Small Hope: The Rise of Solar in 2025
In the midst of all the really bad things going on right now, it's nice to know that some good things are happening, too.
In 2025, renewable energy surpassed coal in terms of worldwide energy usage, an enormous win for getting humanity off dirty energy. In China, Xi Jinping promised that China would cut carbon emissions by 10% in a decade through increased use of wind and solar. We might soon reach a point where the use of fossil fuels finally starts declining.
Solar and wind overtake fossil fuels in the EU for the first time. Can the power grid keep up?
If that's the case, it'll be through the leadership of countries other than the United States, for reasons you can suspect. Coal power usage increased last year in the US, and as long as it stubbornly adopts a me-first-and-fuck-you attitude, I don't think that's likely to change. But the EU had solar and wind overtake coal on its grid for the first time last year, and other countries are likely to follow. It feels like we're reaching a point where we're collectively understanding that renewable energy is the way forward.
I live in a place where hydro electricity is cheap. Add wind and solar, and maybe we're getting closer to where we need to be. We shouldn't waste energy, but if the energy we're using comes from renewable sources, the notion of "wasting energy" changes (what does it mean to "waste energy" that you capture from the sun for cheap, and then use to heat your house?).
Honestly, there's no reason why we should still be tied to energy sources that we've used forever because they're low cost (but highly consequential). And maybe once the US deals with its leadership problem, they can look at their energy problem as well.