- cross-posted to:
- climate@slrpnk.net
- cross-posted to:
- climate@slrpnk.net
Bleak report finds greenhouse gas emissions are still rising despite ‘exponential’ growth of renewables
Coal use hit a record high around the world last year despite efforts to switch to clean energy, imperilling the world’s attempts to rein in global heating.
The share of coal in electricity generation dropped as renewable energy surged ahead. But the general increase in power demand meant that more coal was used overall, according to the annual State of Climate Action report, published on Wednesday.
The report painted a grim picture of the world’s chances of avoiding increasingly severe impacts from the climate crisis. Countries are falling behind the targets they have set for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which have continued to rise, albeit at a lower rate than before.
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Sorry earth, but there’s profit to be made.
Sixth mass extinction will be lit.
We just ping-pong between these “coal is dying” and “coal is thriving” articles and I honestly can’t keep up.
Coal is dying as an investment but existing coal plants will likely run for a long while. Overall demand for energy is rising, the new demand is being met mostly with renewables, but there is a small amount of that increase that is being met by a small increase in coal usage. As renewable manufacture gets faster and more efficient I expect the coal growth will reverse, but it is all about when. If it happens quickly we have less apocalyptic damage. If it happens slowly then we will be more fucked.
Solar is far and say the cheapest form of new energy to roll out. Wind is a not so close second. Coal is getting more expensive by the day. The only reason to roll out coal is insufficient production of solar and wind. It takes time to increase manufacturing capacity but we are getting there and we can do this.
Coal is dying as an investment but existing coal plants will likely run for a long while.
I think that might vary from place to place.
Here in Australia our most recent new coal-fired power plant was built in 2009 and very many big ones we rely heavily on are already past their original planned lives. We’re lucky to have such good solar generation here though that even residential rooftop solar is kicking some serious goals but have been leaning more on gas for base load distribution (trust me, we’re not gonna meet our targets). Coal isn’t gonna last too much longer here, but we’re not gonna be carbon neutral for a VERY, very long time.
As a fellow Aussie I share your conclusion, though the Made in Australia plan from the Albanese government seems like it could change the game. Producing solar panels here would make purchasing them cheaper even if just from the shipping costs. Add the federal investment and the creation of demand and it should get cheaper again.
Now I do worry about things going the way of the NBN, starting with a goal of future proof fibre to the home being chipped away by the LNP until it was a small upgrade on internet service funded by the government but not anything like the goal. I want good green tech, not just barely solar sometimes.
Energy usage is skyrocketing in China and India. Coal is skyrocketing to meet it, but is being partially offset by renewable installations. So, we recently saw that more energy was generated from renewables than fossil fuels, so the mix leans that way. This story is saying the absolute level of coal is at it’s highest, which is also true.
Coal: high. Renewables: slightly higher. Total energy use :mind boggling.
Then came AI and it needed gigawatts fast, and the coal plants were available, so they cranked those up.
lol
we’re gonna destroy this planet for ourselves. i can’t make sense of this or accept it. i am exhausted caring about the future. i think i’m personally done with it. i’m considering disconnecting from politics until i’m face-to-face with the enemy as they haul me away to some sort of “temporary” yet indefinite hold.
i am becoming increasingly unable to function.
You and me both. I’m becoming numb.
Still popular in a lot of poorer places. If you have no infrastructure then it’s often the most suitable means of keeping warm at night, especially since you don’t really need to worry about storage or anything.
Know what I like about coal? If some falls off the sleigh, it’s just another rock, not an explosion or dish soap advertising campaign.
All those other problems with coal? Still bad, but maybe not as bad as non renewable alternatives. Really annoying we didn’t go full steam ahead on sun and wind the moment they became possible.
