• Redacted@lemmy.world
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    28 days ago

    Whilst it’s true solar is growing, it is not likely to be the silver bullet you make out.

    Another way to look at the source you linked is that despite the ongoing climate catastrophe the US is still planning to add 4% more fossil fuel sources to their grid next year.

    It also leaves out the fact that 84% of the current US power is generated by fossil fuels and that figure is not being reduced.

    The source is also very US-centric. If we take the IEA’s projections, only 25% of the world’s new energy will be from renewable sources in 2024.

    Then there’s the weird choice of counting battery storage as energy generation. At the end of 2022 half of the battery storage was being powered by fossil fuels so should probably be left out of any statistics.

    We need people to understand the true scale of the problem rather than generating more hopium. The energy companies have teams of people for that.

      • Redacted@lemmy.world
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        25 days ago

        As of 2023, solar energy accounted for about 4.5% of China’s total energy consumption.

        In 2024 solar energy could account for around 5-6% of China’s total energy consumption.

        If they add another 170GW in 2025, the percentage could rise to approximately 6-7%.

        They hope by 2026 solar will make up 8-9% of the total energy consumption.

        If solar is the future then we are screwed because that isn’t fast enough growth… and that is without factoring in the rest of the world who will hit nowhere near those numbers.

        • DempstersBox@lemmy.world
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          4 hours ago

          And they are adding, fast. Far faster than we are. That goal of nearly ten percent solar in less than two years?

          That’s not only fucking amazing, that’s achievable, and they’re on target for it.

          As cheap as panels and controllers and batteries have gotten? It’s only getting better.

          Free electricity. From the fucking sky. Magic is real. You can play xbox with it