Reposted by David FicklingRobbie Andrew @robbieandrew.bsky.social · 23/09/2026The US EIA is currently forecasting US fossil-fuel emissions to drop by 1.7% in 2026. robbieandrew.github.io/USA/ 58113
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 24/09/2026EV charging in China was 17.2 TWh in August, up 51.2% year-on-year. That's equivalent to ~1.3 million barrels of oil a day, in a global oil market that shifts about 100m bpd. Just the change from last year cuts global oil demand by 0.5m bpd. english.cec.org.cn#/newsdetails...english.cec.org.cncec 422559
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 23/09/2026it’s funny how *just last week* I wrote an elaborate scenario for how the politics of US petroleum export bans could flip some day, and this week the Trump administration is just … tweeting it out www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...bloomberg.comHow the Great Gas Crisis of 2030 Will Play OutIt’s October 2030. In hindsight, the vulnerabilities that triggered the third great natural gas crisis in eight years seem painfully obvious. 0124
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 18/09/2026The whole thread is worth reading and makes much more serious points about cultish aspects of SF AI, but this one made me LOL 27217
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 16/09/2026It’s darkly funny that data center bros are all installing gigawatts of diesel generators because batteries are girly and foreign, just at the moment the entire global diesel production system is breaking apart. 4215
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Disease and massacres from European invasion resulted in the deaths of 93% of Indigenous people in Australia, per a new study. Sadly, this should not be surprising — it’s consistent with the numbers seen in the Americas after invasion. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09...abc.net.auImpact of colonisation on First Nations people far greater than previous estimates, research findsAustralia's Indigenous population was up to seven times larger before colonisation than previously estimated, but was devastated following the arrival of Europeans, new research reveals. 22512
Reposted by David FicklingDavid Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 12/09/2026I wrote this quickly at a bus stop and didn't realize it would go viral, or else I would have worded it better. But the point is that the media is too credulous about AI killing everyone in 10 years (how?) when climate change is killing people now and will only get worse (we know exactly how). 4156791559
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 11/09/2026A modern vehicle that supports OTA software updates, what devilry is this? www.yahoo.com/news/politic...yahoo.comNorway Found a Cure for China's Bus 'Kill Switch' — Bringing Back the Diesel EngineTwo governments got handed the exact same discovery. One called it a managed risk and moved on. The other used it to rewrite its own emissions law. That gap says more about where this story is headed ... 150
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 10/09/2026A thing that people need to reckon with when they theorize that AI swarms could brute-force engineer superviruses is that *this is what viruses do anyway*. There have likely been roughly a sextillion — a billion trillion — Covid virions generated since 2019. 3199
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 09/09/2026I would find a lot of the apocalyptic warnings about AI a lot more convincing if the industry wasn’t steeped in an effective altruism, a movement that repeatedly spawns cultic offshoots 1185
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 04/09/2026Remember how we were going to see a boom in coal consumption due to the war in Iran? Global seaborne thermal coal imports fell 4mt in 1H26 vs 1H25, -0.9% y/y, -7.7% vs 1H24. If this is a boom, I’d love to see the bust. www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...bloomberg.comThe LNG Shock Isn’t Driving Asia Back to CoalIf you’re given to the Sickos Guy view of world events, there’s one obvious way to make the current crisis in the Middle East look just that little bit more disastrous: As well as starving us of energ... 719761
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 04/09/2026This is globalisation at its absolute best 2537
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 17/08/2026Love to see a successfully decommissioned coal power plant #helsinki 0162
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 05/08/2026Anecdotal impression, but IMO the most implacably anti-EV group of people you will ever meet are middle management in legacy carmakers whose C-suite is all-in on the energy transition. 2226
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 05/08/2026As China and the world pivots to EVs, the Chinese arms of European carmakers have actually been cutting their production of EVs, quite radically. www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...bloomberg.comChina Is Beating Europe to the Next Billion DriversA circumspect general is always preparing for the next war, not the last one. That shows you where foreign automakers have been going wrong in China. 184
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 03/08/2026It’s always useful when events cause people to pay attention to the serious and compounding effects of climate change, but … the last time the UK was self-sufficient in food, its big geopolitical worry was a Napoleonic invasion. www.theguardian.com/environment/...theguardian.comBritain could face food shortages as drought continues, farmers warnFarmers battle to salvage what they can of their crops as heatwave set to continue 0154
Reposted by David FicklingBloomberg Opinion @opinion.bloomberg.com · 01/08/2026Guyana finds itself rich in oil resources in a world that wants a share of the bountybloom.bgGuyana Is Feeling the Crushing Weight of Its Oil BoomThe government risks overpromising and underdelivering to its people while global interests eye its bounty of resources. 042
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 01/08/2026Meanwhile China has 90% of downstream vibranium refining capacity 12310
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 01/08/2026“That’s one of those irregular verbs, isn’t it? *I* restore orderly functioning in FX markets, *you* are manipulating your currency, *China* is using predatory mercantilism to deindustrialize the planet” 1124
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 01/08/2026Food $200 Data $150 Rent $800 Japanese Yen (JPY) $5bn-$10bn Utility $150 someone who is good at the economy please help me budget this. my family is dying 0130
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 01/08/2026-Milk -Bread -Froot Loops -$5bn-$10 billion Japanese yen (JPY) 180
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 01/08/2026Most NESW places I’ve been: N: St Petersburg, Russia E: Nuku’alofa, Tonga S: Hobart, Australia W: Alofi, Niue 150
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 31/07/2026Loving this could-never-happen-here NYT story about a strange foreign country where people ignore the rise of authoritarianism to chase bling and Insta likes www.nytimes.com/2026/07/29/w...nytimes.comThis Country Is Ravaged by War, but Its Rich Feel ‘Positive Vibes Only’The lifestyles of the wealthy in Myanmar — nightclubs, caviar and trips abroad — have been largely untouched by years of deadly conflict. 0218
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 31/07/2026The hilarious meta aspect of this story about used EV prices in the US rising is how long they take to reach the obvious (but repugnant to The Discourse) conclusion, that people really like the EVs that US carmakers don’t want to sell them www.cnbc.com/2026/07/31/u...cnbc.comEV prices aren't following the 'law of used cars,' analyst says — what it means for buyers and sellersThe prices for used electric vehicles have risen this year, which is unusual, experts said. Affordability and high gas prices help explain why, they said. 516148
Reposted by David FicklingMark Gongloff @markgongloff.bsky.social · 27/07/2026"The images of holiday homes’ swimming-pool water being drained to use on the encroaching flames should dispel the notion that developed countries are immune" Gift link to @lararhiannon.bsky.social 's column for @opinion.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...bloomberg.comFrance and Spain Wildfires Are the New RealityThe normally idyllic landscapes of rural France and Spain now look closer to hell. Multiple aggressive wildfires have been sweeping through regions of both countries for weeks, filling the skies with ... 04120
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 27/07/2026Your regular reminder that GM’s best-selling model line globally is not the Silverado 1500 but the Wuling Hongguan Mini EV, a Chinese electric car that costs less than $10,000 13612
Reposted by David FicklingBloomberg Opinion @opinion.bloomberg.com · 27/07/2026Most clothes are made from oil, leaving cheap fast fashion exposed to the Iran war. @davidfickling.bsky.social explains why recycled fibers could offer protection 🎥 194
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 23/07/2026It’s so perfect that the company is named after a terrifying parasite that an amoral company wants to unleash on the world for military-industrial complex reasons. openai.com/index/huggin...openai.comOpenAI and Hugging Face partner to address security incident during model evaluationOpenAI and Hugging Face share early findings from a security incident during AI model evaluation, highlighting advanced cyber capabilities and lessons for defenders. 161
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 23/07/2026TIL that the word “loanword” is a loanword, from German “lehnwoht” 293
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 19/07/2026Need some instant @dieworkwear.bsky.social commentary on Infantino’s footwear choices 222
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 19/07/2026ENGvFRA now only the second-best news of the night out of Miami apnews.com/article/tate...apnews.comSocial media influencers Andrew and Tristian Tate arrested in Miami, US Marshals Service tells APInfluencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate have been arrested by federal authorities Saturday in Miami, according to U.S. Marshals Service. 0121
Reposted by David FicklingBloomberg Opinion @opinion.bloomberg.com · 16/07/2026Right now, Elon Musk’s dominance of orbital spaceflight is unquestioned. But he should watch out for China catching up, @davidfickling.bsky.social says 🎥 182
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 14/07/2026Would really love to know how they arrived at this figure of $1tr a year to create a non-China critical minerals supply chain, which seems off by several orders of magnitude. The entire global fossil fuels sector takes in less than $1tr/yr of investments! www.ft.com/content/c6c1...ft.comCutting China reliance would cost the west $23tn, research suggestsStudy highlights challenge facing US and EU as they try to reduce Beijing’s dominance over strategic supply chains 3224
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 12/07/2026I have mostly had a congenial time on Bluesky, but worried now that it’s all going to go to hell around strongly held opinions on that red card 😀 3142
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 11/07/2026It is incredibly confounding. We are seeing signs of climate change that are palpably, searingly obvious to everyone, but everyone in power seems intent on downplaying the link, or making out it is about “woke air conditioner attitudes” or some such nonsense. 29136
Reposted by David FicklingSimon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 10/07/2026NEW: Eight facts about air conditioning amid an overheated global debate KEY FACT: Many European cities, on the world's fastest-warming continent, never needed AC in the past For some strange reason – I can't imagine why – many commentators prefer to ignore this 12285126
Reposted by David FicklingJulia Simon @juliaradio.bsky.social · 09/07/2026In today's story about the ongoing Iran war, oil and gas analysts write: "If China's car industry were handing out a salesman of the year award for 2026 President Trump would be a leading contender." They're talking about Chinese EVs, folks. IEA projects oil demand to fall this year🛢️ More here ⬇️npr.orgThe Iran war has pushed some countries away from oil and toward clean energyThe new round of bombing in the Middle East has underscored the precarity of relying on fossil fuels. The war is speeding up the global transition to EVs, solar and batteries, experts say. 110427
Reposted by David FicklingMark Gongloff @markgongloff.bsky.social · 09/07/2026Show this chart to anybody who tries to tell you clean energy needs government subsidies. Nobody mops up your tax dollars quite like that poor, suffering fossil fuel industry ($1.3 trillion in profits since 2021) Gift link to @davidfickling.bsky.social's column: www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...bloomberg.comWho’s Really Keeping Fossil Fuels Alive? TaxpayersTo judge by the way many people discuss the energy transition, we’re engaged in a fight between green idealogues in government and academia on the one hand, and a more realistic private sector that re... 15931
Reposted by David FicklingTim O’Brien @timobrien.bsky.social · 01/07/2026On the race to mine tungsten — and the specter of global warfare: youtube.com/shorts/gxLMj...youtube.comThis metal can help predict warsYouTube video by Bloomberg Opinion 33418
Reposted by David FicklingTim O’Brien @timobrien.bsky.social · 01/07/2026The Trumps are trying to mix federal $ and a company they invest in to give a boost to a tungsten mine in Kazakhstan. Because everybody is scrambling for tungsten and the opening of this mine may explain why: www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...bloomberg.comThis Mine Predicts Major Wars. It’s Opening AgainThe fortunes of a remote tungsten pit have risen and fallen through more than a century of conflicts. The critical mineral could now be a deterrent. 812755
Reposted by David FicklingAkshat Rathi @akshatrathi.bsky.social · 06/07/2026Correct your priors: Private money is going after clean energy, governments are using public money to prop up fossil fuels "About 59% of all money spent on the fossil fuel system came from taxpayers in 2015. By 2025, that climbed to 68% and spiked at 78% in 2022." www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...bloomberg.comWho’s Really Keeping Fossil Fuels Alive? TaxpayersTo judge by the way many people discuss the energy transition, we’re engaged in a fight between green idealogues in government and academia on the one hand, and a more realistic private sector that re... 22754461
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 06/07/2026So do we call it a bonk run? Bonking crisis? So many exciting possibilitiesstatic.klipy.comNoseybonk Thumbs UpAlt: GIF of Noseybonk, an unintentionally nightmarish costumed character from 1970s British kids’ TV 161
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 05/07/2026If 42 is the answer, what is the question? #goldcoastmarathon 3160
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 01/07/2026This wonderful @liamdenning.bsky.social piece about the $25,000 bare-bones EV with hand cranked windows that is trying to crack the overpriced US auto market. But I can’t help but think about my $28,000 EV with sunroof, massage seats and SAE2 driver assist that US drivers aren’t allowed to own. 1716424
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 01/07/2026‘Energy skeptics’ in 2016: “This extreme weather event that caused problems in South Australia’s 40% clean grid is PROOF RENEWABLES DON’T WORK.” ‘Energy skeptics’ in 2026: “This extreme weather event that didn’t cause problems in South Australia’s 85% clean grid is PROOF RENEWABLES DON’T WORK.” 0479
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 30/06/2026There’s a mine off the coast of Australia that has predicted a century of major wars, and it’s opening again. I went there to better understand tungsten, a critical mineral at the heart of the geopolitical struggle between the US and China: 🧵 www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...bloomberg.comThis Mine Predicts Major Wars. It’s Opening AgainThe fortunes of a remote tungsten pit have risen and fallen through more than a century of conflicts. The critical mineral could now be a deterrent. 59232
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 26/06/2026If I was still living in Europe I would be livid at how people are trying to turn heatwaves into a hurr durr “yOu caN’T gEt GoOd icE IN bArs” culture war joke. Most of Europe doesn’t have AC because they didn’t need it until 5 years ago. BECAUSE THE CLIMATE IS WARMING! This is not difficult. 721752
David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 26/06/2026This is what the average housing unit in (left) Italy and (right) France looks like. Tha challenges of doing AC in Europe are absolutely not “everyone lives in heritage buildings” 4254