Futurology

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The EU's share of electricity from fossil fuels has fallen from 41.1% to 27.6% in the last two years, suggesting the EU's goal of eliminating fossil fuel electricity by 2035 is reachable. (ember-climate.org)

submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago (1 children)

There are so many counter-narratives in the media about the energy transition, that sometimes its true progress takes you by surprise. Getting rid of one-third of fossil fuel capacity in only two years is impressive.

I hope these 2035 goals are achievable. One in four new car sales in the EU are now EVs. That transition might be quicker than some expected. I hope the renewable energy needed to power all those cars is being factored into plans.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago

Be careful, this is not a third of fossil fuels reduced. It is a third of fossil fuel used to generate electricity reduced. Transport , manufacturing etc would have different figures.

This is still a big deal. As you point out, with a rising amount of electric cars, it may start to convert very quickly elsewhere. With rising electric cars, we’d expect higher electricity use. So this might be less of a reduction in absolute terms, but an even bigger drop for fossil fuels overall, as transport would be much reduced.

I imagine this is part of the reason we’re seeing minimal rises in petrol pricing despite the Russian and Israeli wars. America being self sufficient and now a net exporter helps too. They’re less inclined to escalate for oil.