Records That are Meant to be Broken
In summary, solar and wind power costs have plummeted, global deforestation reached its highest point years ago and continues to decline, and coal plants are vacant in many countries. 62% of global energy investment in 2023 was geared to clean energy, outcompeting fossil fuel which peaked over a decade ago. Wind and solar costs are far less now than the costs of fossil fuel.
In the U.S. during 2021, 20% of electrical energy came from clean energy and in 2022, it bumped up to 22%. It only gets better as the U.S. Energy Information Agency announced wind and solar will account for about 40% of USA electricity in 2023. And, worldwide last year, wind energy powered up nearly 80 million homes, another record. What’s more, in December of 2023, our country officially proclaimed that it would attain 100% clean energy dependency by 2035.
In 2023, the U.S. oil rig count was 771, which is 161 more than a year ago, but 304 less than 2019. And while China is the world’s leading polluter, in 2023 it generated more solar power than the U.S. or any other country did in their entire history. This is crazy because China had to build more coal fire plants since coal still provides 60% of its electricity. Dirty energy is still necessary for the short term until clean energy catches up.
India’s electricity generation was last reported at a record 44% clean energy. Arabia has the world’s largest solar panel farm, 22 miles long consisting of 4 million panels and generating enough power to energize 200,000 homes while eliminating 2.4 million tons of annual emissions.
Grid scale gravity batteries are energy storage systems that are being produced now. They are made up of lithium, iron and phosphate, and are using sun, wind and geothermal power sources. They are stationed in abandoned mines and are being developed for storing excess renewable energy (the energy that can’t be immediately used by a grid). When surplus energy is required, the battery is dropped down a shaft and the gravity spins a turbine that activates kinetic energy. Clean energy is nearing 50% of the European Union’s electric power, and at this rate the EU will accomplish net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, if not sooner. Wind power is now 72% cheaper and solar is 90% cheaper than 12 years ago. Renewable energy makes up about 80% of new electricity sources. There are now about 280 e-bikes worldwide. In the U.S., there are approx. 21 million EV cars on the road, as well as around 1.3 million commercial EV’s. The EV charging maintenance costs are about a quarter of petrol cars. One in 5 cars sold in 2023 worldwide was an EV. A new drilling rig is being developed - not for fossil fuel, but for heat, or geothermal energy from Earth’s hot pressurized interior. This power source requires minimal land and there are no emissions.There is still much research required, but the extraction and commercialization of natural white oxygen is underway. It only has one emission - water. And it does not require fossil fuels to produce.Nuclear fusion continues to be experimented with and it will produce carbon-free power. With fusion, atoms are driven together to release incomparable energy - without the radioactive waste that nuclear fission must pay attention to. Nuclear fission is a great power source for heating and transportation, but very costly and polluting does occur in lesser amounts than fossil fuel.
Another innovation is the spreading of rock dust (crushed rock) to collect CO2 from the air. Currently it is going through experimentation and soon scientists will know how much carbon is actually being stored. Gas-powered buildings provide one-third of energy related greenhouse gas - but not for long. Electric heat pump sales are on a dramatic upswing towards a 2040 goal to power up to 90% of the HVAC and water heating market. The end of gas water heaters is imminent.