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Newsletter (copy 12)
Eleven US states pass major energy transition milestone
Good morning and a belated happy new year.
Some good news to get things started:
South African homes and businesses installed 2.6GW of new rooftop solar capacity in the 12 months to end-November 2023, according to estimates by state-owned utility Eskom.
Electric vehicles will likely account for 20% of global vehicle sales this year, up from 17% in 2023, according to BloombergNEF.
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Eleven US states — including the largest by economic output, California — now generate enough renewable energy each year to cover at least 50% of their power requirements, according to data collated by Stanford University Professor Mark Z. Jacobson.
And 10 of those states have below-average power prices.
- Read the full story here.
In 2023, renewables accounted for 63.3% of Chile’s electricity mix, according to data collated by energy research group Ember. Solar alone contributed 20% of annual electricity output.
We spoke to former environment minister Marcelo Mena-Carrasco about what lessons the rest of the world can derive from Chile’s brisk transition.
- Read the full story here.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has now allocated enough funds to replace more than 5,000 of the country’s school buses with zero-emission alternatives.
The agency is drawing on funds set aside in the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, and disbursing them in the form of rebates and grants. The “clean school bus” programme has so far disbursed 37% of the funding available to it.
Why it matters: America’s current fleet of school buses contributes both to the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions and to localised air pollution, which can cause childhood asthma and other health conditions.
“Every school day, 25 million children ride our nation’s largest form of mass transit: the school bus. The vast majority of those buses run on diesel, exposing students, teachers, and bus drivers to toxic air pollution,” vice president Kamala Harris said in a statement.
- Read the full story here.
Five of the world’s 10 largest economies now get more than half of their annual electricity needs from low-carbon sources.
- Read the full story here.
In 2023, Germany’s coal power production was back at levels last seen in the early 1960s, according to a study by research firm Fraunhofer ISE. That’s despite the country shutting its last nuclear plants in mid-April.
Coal’s contribution to the generation mix slumped to 27% as wind increased its share to 33%. Including solar, hydro and biomass, renewables in aggregate accounted for 60% of output.
- Read the full story here.
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