←back to thread

177 points belter | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source
Show context
lm28469 ◴[] No.43623434[source]
Daily reminder that fossils aren't decreasing and renewables are just added on top.

The only recent time fossil decreased was during covid, and even then it barely was a dent. To meet our climate goals we'd need something in the same vein as covid... constantly

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/energy-consumption-by-sou...

replies(3): >>43623507 #>>43623688 #>>43624993 #
sightbroke ◴[] No.43623507[source]
Article is limited on numbers perhaps but does state:

> Phil MacDonald, Ember's managing director, said: "Paired with battery storage, solar is set to be an unstoppable force.

"As the fastest-growing and largest source of new electricity, it is critical in meeting the world's ever-increasing demand for electricity."

> Despite the rise in renewable power, electricity from more polluting fossil fuels crept up by 1.4% last year due to surging demand, meaning emissions from the sector rose too to an all-time high.

> Ember forecasts the growth in clean power will soon outpace the growth in demand, helping to displace fossil fuels from the system.

Is fossil fuel use growing at an increasing rate or decreasing rate? Is non-carbon emitting energy supplies growing at an increasing rate or decreasing?

replies(1): >>43623569 #
lm28469 ◴[] No.43623569[source]
None of them are decreasing globally, that's the point
replies(1): >>43623614 #
sightbroke ◴[] No.43623614[source]
If fossil fuels are growing at a decreasing rate that means that eventually they will stop growing. That's the point.
replies(1): >>43623734 #
lm28469 ◴[] No.43623734[source]
Does this look like it's coming to a plateau of even a slowdown to you ? https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/fossil-fuel-consumption-b...

> To keep global warming to no more than 1.5°C – as called for in the Paris Agreement – emissions need to be reduced by 45% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.

Even if we stopped right now we'd need to be back to ~2000 co2 emissions by 2030, that's in 5 years. Even if we had 5 years of covid with the same restrictions as we had in peak 2020 we wouldn't reach that point...

replies(2): >>43623962 #>>43625274 #
1. zahlman ◴[] No.43625274[source]
It seems very unlikely that we'll make it to a 1.5°C target - but it now seems likely that we can get much closer to that than we were fearing around the time of the Paris Agreement being drafted. The planet seems very much set to survive, and in the longer run (on the scale of centuries) we can enable temperatures to come back down again - if we keep caring, and if we find that it would be optimal. (There is tons of room to restore tree cover.)