That’s right: Surging solar, wind, and battery capacity is now in-line with net-zero scenarios.
“For the first time, we can, with hand on heart, say that we are potentially on the path to net zero,” Kingsmill Bond, Senior Principal at RMI, said. “We need to make sure that we continue to drive change, but there is a path and we are on it.”
And that’s really good news.
Exponential growth in renewable energy has put the global electricity system at a tipping point. What was once seen as a wildly daunting task — transitioning away from fossil fuels — is now happening at a faster pace every year.
Based on this new research, conducted in partnership with the Bezos Earth Fund, RMI projects that solar and wind will supply over a third of all global electricity by 2030, up from about 12% today, which would surpass recent calls for a tripling of total renewable energy capacity by the end of the decade.
Global progress in the renewable energy sector
China and Europe have been leading the way in clean energy generation, but the deployment of renewable energy has also been widely distributed across the Middle East and Africa.
Research from Systems Change Lab shows that eight countries (Uruguay, Denmark, Lithuania, Namibia, Netherlands, Palestine, Jordan, and Chile) have already grown solar and wind power faster than what is needed to limit global warming to 1.5°C, proving that a swift switch to renewable energy is not only feasible — it’s entirely achievable.
In order to make that switch, globally, wind and solar need to grow from 12% to 41% by 2030. Denmark, Uruguay, and Lithuania have already achieved that increase in the span of eight years.
Meanwhile, Namibia, the Netherlands, Palestine, Jordan, and Chile have grown solar and wind energy at sufficient rates for five years…
The economic impact of climate progress
Not only is this an exciting and unprecedented development for the health of the environment, but this rapid transition to clean energy includes widespread benefits, like jobs growth, more secure supply chains, and reductions in energy price inflation.
This progress spans both developing and developed countries, all driven to accelerate renewables for a number of different reasons: adopting smart and effective policies, maintaining political commitments, lowering the costs of renewable energy, and improving energy security.
And with exponential growth of clean energy means sharp declines in prices. This puts fossil fuels at a higher, uncompetitive cost — both financially and figuratively.
RMI suggests that solar energy is already the cheapest form of electricity in history — and will likely halve in price by 2030, falling as low as $20/MWh in the coming years. This follows previous trends: solar and battery costs have declined 80% between 2012 and 2022, and offshore wind costs are down 73%.”
-via Good Good Good, July 12, 2023
Let me repeat that:
For the first time in history, we are on an actual, provably achievable path to net zero emissions
so for those of you who don’t know, I was recently diagnosed with ADHD-I. So far, I think my favourite thing that I’ve learned is the idea of “embrace the pivot”.
Have you ever found a productivity system that works for you (whether it be your Google calendar, bullet journaling, agenda-ing, etc), and you’re so pumped because it’s like finally! Now I can actually get some stuff done! But then time passes, days or weeks or years, and the novelty of it runs out, and then it kind of just… Stops working. It can be so frustrating, because this thing that used to work no longer works for seemingly no reason.
But, that isn’t a failing of the thing, that thing worked for a certain amount of time, and that’s good! I used a massive agenda in my first year of uni, and it kept me on track for all my assignments. My second year agenda? Barely touched it. Instead, I started to use a bullet journal, and that was the thing that helped me through most of the year. But as time went on, my spreads got less creative, and in the final term, I didn’t even want to touch it because it was too much work. So I switched to Notion.
The agenda didn’t fail me, and neither did the bullet journal, it just worked for a certain amount of time. And when that time inevitably runs out, you can just say, “thank you for serving me for so long, I’m going to pivot to the next thing.” And then you do it without feeling like you should try harder or like that thing failed you.
This doesn’t just have to apply to productivity either. Systems, tools, habits, hobbies, coping mechanisms.. They all serve their purpose. It’s okay to let them go when the time comes.
omg ok put in the tags a food that makes u feel like life is worth living when you eat it. like u eat it and it’s soo good and everything’s fine actually
ppl who say pasta why are u boring. good for u though
Am I the asshole for being upset my friend made new friends?
So me (15M) and my two friends have been childhood friends for almost 10 years - we'll call them K (14F) and S (14M). We grew up in the same neighborhood and always hung out together. Me and S would butt heads every now and then as friends usually do, but I'd still consider him one of my best friends.
But one day we lost contact with each other. It wasn't any of our faults, we both moved and didn't have a way to communicate anymore (none of us had phones/internet access/etc.). It was really hard for me. I felt lost and alone, and I kinda fell into a depressive state. But despite all that, I still tried my best to try to find my friends again.
Recently, someone helped me track down S. I didn't think I'd ever see him again so I was desperate to meet up. I didn't have any way to contact him to let him know I found him, so I decided to just walk up to him while he was out in public and surprise him. Probably not the best idea, but I didn't have many other options. It ended up working out though. He seemed more shocked than angry that I was there. He even grabbed my face to make sure I was real, which honestly was kinda weird but whatever.
This is where the problem comes in. I was excited to continue our friendship from where we left off, but apparently he didn't agree. I wanted us to team up to try to find K, but I guess while we were separated, he made new friends. He tried introducing me to them, but I ended up leaving without saying goodbye. I didn't like seeing them getting along so well. How was he able to move on so quickly? Did our friendship mean so little to him?
The person who helped me find him agrees with me. She's saying he replaced me and doesn't care about me or K. She's trying to convince me to succumb to the darkness in my heart, and tbh, I kinda want to. So, AITA?
i think we as a society went through a period where people watched every marvel movie because they’re marvel movies. So, which of these movies was the last one you watched before only watching Marvel movies you’re genuinely interested in seeing?
(some titles are shortened/condensed to fit into the character limit)
