22/05/2021
Future Crunch weekly good news is BIG today! Check it out.
Go here for all links to the source for each blurb:
https://futurecrunch.com/the-crunch-no-136/
There's been so much good news on the clean energy front we're not even sure where to start. Let's kick off with "oil and gas are now junk investments" according to some head-in-the-clouds, granola loving climate activist, oh wait it's *checks notes* the head of the International Energy Agency, Faith Birol. Sky News
The IEA's new Net Zero by 2050 report says that, after 250 years, humanity should now stop exploring for oil, gas, and coal. It's arguably as big a moment as the Paris Agreement, because in one stroke, it completely wipes out the fossil fuel industry's last remaining justifications for new capacity. People throw around the word 'turning point' a lot but this really is one. New Yorker
Beyond projects already committed as of 2021, there are no new oil and gas fields approved for development in our pathway, and no new coal mines or mine extensions are required." The implications are far-reaching; this is truly a knife into the fossil fuel industry (...) a complete turnaround of the fossil-led IEA from five years ago. Dave Jones, Ember
The hits keep on coming. The IEA says last year's record surge in renewables is the 'new normal', and that 90% of all new energy built in 2021 and 2022 will be clean. Keep in mind, this is from an organization that was founded explicitly to promote coal, oil and gas. Welcome to an energy revolution driven not by altruism, or politics, but by the cold-blooded logic of the marketplace. Independent
Another crunchy hippy, Ben van Beurden, the CEO of Shell, has just announced that half of the oil giant's energy mix will be clean somewhere in the next decade. HALF. “If we do not make that type of process by the middle of this decade, we have a problem not just as a company but as a society." Bloomberg
The Sines coal plant in Portugal has been shut down nine years ahead of schedule, reducing the country’s carbon emissions by 12%. A second and final plant is due to close in November which will make Portugal the fourth European country to eliminate coal, following in the footsteps of Belgium (2016), Austria (2020) and Sweden (2020). Beyond Coal
Ford has unveiled its new electric pickup, the F-150 Lightning. Its petrol-powered counterpart is the biggest selling truck in the United States, and the electric version is aimed squarely at the same customers. 360 km of range, 3.5 tons towing capacity, 11 charging ports for your power tools, three days of backup electricity you can run straight into your house. Price? $40,000. Verge
