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Dan Schroeder

@dvschroeder.bsky.social
892 followers 217 following 2.9K posts

Physicist, educator, number-cruncher. Cartoon by the great Cal Grondahl. physics.weber.edu/schroeder

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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 9h
Yes, let's remove regulatory barriers whenever we reasonably can. But this kind of rhetoric seems like an attempt to deflect attention away from still bigger barriers: inherently high costs of some technologies, and political opposition from the fossil fuel lobby.
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
WTF, Microsoft??? 🔌💡
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Many thanks to the @sltrib.com for providing this helpful resource!
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Congratulations to Fervo Energy for achieving first power at its Cape Station enhanced geothermal complex in Beaver County, Utah! 🔌💡🌋 Now we watch to see how their electricity production develops over time. (h/t @petemassie.bsky.social) fervoenergy.com/fervo-energy...
fervoenergy.com
Fervo Energy Achieves First Power at Cape Station, a Landmark Moment for the Future of Enhanced Geothermal Systems - Fervo Energy
HOUSTON, September 24, 2026 – Fervo Energy (Nasdaq: FRVO), a global pioneer of next-generation geothermal energy, today announced that Cape Station, its
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Valar Atomics, would-be maker of helium-cooled microreactors, now says it's diversifying into "uranium TRISO-fuel processing to feed its reactors, water desalination, steel manufacturing, critical mineral refining — and data centers." 🔌💡☢️ www.sltrib.com/news/environ...
sltrib.com
2 big data centers are coming to Utah’s coal country. How they’ll be powered has residents ‘up in arms.’
“It’s all descending, these data centers,” said Cindy O’Neil, who tracks the progress of the projects. “They’re setting these things within a couple of miles of homes.”
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Lots of problems with electric school buses in New York and elsewhere. Makes me wonder whether there's meaningful competition among vendors. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/n...
nytimes.com
Why Some Schools Are Hitting the Brakes on Electric Buses
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Zeke Hausfather @zekehausfather.com · 22/09/2026
The world has made real progress in steering away from some of the darkest climate futures where global emissions doubled (or more) this century. But as David Wallace-Wells and I note in today's NYT, we are not out of the woods yet, and climate uncertainty is not our friend: www.nytimes.com/2026...
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Says here Oregon data centers accounted for 23%(!) of the state's electricity use in 2025. Meanwhile IEA says they use only ~5% of electricity in the US as a whole. Is OR a big outlier in data center density, or is there a big ambiguity in defining data centers and making these estimates? 🔌💡
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Carbon Brief @carbonbrief.org · 16/09/2026
NEW – Analysis: Global fossil-fuel emissions set to fall in 2026 amid Hormuz crisis | @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org Read here: buff.ly/spnuTWt
Global fossil-fuel emissions set to fall in 2026 amid Hormuz crisis
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Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
My latest @newscientist.com cartoon
Course: Introduction to Basic Philosophical Astronomy 
Type: Six-week evening class 
Location: Physics Building Roof 

Modules: 
Week One - Whoa, look at all those stars 
Week Two - Dude, there are, like, bajillions 
Week Three - let me blow your mind with some big bang facts 
week Four - d'you think aliens are doing this on their planet?
Week Five - Let's just chill out and take it all in for a while 
Week Six - Seriously, it's crazy how many stars are up there 

Image: figures sprawl on the roof of a building, gazing at a sky filled with stars.
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
This is so wild I have trouble believing it's real. Huge, thorough, 9-year effort to investigate cold fusion (spoiler: all results negative). Undisclosed location, presumably now dismantled. Undisclosed funding source. Report has 49 names but no credentials or affiliations. callisto.report
callisto.report
Project Callisto
The final record of a broad experimental search for low-energy nuclear reactions.
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Commercial Solar Guy @commercialsolarguy.com · 13/09/2026
Wind turbine flexing in the…wind #renewableenergy
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Counterpoint: Increasing the supply of luxury housing will result in lower prices for luxury housing, allowing more people to afford luxury housing. This will reduce demand for middle-income housing, resulting in lower prices for middle-income housing.... Lower housing prices reduce homelessness.
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Says here the court's decision applies only to DOE's May 2025 order, which expired in August 2025 anyway. So what happens next? Do the petitioners have to bring a new lawsuit, and wait over a year for their day in court, to challenge each successive 3-month DOE order? 🔌💡
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Dave Rogers @drogersenergy.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Courts ruled against the DOE’s made up emergency related to the Campbell coal plant 202c order! www.sierraclub.org/press-releas...
sierraclub.org
VICTORY: Court Rules Against Trump’s Michigan Coal Bailout
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the U.S. District Circuit Court for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of the Sierra Club, overturning the Department of Energy’s“emergency” order overriding the state’s...
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
IEA projects 1.2% increase in global coal use in 2026, compared to 2025. 🔌💡 www.nytimes.com/2026/09/10/c...
nytimes.com
The Iran War Is Pushing Global Coal Use to Record Highs (Gift Article)
Five years after virtually every world leader agreed to “phase down” the burning of coal for climate reasons, the fuel is more widely used than ever.
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Patrick De Haan @gasbuddyguy.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
MAXXED OUT at $9.999!! GasBuddy data showing 5 stations in California that have hit the limit and are selling diesel at the dispensers highest possible price: $9.999/gal
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
California is debating whether to keep Diablo Canyon open past 2030, and whether to allow new nuclear plants. Good overview article on the situation, with pictures. 🔌💡 www.nytimes.com/2026/09/09/b...
nytimes.com
Why California Is Reconsidering Its Decision to Shun Nuclear Power (Gift Article)
The state is considering extending the life of its last nuclear power plant, Diablo Canyon, and allowing construction of new reactors to help meet its clean energy goals.
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Plenty of competing influences in my case, but you can sure tell which regions *haven't* contributed. (Sorry, Dad, your North Dakota background has apparently been washed out.)
US map with color contours regions with similar and dissimilar dialects to mine. The strongest similarity (dark red) is in California. It then fades going east and north, but a band of light red stretches eastward across Colorado, Kansas, and Missouri, then northeast to the Lake Michigan area. The strongest differences (dark blue) are in New England, fading down toward Pennsylvania and Virginia. A somewhat weaker blue region is centered in Louisiana, fading westward into Texas and eastward across the southeastern states. A still weaker blue region is centered on North Dakota, fading quickly in its neighboring states.
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Jenny Chase @solarchase.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I am exhilarated by the prospect of Pakistan breaking free from fossil dependence. I love following this story, I have popcorn! ... I am also aware that this is terra incognita. Bad things may happen too (eg, massive grid bankruptcy, no power at night for anyone, knock-on government instability).
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Robert Rohde @rarohde.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Let's talk about the weather and climate changes that preceded the Nepali glacier collapse and landslide. It's well known that Nepal is warming, but we can do better and estimate the changes at the 5200m elevation site where the mass of ice and rock ultimately broke loose. A thread. 🧵🧪
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Excellent NYTimes article explaining how US states with 2030 CO2 emissions reduction targets aren't on track to meet those targets—in large part because they had already phased out coal generation, and further reductions require doing harder things. 🔌💡 www.nytimes.com/2026/09/04/u...
nytimes.com
Behind on 2030 Climate Goals, States Are Cutting or Even Scrapping Them (Gift Article)
Ambitious aims have given way to political anxiety over rising costs for consumers.
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
This sure sounds like a big deal to me. Now Fervo just has to show it can deliver on its promises. Time will tell! Their first generating unit at this site will supposedly come online in October. 🔌💡
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
This is more or less true of wind energy throughout the Great Plains, right? 🔌💡
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
First EIA, then Energy Institute, and now @ourworldindata.org have abandoned the "substitution method" of defining primary energy and instead adopted Chris Wright's preferred method, making the impact of hydro+PV+wind look 2.5x smaller than it actually is. 😡 🔌💡 ourworldindata.org/primary-ener...
ourworldindata.org
How primary energy is measured has changed across our charts
The Energy Institute no longer uses the substitution method to estimate primary energy. Here’s why that matters for our charts on energy.
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Isn't the basic disagreement here over whether or not there should be a free market for buying and selling water? @mattyglesias.bsky.social is saying there should be such a market while his critics seem to be saying that can't and/or shouldn't be done.
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
US Army names vendors (Antares, BWXT, Radiant, General Atomics, Westinghouse) and sites for 5 nuclear microreactors to be installed on bases ("Janus Program"), at a taxpayer cost of $2.2 billion. Goal is to have the first one operating by September 2028. 🔌💡 www.army.mil/article/2948...
army.mil
Army reaches agreement with private industry for nuclear micro-reactors
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of the Army is announcing today that the Janus Program has selected five nuclear energy vendors, and five initial loca...
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Oh no! What an amazing role model she was. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/25/a...
nytimes.com
Dolly Parton, Superstar Whose Songs Spoke to Millions, Dies at 80 (Gift Article)
Known for her outsize persona, appearance and talent, she rose from rural poverty to become a top-selling singer, songwriter and entrepreneur.
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Andrew Fraknoi @fraknoi.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Nice almost total #eclipse of the #Moon Thurs. night Aug 27, visible all over North America. For my info sheet with times in each time zone and viewing hints: bit.ly/Auglunarecli... #astronomy #astroed #space #space #eclipses #amateurastronomy #science #photography #scienceed #scienceteaching
A lunar eclipse, when the Earth gets between the Sun and the Moon in the sky and the Earth's shadow darkens and reddens the full Moon.
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
I understand the urge among policy experts to do everything they possibly can to help the geothermal industry grow. The big challenges, though, are physical rather than regulatory. Let's hope Fervo and others will soon demonstrate some real progress! 🔌💡
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Have methane fuel cells become practical at scale? Says here this 400 MW data center would be powered by Bloom Energy fuel cells that run on natural gas. Developer is a Utah company that apparently specializes in such things. Anyone know whether this is realistic? 🔌💡
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
I may put this one on my syllabus. #iTeachPhysics
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
If I'm reading this right, they've had a 3 MW grid-connected geothermal plant operating in Texas(!) for the last four months. Seems like such a big deal that I fear there must be a catch. Can't find any such facility in the EIA Electricity Data Browser. 🔌💡
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Took a few quick photos of a tiny portion of the new SunZia wind farms in central New Mexico when I was there recently. These turbines provide power to southern California via the new SunZia transmission line. The project includes nearly 1000 turbines in total with a total capacity of 3650 MW. 🔌💡
A white wind turbine rises above a field of brown grass dotted with dark green shrubs under a mostly clear blue sky with scattered cumulus clouds. Six more turbines are spread across the background.Six wind turbines are seen in silhouette at various distances against a bright, partly cloudy sky. The ground below is covered with brown grass, dotted with tree cholla cactus and larger shrubs. The top of a wood-and-wire snow fence is visible across the bottom.Seven wind turbines are spread across the horizon under a partly cloudy sky. In the foreground are roadways, parking areas, and streetlights, surrounded by a desert landscape of brown ground dotted with dark shrubs. A gas station is visible at the far right.
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Matt Henderson @matthen.com · 16/08/2026
Drawing all 16,777,216 possible 12 bit RGB colours in one 2D image, each exactly once. Pixels are mapped from the 256³ colour cube, following a three dimensional Hilbert curve, to a two dimensional Hilbert curve filling the square. so nearby colours stay close.
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Terrific explanation from @mliebreich.bsky.social in the middle of this video of why what we usually call "waste" heat from a power plant isn't really wasted. Time to re-think the words we teach to our students! #iTeachPhysics www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcN3...
youtube.com
The Crisis Forcing An Energy Revolution | Ep268: Jonathan Maxwell
YouTube video by Cleaning Up Podcast
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
They actually kinda did that here.
Exterior photo of the Tracy Hall Science Center at Weber State University in Utah. On the wall in the foreground, the brickwork includes thin rows of darker bricks, spaced farther apart toward the top. The brickwork is also interrupted by a diagonal "fault" along which the pattern is offset, higher on the "foot wall" at right and lower on the "hanging wall" at left, indicating a normal fault of the type that has formed the local basin-and-range topography. Photo from https://www.vcbo.com/projects/wsu-tracy-hall-science-center.
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Andrew Dessler @andrewdessler.com · 12/08/2026
On The Climate Brink, I write about how the U.S. is getting smokier due to wildfires. Bad news for those of us who enjoy breathing. www.theclimatebrink.com/p/smoke-gets...
theclimatebrink.com
♫ Smoke Gets in Your Eyes ♫
and your lungs, your blood stream, your brain, just about everywhere
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Ember @ember-energy.org · 12/08/2026
NEW | Battery storage additions could reach 459 GWh in 2026, enough to shift MORE THAN A THIRD of new solar generation to non-sunny hours 🔋 New analysis from @ember_energy 🧵1/5 ember-energy.org/lat...
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
In the 12-month running totals of the @ember-energy.org monthly world electricity generation data, solar is now solidly in 4th place, pulling ahead of wind and nuclear. The growth of wind is slowing, while coal, gas, and hydro creep upward and nuclear stagnates. 🔌💡
Chart of world electricity generation, 12-month running totals, from January 2020 through June 2026. Nine separate curves show the major electricity sources. Over most of the time shown, the order has been (from highest to lowest) coal, gas, hydro, nuclear, wind, other fossil (mostly oil), bioenergy, and other renewables (mostly geothermal). Solar has increased most rapidly; it was below other fossil during the earliest months, and recently surpassed both wind and nuclear to assume fourth place. Wind has also increased significantly and recently surpassed nuclear to assume fifth place. Most of the other sources have increased only slightly, and other fossil has decreased slightly. Data from the Ember Electricity Data Explorer, https://ember-energy.org/data/electricity-data-explorer/?entity=World&metric=absolute&fuel=total&chart=trend&date=2026-06-01&date_from=2019-01-01&mode=split&temporal_res=monthly
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
I've just returned from a trip to Texas and truly, they have some impressive freeway interchanges. I guess the difference is those frontage roads on both sides of the freeways. So you either use the frontage roads for connections (left) or add level upon level of soaring fly-over ramps (right).
Google Maps oblique view of a freeway crossing in Midland, Texas. Each freeway has two express lanes going each direction, plus a two-lane frontage road on each side. The frontage roads stay at ground level and cross in four places, with stoplights. The central express lanes of one freeway dive below ground level, while those of the other freeway climb above.Google Maps oblique view of a freeway crossing in San Antonio, Texas. Each freeway has both express lanes, in the middle, and frontage roads on each side for local traffic. The frontage roads stay at ground level and cross in four places, with stoplights. The express lanes of one freeway dive below ground level, while those of the other climb above. There are also eight elevated ramps that allow motorists to connect from one freeway to the other without exiting onto the frontage roads. Some of these ramps cross above others, and above the main freeway lanes, making five levels in total.
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The Salt Lake Tribune @sltrib.com · 07/08/2026
“Just imagine how well solar energy and associated energy storage facilities would be doing here if our leaders spent as much time and, well, energy promoting it as they do other sources of power,” the Salt Lake Tribune editorial board writes.
sltrib.com
Tribune editorial: Growth of solar energy gives Utah alternatives
“Just imagine how well solar energy and associated energy storage facilities would be doing here if our leaders spent as much time and, well, energy promoting it as they do other sources of power,” the Salt Lake Tribune editorial board writes.
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Logan Mitchell PhD @loganemitchell.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
"Utah produced more power from solar than any other source in May, marking a new first" Several quotes from me & @dvschroeder.bsky.social in the article, check it out! Zero fuel cost, reliable & fast-to-build renewables are the path to Utah's energy future! #utpol www.sltrib.com/news/environ...
sltrib.com
Utah produced more power from solar than any other source in May, marking a new first
“Wind plus solar is on a tear right now,” said Utah climate scientist Logan Mitchell. “We may have achieved liftoff.”
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
As @mliebreich.bsky.social has pointed out, this (electrifying 46% of final energy by 2040) is not going to happen. Fortunately, a great deal of electrification can occur even without coming close to this unrealistic and misleading goal.
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
A milestone for Utah! In May, for the first calendar month ever, solar was our number-one electricity source at 32.9%, surpassing gas (32.2%) and coal (28%). Three big new solar farms have boosted Utah's solar capacity by more than 50% over the last year. 🔌💡
Chart from https://ember-energy.org/data/us-electricity-data-explorer/ showing monthly electricity generation in Utah, broken down by source, from January 2020 through May 2026. Before 2023, coal was the dominant source, followed by gas and then solar. (Other sources, mostly hydro, wind, and geothermal, provide only about 5% of the total.) There are large seasonal fluctuations, but coal has generally trended downward over this time period while solar has risen to exceed both coal and gas for the first time in May 2026. A hand-drawn red circle highlights this most recent data point.
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Ember @ember-energy.org · 28/07/2026
DATA TOOL | The new version of our US electricity data explorer is now LIVE, bringing the US power transition into focus state by state 🔎⚡ Break US data down state by state – with a sleek intuitive design and new analysis tools ⤵️ ember-energy.org/dat...
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John Smillie @johnsmillie42.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Big fan of red line go up, not so crazy about blue line stay flat.
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Dr. Thomas Ronge @thomasronge.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Pretty cool and dramatic NASA animation showing the long-range transport of 2026 Canadian wildfire smoke.
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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
The good folks at BNEF are far smarter and better informed than I. Nevertheless I'm gonna be the skeptical contrarian and predict that global solar generation will not surpass coal in 2032. Would be happy to consider friendly bets on this, which I'll hope to lose! 🔌💡 about.bnef.com/insights/cle...
about.bnef.com
Solar Set to Rule World’s Power Supply: Three Things to Know | BloombergNEF
ARTICLE By Vandana Gombar, Senior Editor, BloombergNEF Solar is set to oust coal as the leading generator of electricity within six years, BloombergNEF finds in its latest energy transition outlook, d...
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Zeke Hausfather @zekehausfather.com · 11/07/2026
I enjoyed listening to Bill McKibben on Ezra Klein's podcast. Its refreshing to hear a strong case for a future of clean energy abundance and highlight a lot of positive energy trends. That said, there are a few points where I'd add nuance to Bill's arguments. www.nytimes.com/2026...
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