iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by George Davidson

Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 29/04/2025

This is another trope that helps associate grid catastrophes with energy transition without evidence. I call it the Object Proximity tactic: they drops (a) the blackout occurred and (b) there's a high share of renewables, and then just waggles their eyebrows meaningfully -> archive.ph/aaxUT

Spain and Portugal were hit by a huge power cut on Monday that paralysed transport networks and disrupted mobile communications, with authorities warning that obstacles remained before electricity could be fully restored.
Hours after it began, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said experts were looking for the cause of the outage, which immobilised the rail system, delayed flights and made traffic lights go dark.
Countries including Spain are at the forefront of efforts to rely more on electricity as part of the shift away from fossil fuels, but Monday’s crisis is likely to stoke concerns about power networks’ ability to meet the added demand.
Data from the Spanish electricity operator showed that consumption dropped by more than 10GW when the blackout hit shortly after 12.30pm local time, suggesting that it was one of the biggest in recent European history.
Weather data showed that temperatures in southern Spain increased sharply between midday and 1pm local time. Higher temperatures can limit how much electricity cables can carry.

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Reposted by George Davidson

Hank Green @hankgreen.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

The Loan Programs Office (LPO) is one of the most quietly effective tools the federal government has. It is the center of our industrial policy providing loans that banks won't give for energy innovation. It funds real projects. Battery factories. Nuclear reactors. Geothermal energy. Car factories.

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Senator Chris Van Hollen @vanhollen.senate.gov · 16/04/2025

I just landed in San Salvador a little while ago, and I look forward to meeting with the team at the U.S. embassy to discuss the release of Mr. Abrego Garcia. I also hope to meet with Salvadoran officials and with Kilmar himself. He was illegally abducted and needs to come home.

youtube.com

Just landed in El Salvador to discuss release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia

YouTube video by Senator Chris Van Hollen

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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 08/04/2025

Friends: a short thread on data centres + general rising power demand, based off the amazing new @ember-energy.org Global Electricity Review 2025, out today (as always: THANKYOU Ember for making all the data freely available, it is very invaluable to ppl like me) ember-energy.org/latest-insig...

Renewables met three-quarters of electricity demand growth in 2024 -40% was from solar power alone
Change in electricity generation, 2024 vs. 2023 (TWh)
X
2023 baseline: 29.685 TWh

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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 08/04/2025

If you limit demand growth from corrosive sources (like Bitcoin and image generators) you get far more room for stuff like 'saving people's lives during heatwaves' and 'moving people from their home to their work without choking them to death with air pollution' It is WILD how controversial this is

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Reposted by George Davidson

Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 08/04/2025

It means we have to ask: is every new megawatt hour of clean energy doing useful for society and environment? Well: not if a substantial chunk of new demand comes from activities that are greedy, unwanted, corrosive or wasteful. Like Bitcoin mining!!

Emerging drivers of electricity demand are contributing more than twice as much to demand growth as they were five years ago
Annual change in global electricity demand (%)

Demand growth is higher than it used to be
2023 and 2024 saw the e rate of electricity demand growth of 3.3%, once-adjusted for differences in temperatures (see chapter 1). This is higher than the 2.5% average growth seen.
over the previous decade, and in part reflects the emergence of new drivers of electricity demand such as EV's, heat pumps and data centres. Combined, these three technologies increased electricity demand by 0.7% in 2024. This is more than double the rate of demand. increase they contributed five years ago, when they were responsible for increasing global electricity demand by 0.3% per year.
Emerging drivers cause higher rates of electricity demand growth
Emerging drivers of electricity demand such as EVs, data centres and heat pumps have shown similar rates of growth over the last two years. These three technologies are estimated to have added 0.7% to global demand in 2024 (+195 TWh), a slight step up from the 0.6% they added in 2023 (+174 TWh)

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George Davidson @georgedavidson.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

And yeah, until I hear from EGLE themselves that they can access the portals with the federal grants from SFA, I won’t believe it. Doesn’t matter to me what the new Trump EPA claims.

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George Davidson @georgedavidson.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

Sorry, when I said “it” is available for rooftops, I meant solar for all. I’m saying that solar for all is a good reason for the legislature to pass enabling legislation for community solar, because it will allow federal dollars to be put to use in the state more quickly. We agree I think!

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George Davidson @georgedavidson.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

SFA still matters in MI, it’s a huge reason for the state to pass community solar even though the legislature feels like it just tackled climate recently. Plus, pretty sure it’s still available for rooftop (which I know is way harder to scale)

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Reposted by George Davidson

Matthew Klippenstein (he/him) @klippenstein.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

~The Tesla Fan's Lament~ “First he claimed to be a founder, And I did not care – because I liked EVs. Then he defrauded California, And I did not care – because I liked EVs. Then he sabotaged high speed rail, sold cars knowing their batteries’ design flaw could cause fires, gamed range ... /1

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

1. I know this will cause me trouble, but it dismays me to see fellow environmentalists dismissing Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) out of hand, in some cases clearly before they have understood the technologies involved or their potential uses. 🧵

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Nathan Tankus @nathantankus.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

CNN with an absolutely gigantic story: "Elon Musk’s top lieutenants at the Treasury Department asked its acting secretary, a career civil servant, to immediately shut off all USAID payments using the department’s own ultra-sensitive payment processing system." edition.cnn.com/2025/02/06/p...

edition.cnn.com

Musk associates sought to use critical Treasury payment system to shut down USAID spending, emails show | CNN Politics

Four days after Donald Trump’s inauguration, Elon Musk’s top lieutenants at the Treasury Department asked its acting secretary, a career civil servant, to immediately shut off all USAID payments using...

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George Davidson @georgedavidson.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

Mass is pretty cutting edge on the distributed gen side of DERs, at least. SMART program, the ESMPs, long term system planning and forecasting for DG IX. Not sure about their resi or DR programs, though.

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George Davidson @georgedavidson.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

Someday I’ll get around to this

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George Davidson @georgedavidson.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

The best reporting on Elon Musk’s Treasury Department takeover is irrefutably @nathantankus.bsky.social. I just signed up for a subscription because his reporting is that important. Clean energy folks, Elon Musk could control PTC/ITC reimbursements. This is critical news for the industry.

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George Davidson @georgedavidson.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

Citation is Case U-21534. Filing number U-21534-0541 is the press release and U-21534-0540 is the (600 page) Order.

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George Davidson @georgedavidson.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

Michigan PSC just approved $200M+ in additional revenue for DTE. Represents a 52% reduction from DTE’s original ask. One of the denied expenses sought by DTE was $258,000 in corporate jet travel, for which they did not demonstrate ratepayer benefit.

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George Davidson @georgedavidson.bsky.social · 18/01/2025

Lots of hydration salts and some edibles!

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Aalia Mauro @aaliamauro.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

Everyone should have “Parable of the Sower” by Octavia Butler on their 2025 reading list, especially with the events we've seen this past year, like the hurricane Helene and the fires in Los Angeles.

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George Davidson @georgedavidson.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

Birds aren’t real and neither are eggs

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George Davidson @georgedavidson.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

Ok, it’s just really good satire. Love it.

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George Davidson @georgedavidson.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

Title: The Expansion of Incentive (Performance Based) Regulation of Electricity Distribution and Transmission in the United States. Paul L. Joskow. 2024. ceepr.mit.edu/wp-content/u...

ceepr.mit.edu

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George Davidson @georgedavidson.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

I’m reading a paper about Performance Based Regulation of electricity in the U.S. Here’s what felt noteworthy as I read: 🧵

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The Last Farm @thelastfarm.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

Looks like the new Zillow “climate risks” feature might not be great for the Miami real estate market

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Reposted by George Davidson

Union of Concerned Scientists @ucs.org · 29/12/2024

Pro holiday tip: electrifying both freight and last-mile delivery significantly decreases the climate and public health impacts of our holiday shopping.

blog.ucsusa.org

Diesel is the Reason for the Sneezin': Cleaner Holiday Deliveries are on the Horizon

How much is the transport of all those packages impacting emissions and air pollution?

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George Davidson @georgedavidson.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

It looks like Michigan won’t pass community solar in the 2024 lame duck session. House Democrats in the Energy Committee did not take up CS for a vote, which would have allowed it to see the House floor before the end of session. The speaker would have to discharge the bill directly now. Unlikely.

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George Davidson @georgedavidson.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

This Enron advertisement is absolutely KILLING me… It’s either satire or the worst rebrand attempt I’ve ever seen. enron.com Apparently the “R” in Enron stands for “Repentance” now.

enron.com

ENRON | Let's Talk

We're back and we have something to say

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Reposted by George Davidson

John Farrell @johnffarrell.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

Solar, battery, microgrids and serving tribal communities with resilient power. All the best things we can accomplish with widely distributed power generation! buff.ly/410aZjc 🔌💡

buff.ly

Minnesota tribe could soon get a solar-powered resilience hub

A pair of developers are working to build a microgrid at an elementary school and community center on the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota.

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Reposted by George Davidson

Commercial Solar Guy @commercialsolarguy.com · 30/11/2024

‘grape yields under solar panels 20-60% higher…highest increase, 60%, Chardonnay grapes, Marselan (30%) Grenache blanc (20%)…2nd trial yield increase >30%…attributed to moderating temperatures, increasing humidity, reducing irrigation needs by 20-70%…protects against frost, mortality reduced 25-50%’

pv-magazine.com

Agrivoltaics can increase grape yield by up to 60%

French agrivoltaics company Sun'Agri says that two of its facilities increased grape yields by 20% to 60% in 2024, compared to areas without solar panels. The PV modules helped regulate temperature fl...

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Reposted by George Davidson

🌶️🍀 @aidanwould.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

“you don’t have to go” analog collage made of junk mail. 2022

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George Davidson @georgedavidson.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

Anyone know of a good industrial ecology starter pack? 👀

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George Davidson @georgedavidson.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

I think he will also try and mess with the NEVI program… At first I figured he might not since Tesla is getting the highest and most awards to date, but it feels like he would keep the comp adv more by pulling up the ladder entirely (since the Supercharger network is already more robust)

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George Davidson @georgedavidson.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Hey I mean as far as climate change goes, we’re global neighbors! Good luck in the move!

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George Davidson @georgedavidson.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

I feel like I tried and hopelessly failed to curate it effectively. It certainly feels like I’m getting pushed content that I don’t want to see or engage with at all.

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George Davidson @georgedavidson.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

Hi! Fellow chicagoan here (transplant tho). I work on community/distributed solar policy nationally and have lots of ties to grassroots environmental advocacy orgs in Michigan. Would love to share info!

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