The COP28 final declaration last week was disappointing. It doesn’t say to phase out fossil fuels, but it did name them for the first time. And we got a plan to triple renewables. The market realities continue to astonish those who don’t or won’t look. And we got a plan to triple renewables worldwide, and another to help the poorest countries suffering the worst climate damage, and yet another to cut methane leaks severely.
Meanwhile, in the real world,
Renew Economy: AEMO’s jaw dropping prediction for coal power – all but gone from the grid in a decade
The Australian Energy Market Operator is predicting that the country’s remaining coal fired generators are likely to close much quicker than expected, saying they are becoming less reliable, more difficult to maintain and less able to compete with the growing share of renewables.
AEMO’s draft 2024 Integrated System Plan, the latest version of its 30-year planning blueprint, suggests coal fired generation will be gone from Queensland and Victoria within a decade – by 2033/34 – and that the last coal unit will close in NSW by 2038.
Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA): U.S. on track to close half of coal capacity by 2026
Roughly 40%, about 80.6 gigawatts, of remaining U.S. coal-fired capacity is set to close by the end of 2030.
Fewer than 200 large-scale coal-fired units (50 MW or more) remain without announced retirement dates, and 118 of those are at least 40 years old.
Now we’re cooking with magnets (induction cooktops and iron or steel pots and pans).