh - that's the total electricity demand of Germany🤯

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 96.1% RE Last 197 weeks: 98.6% RE (1/5)

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 96.1% RE Last 196 weeks: 98.7% RE (1/5)