I spent the last couple of weeks focused on the failings of the COP process. It wasn’t a fun exercise, and perhaps it would have been wise to avoid such a downer discussion during the holidays. Then again, society would be wise never to take a respite from the truth, holiday or not.
Nonetheless, I want to start the week with positive news. Two European countries achieved some clean energy milestones last year.
In the UK fossil fuel generated electricity fell 22% year-over-year. It marked the lowest level since 1957 when 97% of the UK’s electricity was generated with fossil fuels. More importantly, since 2008 coal use has dropped 97%.
Unlike many countries, solar isn’t the dominant source of clean electricity generation in Great Britain. Wind provides almost six times more power than solar and bioenergy accounts for nearly three times more power versus solar.
The other country achieving a milestone is Germany. According to the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, last year 59.7% of public net electricity generation was powered by renewables. In total, electricity generation from renewables was up 7% compared to 2022.
With an increase of 14.1%, Germany achieved new highs in wind power while solar power capacity increased by 14 GW, well above the federal government’s target of 9 GW. And when was the last time any country could say they exceeded a government’s target on anything?
#solarpowerenergy #windpower #cleanpower #climategoals
