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IEA: Solar overtakes all energy sources in a major global first

electrek.co

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Re: IEA: Solar overtakes all energy sources in a major global first

#31

Post by azath92 »

internet_points wrote: post #11

> Solar added about 600 terawatt-hours of generation globally > And nuclear is making a comeback: More than 12 GW of new reactors began construction in 2025 Am I reading it right that growth in solar was 50000x that of growth in nuclear? (And those reactors of course won't be finished / online until some years into the future.)

I made the same gut assumption, and it points to either poor writing, or deliberately misreading writing that they mix units like that in the same paragraph, where presumably the idea is that we get a feel for growth in both?

Its probably nitpick correct, because the 12GW is planned capacity, while the solar might be measured use? but simple assumptins or conversions, as another comment points out, get you comparable numbers. taking the title into account, the whole article is a little bit smoke and mirrors on clear communication, despite having plenty of numbers. Thats a shame because it sounds like even unvarnished its good results!

Re: IEA: Solar overtakes all energy sources in a major global first

#32

Post by 21asdffdsa12 »

fulafel wrote: post #16
pingou wrote: post #6

"Overall, renewables and nuclear together met nearly 60% of the growth in energy demand". That's not enough. It's obvious this is going in the right direction but adoption is still too slow, considering how cheap renewables are now (and will be).

In deed. We are really late in ramping down fossils usage and emissions, and the death toll is higher than the other bad things in the news headlines.

The problem is also, that solar infrastructure is vulnerable to some of the attack vectors of climate change. The torrent downpours we see now in the us and in Europe - especially in mountainous regions are endangering the traditional valley cities in the hinterlands- the biggest consumer of solar.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floods_in_the_United_States_(2...

Re: IEA: Solar overtakes all energy sources in a major global first

#34

Post by jahnu »

spwa4 wrote: post #29

I wonder what political and trade consequences can be expected when oil actually does start seeing real decreased usage. I mean one obvious thing has already started: governments taxing the sun (well, solar panels) pretty heavily (meaning above VAT), which I imagine will increase, and what the result will be. It's weird to say this, but solar panel smuggling is actually already a thing now. I used to have a Louis XIV…

Just to add to your point; The final energy demand is much less than the primary energy we produce due to the energy costs of extraction, refining, transportation, and inefficient end use.

According to Kingsmill Bond (great name btw) on Dave Roberts' Volts podcast if we magically could replace all fossil energy with renewables today the final energy use would only be ~30% of today's final energy use.

"We’re pouring, from our calculations, two thirds of the primary energy into the air and wasting it." - Kingsmill Bond

https://www.volts.wtf/p/clean-electrification-is-inevitable

Re: IEA: Solar overtakes all energy sources in a major global first

#35

Post by decimalenough »

stavros wrote: post #30
decimalenough wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trump's stated goal of regime change in Iran would (likely) have been a positive outcome if it has actually happened. The problem is that it hasn't.

This is off topic for what we're discussing (whether his accidental positive changes can be attributed to him), and agrees with my general point.

No, it doesn't, because you're asserting he is "trying to create negative ones".

Re: IEA: Solar overtakes all energy sources in a major global first

#36

Post by stavros »

decimalenough wrote: post #35
stavros wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is off topic for what we're discussing (whether his accidental positive changes can be attributed to him), and agrees with my general point.

No, it doesn't, because you're asserting he is "trying to create negative ones".

We were clearly talking about the context of energy sources, where he's trying to push something he calls "clean coal". What's the positive outcome there?

Re: IEA: Solar overtakes all energy sources in a major global first

#37

Post by eucryphia »

decimalenough wrote: post #8

Very misleading title: it should be "Solar leads global energy growth for the first time". Still good news, but a long, long way from solar becoming the world's primary source of energy.

Should it be ‘solar leading energy subsidy growth’.

Re: IEA: Solar overtakes all energy sources in a major global first

#38

Post by leonidasrup »

iso1631 wrote: post #26
decimalenough wrote: post #8

Very misleading title: it should be "Solar leads global energy growth for the first time". Still good news, but a long, long way from solar becoming the world's primary source of energy.

> solar becoming the world's primary source of energy Solar has always been the primary source of energy, Something like 99.95%, with geothermal taking 90% of the rest and tidal being basically zero

You can look at coal, oil, gas as form of compressed solar energy, because all of them have biological source, stored millions of year ago. It's just burning coal, oil, gas has nasty side effects.

" Volcanic coal-burning in Siberia led to climate change 252 million years ago.

Extensive burning in Siberia was a cause of the Permo-Triassic extinction " https://www.nsf.gov/news/volcanic-coal-burning-siberia-led-c...

Re: IEA: Solar overtakes all energy sources in a major global first

#39

Post by deaux »

eucryphia wrote: post #37
decimalenough wrote: post #8

Very misleading title: it should be "Solar leads global energy growth for the first time". Still good news, but a long, long way from solar becoming the world's primary source of energy.

Should it be ‘solar leading energy subsidy growth’.

No chance, fossil fuels are subsidized more. A large share of solar growth is from countries like Pakistan who have had some subsidies but total dollar amount of them is trivial.

Re: IEA: Solar overtakes all energy sources in a major global first

#40

Post by jabl »

jahnu wrote: post #34
spwa4 wrote: post #29

I wonder what political and trade consequences can be expected when oil actually does start seeing real decreased usage. I mean one obvious thing has already started: governments taxing the sun (well, solar panels) pretty heavily (meaning above VAT), which I imagine will increase, and what the result will be. It's weird to say this, but solar panel smuggling is actually already a thing now. I used to have a Louis XIV…

Just to add to your point; The final energy demand is much less than the primary energy we produce due to the energy costs of extraction, refining, transportation, and inefficient end use. According to Kingsmill Bond (great name btw) on Dave Roberts' Volts podcast if we magically could replace all fossil energy with renewables today the final energy use would only be ~30% of today's final energy use. "We’re pouring,…

See also Kingsmill Bond's slidedeck at https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/the-electrotech-rev...
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