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People underestimate the RAPID pace wind and solar are making on phasing out fossil fuels. Carbon emissions have barely been growing while energy consumption h

People underestimate the RAPID pace wind and solar are making on phasing out fossil fuels. Carbon emissions have barely been growing while energy consumption has been growing enormously over the last 10 years. By 2030, carbon emissions could be substantially power. By 2050 it looks like it'll basically be a Brave New World in terms of energy.

defrost 3y ago
"barely been growing" is still growing - and a reversal of the much needed drop that occurred during the pandemic years. https://www.statista.com/statistics/276629/global-co2-emissions/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/276629/global-co2-emissi... There's still a lot of FUD about the need for change coming from the major fossil fuel players who are knowingly responsible for the current situation: Best estimates show a total of 1,499 gigatons of global-warming–exacerbating CO2 have been added to the Earth's atmosphere by the actions of us humans since 1751, only 342 gigatons of those were emitted up to 1964 — 23 percent of the total emissions during those 213 years, which was 80 percent per cent of that full time frame. On the other hand, 1,157 gigatons were emitted between 1965 and 2015 — that’s 77 percent of total emissions emitted during only the remaining 20 percent of the period in question. Again: 77 percent of total emissions have taken place since fossil fuel companies became aware of what the dangers of burning their products would be. "Instead of using that knowledge to change their business practices, or to alert the public or policymakers about what the dangers of burning fossil fuels would be, they’ve doubled down on their business models. They have funded climate obstruction on every level from global to local." https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/16/fossil_fuels_wildfires/ https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/16/fossil_fuels_wildfire...
- bcrosby95 3y ago
  Destroy the world for no particular reason and you're a super villain. Destroy the world for a buck? Ain't nothing wrong with that!
fbdab103 3y ago
>...while energy consumption has been growing enormously over the last 10 years. Unless I am grossly misreading this chart[0], it looks like US energy consumption has been flat since 2000 at ~100 quadrillion BTUs. Which would align with my expectations: more devices tout energy efficiency, switching to LEDs, and just how much entertainment is driven by portable electronics. [0] https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/us-energy-facts/ https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/us-energy-facts/
- defrost 3y ago
  The linked US energy consumption chart has been relatively flat since 2000, yes. It's possible the coment you replied to was referring to global energy consumption which has expanded with both global per capita consumption and with global population. Another factor in stable US energy consumption has been the outsourcing | offshoring of primary heavy industry which keeps the energy consumption for mining, refining, and manufacturing off the US home accounts.
- magicalhippo 3y ago
  Outsourcing production probably plays a significant role too...
xbmcuser 3y ago
Yes if you consider the fact of how much carbon production did not grow compared to the amount of power being produced and consumed. We need to keep moving in this direction I felt trade protectionism was going to slow this move down a bit but now I think it might accelerate it instead as US and Europe try to block Chinese imports of solar and wind to protect their own manufacturing. I expect China to provide finance to poorer countries to buy it's own solar and wind at least that would be my move solar and wind might be cheaper but upfront cost is higher so it is harder for them to install large scale.
TheWoolRug 3y ago
I don’t know, looks like globally we’re still hitting the fossil fuels pretty hard: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/global-primary-energy https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/global-primary-energy
- epistasis 3y ago
  Starting from 1800 is not a good way to understand current trends. As are stacked area graphs.

defrost 3y ago

"barely been growing" is still growing - and a reversal of the much needed drop that occurred during the pandemic years. https://www.statista.com/statistics/276629/global-co2-emissions/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/276629/global-co2-emissi... There's still a lot of FUD about the need for change coming from the major fossil fuel players who are knowingly responsible for the current situation: Best estimates show a total of 1,499 gigatons of global-warming–exacerbating CO2 have been added to the Earth's atmosphere by the actions of us humans since 1751, only 342 gigatons of those were emitted up to 1964 — 23 percent of the total emissions during those 213 years, which was 80 percent per cent of that full time frame. On the other hand, 1,157 gigatons were emitted between 1965 and 2015 — that’s 77 percent of total emissions emitted during only the remaining 20 percent of the period in question. Again: 77 percent of total emissions have taken place since fossil fuel companies became aware of what the dangers of burning their products would be. "Instead of using that knowledge to change their business practices, or to alert the public or policymakers about what the dangers of burning fossil fuels would be, they’ve doubled down on their business models. They have funded climate obstruction on every level from global to local." https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/16/fossil_fuels_wildfires/ https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/16/fossil_fuels_wildfire...

bcrosby95 3y ago
Destroy the world for no particular reason and you're a super villain. Destroy the world for a buck? Ain't nothing wrong with that!

fbdab103 3y ago

>...while energy consumption has been growing enormously over the last 10 years. Unless I am grossly misreading this chart[0], it looks like US energy consumption has been flat since 2000 at ~100 quadrillion BTUs. Which would align with my expectations: more devices tout energy efficiency, switching to LEDs, and just how much entertainment is driven by portable electronics. [0] https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/us-energy-facts/ https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/us-energy-facts/

defrost 3y ago
The linked US energy consumption chart has been relatively flat since 2000, yes. It's possible the coment you replied to was referring to global energy consumption which has expanded with both global per capita consumption and with global population. Another factor in stable US energy consumption has been the outsourcing | offshoring of primary heavy industry which keeps the energy consumption for mining, refining, and manufacturing off the US home accounts.
magicalhippo 3y ago
Outsourcing production probably plays a significant role too...

xbmcuser 3y ago

Yes if you consider the fact of how much carbon production did not grow compared to the amount of power being produced and consumed. We need to keep moving in this direction I felt trade protectionism was going to slow this move down a bit but now I think it might accelerate it instead as US and Europe try to block Chinese imports of solar and wind to protect their own manufacturing. I expect China to provide finance to poorer countries to buy it's own solar and wind at least that would be my move solar and wind might be cheaper but upfront cost is higher so it is harder for them to install large scale.

TheWoolRug 3y ago

I don’t know, looks like globally we’re still hitting the fossil fuels pretty hard: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/global-primary-energy https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/global-primary-energy

epistasis 3y ago
Starting from 1800 is not a good way to understand current trends. As are stacked area graphs.