Good morning with good news: Chile rapidly decarbonizes its grid with solar & wind!
S&W generated 44.1% in February 2026, up from 40.7% in 2/2025 and nearly triple 15.9% in 2/2020!
Up 25 points!
Fossil fuel generation plunged from 56.5% in 2/2020 to 31.7% in 2/2026.
Down 25 points!
#energysky
🙂
Recommended read: Climate Home News examined how Nigerian homes and businesses are increasingly switching from backup generators to solar power.
Hi, so mostly solar....! Nice
I'm not sure; could it be a mix of waste to power or could increasingly be battery storage?
Right now Belgian power exports is almost certainly predominantly wind power.
Wind 42.7% Solar 21.2% At 10:45am on 05/04/26
UK electricity grid is very low carbon today (windy and a bit sunny). As a consequence very little gas fired power generation is active on the grid (probably just the "spinning reserve").
It's probably also worth noting that our household includes an EV as our only car. So our energy cost includes nearly all our motoring (except for public charging which isn't included here - for simplicity).
The next tipping point in the energy transition is approaching.
Overall, solar has already been cheaper than fossil power for a while, but upfront costs used to be higher.
That's no longer the case. Solar is now competitive upfront AND has vastly lower operating costs (no fuel).
Obviously there could well be a spike in our energy costs / prices this year as a result of US/Israel attacks on Iran but still expect to be protected by the energy efficiency of our house.
Graph shows cost of our household energy in blue above the axis and money earned from our PV generation in orange below the axis. The net cost of our energy use / generation is shown as a solid green line
Graph showing our annual household energy costs since 2015 (no account taken for general inflation = just the cost). As you will see those costs peak in 2023 because of the Ukraine war energy crisis. Last year cost was £863 and we earned £659 from our PV, so next cost was £204 for the whole of 2025.
Our Octopus Energy bill for March 2026. Our average unit rate (before VAT) worked out as 15.13p/kWh on the Intelligent Octopus Go smart tariff. Other details as per main text.
We used 428.8kWh of grid⚡ in Mar-2026 with
43kWh for EV
180kWh general household activity
297kWh for ASHP
Delivering 971kWh heat
our PV generated 198kWh, with 178kWh self consump and ~20kWh export
Total cost of elec: £83.51 inc VAT and standing charge (but excluding FiT payments for our PV).
Emma Reynolds: "Our priority internationally is to de-escalate this conflict & working with allies around the world to do that"
The UK govt is allowing the US to use British military bases to bomb Iran.
Reynolds is treating us like fools.
Spain's renewables build-out has structurally decoupled its electricity prices from gas markets. Gas now sets the price in only 15% of hours, compared to 90% in Italy.
Countries that invested early in clean power are far less exposed to fossil fuel price shocks. Those that didn't now pay the price.
Yes we have a small 5kWh Givenergy battery. It works pretty well for us together with some smart ToU automation via HomeAssistant
We used 588.6kWh of grid⚡ in Feb-2026 with
~77kWh for EV
200kWh general household activity
334kWh for ASHP
Delivering 1050kWh heat & DHW
our PV generated 72kWh, with 71kWh self consump & ~1.0kWh export
Total cost of elec: £110.32 inc VAT and standing charge (but excluding FiT payments for our PV).
Calacino, Genovese and Pring working paper on oil spills in the North Sea
3) claim that climate policy “is accelerating NS decline beyond what's necessary” is peak Climate Realism. Proposing to relax enviro rules and lift ban on new licenses to attract 💸 is v trickle down capitalism, but also damning as it's precisely what increased oil spills in UK last decade ⬇️
8/
2) the claim that “investment in NS supports a managed transition for workers” is a flawed rep of how FFs work and a myopic way to engage local politics in the regions.
Brits know the new energy model is 🇨🇳. Keeping them locked into a declining industry is not a political winner, and kills trust
7/
1) the claim that oil beats renewables in affordability is just not true. The “upward trajectory of strike prices at offshore-wind auctions in recent years” is at best an outdated statement. The latest auctions have been a roaring success for offshore wind procurement.
bsky.app/profile/drsi...
6/
Traffic and Travel
How new faster Northern train service between Leeds and Sheffield is 'just the beginning'
www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/traffic...
We used 836.1kWh of grid⚡ in Jan-2026 with
~64kWh for EV
224kWh general household activity
514kWh for ASHP
Delivering 1425kWh heat & DHW
our PV generated 55kWh, with 54kWh self consump & ~0.7kWh export
Total cost of elec: ~£173.36 inc VAT and standing charge (but excluding FiT payments for our PV).
Nigel Farage apologises for 17 breaches of MPs’ code of conduct
Reform UK leader, who failed to declare £380,000 on time, says he is computer-illiterate ‘oddball’. I think I could find other terms that would better describe his character.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
25yrs of personal (direct) carbon accounting
25yrs of household (direct) carbon accounting
25yrs of household energy tracking
Main components of our household carbon emissions for 2025. It shows how even a small number of short haul flights has a significant carbon footprint
Personal and household CO2 emissions data for 2025 shows our 3rd full year without gas use. Overall very small changes from last year. Direct emissions from the house/car etc were down slightly (again).
Total household CO2 exc flights = 843kg, inc flights 1388kg,
personal share of total = 559kg.
IMF prepares for global run on US dollar
The EU should issue more common debt to provide investors with an alternative safe asset to gold and US Treasuries, the Fund's managing director said
www.euractiv.com/news/imf-pre...
Kristi Noem, Donald Trump and the entire Administration are lying. They murdered a man in cold blood and are trying to cover it up.
Here is everything in one clip, exposing their lies.
French authorities ban British far-right activists from gathering at weekend
Nord and Pas-de-Calais prefecture aims to stop anti-migrant groups travelling for ‘Operation Overlord’ protest
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Attacks by Donald Trump against his NATO allies over Greenland, the Chagos islands and the future of global security have sidelined critical plans to secure new support for Ukraine.
Could this be part of Trump's strategy anyway.
news.sky.com/story/trump-...
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
― George Orwell, 1984
Screenshot of a tweet from @PressSec dated 21 Jan 2026, reading as follows: No he didn’t, Libby. His written remarks referred to Greenland as a “piece of ice” because that’s what it is. You’re the only one mixing anything up here.
Trump repeatedly said "Iceland" when he meant Greenland in his Davos rant. But his press secretary is just blatantly lying about it.
