mastodon 4.6.9Hi! I work on EU Climate Policy for DG CLIMA @EU_Commission@social.network.europa.eu. I've worked on EU greenhouse gas targets, climate neutrality, transport, and now, the EU Emissions Trading System. Here, however, I'm off duty. My employer does not endorse my views.
CW: Scatterbrained news addict, highly random interests not limited to things I know about, like #EU #Climate #ClimatePolicy, but include science, world politics, hiking, piano.
India “has achieved over 50% of its installed electricity capacity from non-fossil sources —
reaching this milestone five years ahead of its 2030 Paris Agreement target.”
Halle Forest bloom near Brussels, bluebells and forest anemones
#SilentSunday #Photography #Bloomscrolling #Flowers #Forest #Belgique #Belgie #Belgien #Bruxelles #Brussels #Brussel
Flower fields, near Leiden, Netherlands
#Bloomscrolling #Flowers #SilentSunday #Photography #Landscape #Nederland #Netherlands
Craggy peaks, near Innsbruck, Austria
Happy 100th Birthday David Attenborough!
I learned my love of nature as a kid watching his wildlife documentaries.
Now I work on climate change.
Same story for so many of us working on environmental issues!
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cevevg98125o
#Attenborough #Nature #Wildlife #Environment #Biodiversity #Climate #Green
Analysis of why the fossil fuels shock could drive the electric age…but only if we choose it over mean reversal.
“China already has the factory capacity to more than double 2025 sales of solar, batteries and EVs. What was once seen as “overcapacity” is now just capacity.”
https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/the-new-twin-fossil-shock/
#FossilFuels #Electrification #Climate #Energy #Renewables #China #OilCrisis #EnergyCrisis
Record wind and solar saved UK from gas imports worth £1bn in March 2026
#Climate #Energy #Renewables #FossilFuels #Hormuz #OilCrisis #UK
“Als bijen doodgaan aan hun eigen honing, is er duidelijk iets mis.
Onderzoek naar nectar en honing in 23 monsters laat zien dat daarin tot 64 verschillende soorten pesticiden worden aangetroffen”
😱
#Milieu #Nederland #Biodiversity #Environment #Pollution #Pesticides #Bees
“More than 50 nations are attending a world-first conference on phasing out fossil fuels in Colombia next week as the Iran war underscores how dependent countries remain on planet-heating coal, oil and gas.”
“Founded in the Netherlands, Zeefier is an innovative company developing textile dyes made from seaweed.
By replacing petrol‑based chemistry with a renewable ocean resource, Zeefier offers an alternative that enables textiles to remain biodegradable.
Zeefier is expanding its solution for dye houses worldwide with help from the EU's BlueInvest program.”
“If you criticise [Palantir’s Federated Data Platform for the NHS] one more time, you are going to lose your job.”
Senior NHS officials warned staff over criticising rollout of Palantir platform:
https://www.ft.com/content/ff701533-aa19-4ab0-80ff-70c9420f37d9?syn-25a6b1a6=1
European Commissioner for Climate, Wopke Hoekstra, says no workaround for energy crisis:
“The only way forward is more electrification, more nuclear, more solar, more wind, more battery capacity, more interconnectors in the European Union, and all of it with much more speed.”
https://www.ft.com/content/510292eb-afa1-4929-a2a8-59f5c15decc9?syn-25a6b1a6=1
#EUPol #EU #UE #Europe #IranWar #OilCrisis #FossilFuels #Climate #Energy #Electrification #Renewables
We *waste* more natural gas *during extraction and transport*, than is stuck in Hormuz, says IEA:
“around 110 bcm of [LNG] gas passed through the Strait of Hormuz in 2025 [and is now stuck]…
nearly 100 [bcm] of natural gas could be made available annually through a global effort to cut methane from oil and gas operations, with a further 100 bcm unlocked through the elimination of non-emergency flaring worldwide.“
https://www.iea.org/reports/global-methane-tracker-2026/key-findings
“Cheaper, cleaner electric trucks overhaul China's logistics…
New-energy models accounted for 29 percent of all domestic truck sales in China last year, up from 14 percent in 2024…
"I think we're right on the cusp of a total obliteration of diesel trucks as a product category."”
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/cheaper-cleaner-electric-trucks-overhaul-024228686.html
#Electrification #China #EV #BEV #Transport #Climate #Energy
“Most EU governments are failing to target fuel duty cuts and other energy price support at only the most vulnerable consumers, the IMF said…
Two-thirds of government subsidies and tax cuts across the EU aimed at alleviating the energy crisis have been untargeted”
—> The result is higher cost, helping the rich more than the poor; and tax cuts won’t open Hormuz either
https://www.ft.com/content/8b4cb5a2-67ab-4313-bce1-b77f542eeed5?syn-25a6b1a6=1
#EUPol #EnergyCrisis #Hormuz #OilCrisis #EU #Energy #Economics
“Believe it or not, few EU countries are offering more relief on energy costs than Ireland”
Column also points out that reducing fuel taxes is regressive.
—> and lower fuel taxes do not magically solve genuine scarcity! If everyone does this, oil companies and producers will lower demand by simply raising prices precisely enough to undo the tax break. Then we’ll all be subsidising Exxon and the House of Saud.
US Republicans use taxpayer subsidies to keep coal fired power plants operating.
I guess they want to pollute for the sake of polluting?
https://apnews.com/article/trump-climate-coal-revival-9440fa44ad8f0cce0ef50b22e00cad8e
#Coal #FossilFuels #Energy #Climate #USA #USPol #GOP #Electricity
Pedro Sanchez:
“España ha demostrado que el pragmatismo verde vence al dogmatismo fósil…
De acuerdo con el Ejecutivo, la dependencia de los combustibles fósiles ―puesta en evidencia por los conflictos en Ucrania e Irán ― ha permitido que “un único líder extranjero decida y 27 economías europeas queden a su merced””
#Clima #Climate #Energia #Hormuz #EnergyCrisis #FossilFuels #EUPol #Renovables #Renewables #Espana #EU #UE
Trump threatens more war crimes, to blow up power plants, oil wells, and even desalination plants.
“CATL says sodium batteries are mainstream-ready, signs massive 60 GWh deal”
—> I’m really impressed by the Chinese battery industry: grid batteries could be getting even cheaper in some years, and less reliant on lithium
https://electrek.co/2026/04/27/catl-sodium-ion-battery-60gwh-energy-storage-deal/
#China #Batteries #Industry #Energy #Climate #Electrification #Electricity
“The European Commission is blocking EU funding for solar panel inverters from what it considers high-risk vendors like China's tech giant Huawei, it confirmed on Monday.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/commission-blocks-eu-funding-for-huawei-solar-tech/
#Climate #Energy #Electrification #Renewables #Solar #Infosec #Cybersecurity #EU #EUPol #UE #China #Trade #Geopolitics
Investors are piling into clean power funds at the fastest pace in five years…for obvious reasons!
https://www.ft.com/content/9921f2b5-c910-4cec-a50f-cad453935a1a?syn-25a6b1a6=1
Gaaah!
“Climate change and pollution are increasing stroke risk, new research finds”
“Hot temperatures can cause dehydration, ‘thickening’ the blood and raising the risk of blocked blood vessels, while humidity and air pressure changes can increase blood pressure, an important cause of stroke”
New cars in Europe (EU + EFTA + UK) in Q1 2026 were around 21% Battery Electric (BEV) and 10% Plug in hybrid (PHEV) and 38.5% hybrid.
But big differences per country, you can play with the widget at ACEA (car manufacturers organisation) to check yours.
Also shows the 2010s EU auto industry diesel craze was unwise.
Hormuz crisis economic impact on Europe
- Wopke Hoekstra, the EU commissioner in charge of climate and taxation policy says energy crisis could get much worse
- Valdis Dombrovskis, EU economy commissioner says Europe is facing a stagflationary shock
https://www.euractiv.com/news/europes-energy-crisis-could-get-much-worse-amid-us-iran-stand-off/
#IranWar #EnergyCrisis #Energy #FossilFuels #Economy #EU #UE #EUPol #Europe
The AI Revolution Hollywood Feared Is Already Happening — in India
- more reasons to dislike Bollywood movies!
- AI language dubbing in the actors' own voices, with AI lip-sync, is clearly going to be a plague. But at least it won't be worse than actual dubbing.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/india-ai-filmmaking-1236548136/
“Solar and wind energy paired with battery storage are reliable and already today deliver cost-effective, round-the-clock electricity, according to a new report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
‘24/7 renewables: The economics of firm solar and wind’ confirms that in prime solar and wind regions, hybrid solutions combined with storage deliver round-the-clock power at lower costs than fossil fuels”
How countries got the global ‘net-zero’ shipping deal ‘back on track’
https://www.carbonbrief.org/qa-how-countries-got-the-global-net-zero-shipping-deal-back-on-track/
Chinese solar panel prices rising as loss-making producers need to start making money.
The CCP/banks are forcing an end to (subsidised) price wars.
From a low of $0.09/W to 0.0114$/W now, prices might rise to $0.015-16/W, says Wood Mackenzie
https://www.ft.com/content/2c4de08b-7f12-4d08-a19b-a81865abeb10?syn-25a6b1a6=1
How declining cloudiness is accelerating global warming
(According to recent Study. But it doesn’t seem to imply projections of future warming would be too low, the effect is taken into account)
https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-how-declining-cloudiness-is-accelerating-global-warming/
