I read last week that scientists are worried about the potential for a warming world to break up clouds before they can form.
https://www.quantamagazine.org/cloud-loss-could-add-8-degrees-to-global-warming-20190225
Free energy from the sun definitely sounds like a good idea.
Nice article. Bit of a silly end with "engines of capitalism" when gov subsidies are what brought solar this far... that ain't capitalism.
Anyway, solar will supply 100% of the world's energy by 2030-2035, this with the "naive" approach of just an exponential going up. And solar will again double the energy we have by 2035-2040. We are entering a golden age for Humanity. The thing about solar panels is it gives you the energy to make more solar panels. Fossil fuels have to be found, dug up and distributed. Solar panels are one and done. We're having a close shave with the climate tho... but if we legislate legacy power into oblivion, we can reach climate goals.
Batteries are needed, but, as California shows, you can plug them in and get them to work. China is investing in battery tech, so we might see sodium batteries come online: cheaper than lithium. From this graph, we can see the clean exponential increase of solar: [https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/solar-energy-consumption](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/solar-energy-consumption) Unlike other energies, social problems don't seem to dent the rise of solar.
We can also see natural gas starting to peak since 2020. We'll see if coal hits peak this year. Hopefully it does. Solar has been cheaper than coal for awhile now, but the intermittent nature of it is still a problem... but, as the article points out, batteries have declined in price by 99% in the past 30 years.
With the recent heat waves of the past few years, the political will to expedite green energy will increase as well.
I'm actually very hopeful things will work out well. We'll probably see 2C warming tho. That's the optimistic view it seems. That sucks. Crop yields may fall 9% at 2C. [https://interactive.carbonbrief.org/impacts-climate-change-one-point-five-degrees-two-degrees/](https://interactive.carbonbrief.org/impacts-climate-change-one-point-five-degrees-two-degrees/) Going vegetarian, or at least cutting out beef, is going to be needed, I think.
It's a close shave...
" Anyway, solar will supply 100% of the world's energy by 2030-2035, this with the "naive" approach of just an exponential going up. And solar will again double the energy we have by 2035-2040."
Errrrrmmm, dunno, more than 80% is still from fossils.
https://ourworldindata.org/energy-mix
in 2023 it even rose again leading to the highest ever CO2 Output of a whooping 40 GT.
https://sustainability.stanford.edu/news/global-carbon-emissions-fossil-fuels-reached-record-high-2023
I read last week that scientists are worried about the potential for a warming world to break up clouds before they can form. https://www.quantamagazine.org/cloud-loss-could-add-8-degrees-to-global-warming-20190225 Free energy from the sun definitely sounds like a good idea.
Well, that's terrifying.
Nice article. Bit of a silly end with "engines of capitalism" when gov subsidies are what brought solar this far... that ain't capitalism. Anyway, solar will supply 100% of the world's energy by 2030-2035, this with the "naive" approach of just an exponential going up. And solar will again double the energy we have by 2035-2040. We are entering a golden age for Humanity. The thing about solar panels is it gives you the energy to make more solar panels. Fossil fuels have to be found, dug up and distributed. Solar panels are one and done. We're having a close shave with the climate tho... but if we legislate legacy power into oblivion, we can reach climate goals. Batteries are needed, but, as California shows, you can plug them in and get them to work. China is investing in battery tech, so we might see sodium batteries come online: cheaper than lithium. From this graph, we can see the clean exponential increase of solar: [https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/solar-energy-consumption](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/solar-energy-consumption) Unlike other energies, social problems don't seem to dent the rise of solar. We can also see natural gas starting to peak since 2020. We'll see if coal hits peak this year. Hopefully it does. Solar has been cheaper than coal for awhile now, but the intermittent nature of it is still a problem... but, as the article points out, batteries have declined in price by 99% in the past 30 years. With the recent heat waves of the past few years, the political will to expedite green energy will increase as well. I'm actually very hopeful things will work out well. We'll probably see 2C warming tho. That's the optimistic view it seems. That sucks. Crop yields may fall 9% at 2C. [https://interactive.carbonbrief.org/impacts-climate-change-one-point-five-degrees-two-degrees/](https://interactive.carbonbrief.org/impacts-climate-change-one-point-five-degrees-two-degrees/) Going vegetarian, or at least cutting out beef, is going to be needed, I think. It's a close shave...
" Anyway, solar will supply 100% of the world's energy by 2030-2035, this with the "naive" approach of just an exponential going up. And solar will again double the energy we have by 2035-2040." Errrrrmmm, dunno, more than 80% is still from fossils. https://ourworldindata.org/energy-mix in 2023 it even rose again leading to the highest ever CO2 Output of a whooping 40 GT. https://sustainability.stanford.edu/news/global-carbon-emissions-fossil-fuels-reached-record-high-2023
Full article: https://archive.ph/EcEJV