International greenhouse-gas emissions hit a brand new excessive, reaching 37.4 billion metric tons in 2024. This yr can also be on observe to be the warmest on file, with temperatures by September hitting 1.54 °C (2.77 °F) above preindustrial ranges. International local weather talks fell flat, and disasters from wildfires to hurricanes are being made worse by local weather change.
However amongst all that (very actual) unfavorable information, there was some good, too: We noticed progress reducing again on essentially the most polluting fossil fuels, cheaper and higher applied sciences for combating local weather change, and a steady world effort to deal with the issue. As we close to the top of 2024, let’s take a second to look again on a number of the shiny spots.
We’re kicking coal to the curb
One in every of my favourite local weather moments from this yr occurred within the UK. The nation has traditionally relied closely on coal as an electrical energy supply—as of 1990, coal met about 65% of its electrical energy demand. However on September 30, 2024, the final coal plant within the nation shut down.
Renewables are stepping in to fill the hole. Wind farms within the UK are on observe to supply extra electrical energy this yr than coal and fuel vegetation collectively.
The second was a symbolic one, and it additionally displays the very actual progress that’s occurring all over the world in inching away from this polluting fossil gas. Within the US, coal made up round 50% of the electrical energy provide 4 a long time in the past. In 2023, that share was roughly 16%.
We should always see coal use plateau and probably start to fall by the top of the last decade, in keeping with the Worldwide Vitality Company. Progress must occur sooner, although, and it must occur in nations like China, the place power demand is rising. There’s additionally rising concern about what rising power demand from knowledge facilities, together with these used to energy AI, will imply for efforts to close off previous coal vegetation.
Batteries simply maintain getting cheaper
Lithium-ion battery packs are cheaper than ever in 2024, with costs dropping 20% this yr to $115 per kilowatt-hour, in keeping with knowledge from BloombergNEF. That’s the most important drop since 2017.
Batteries are a central expertise for addressing local weather change. They energy the electrical automobiles we’re counting on to assist clear up the transportation sector and play an more and more vital function for the grid, since they will retailer power from inconsistently accessible renewables like wind and photo voltaic.
