Our special fifth-anniversary episode! This week, we take a trip down memory lane to reflect on five years of clean energy news, predictions, and surprises. James takes us through just how much progress has been made in clean energy since we started the podcast five years ago. The growth is staggering, even compared to the most optimistic 2020 predictions!

The Baltic states have officially disconnected from the Russian power grid and joined the EU grid. Workers literally cut the cord and took pieces home as souvenirs, along with safety, security, and peace of mind.

Celebrating Five Years Our first show aired on February 12, 2020, in Brian's bomb shelter studio, where we recorded the first five episodes.

How Predictions Held Up Back in 2020, some clean energy forecasts missed the mark—by a lot:

• A 2020 climate report estimated 2.5 million EVs on the road by 2030. We're at 85 million today, with four years to go.

EV Boom in Five Years

• In 2020, 2.9% of new car sales in Canada were EVs—by the end of 2024, it was 13.2%.
• There were only 4 million EVs in the world when we started. Now, 4 million EVs are sold every two months.

China's Rapid Growth

• In 2020, China exported 1 million cars. By 2024, that number skyrocketed to 6.4 million.
• When we started the podcast, there were 8 million EVs worldwide. Now, China alone produces 238,000 plug-in vehicles every day!

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The Lightning Round

• Ozempic is reportedly messing with climate predictions by reducing food consumption. Less food, less pollution!
• Over $2 trillion was invested in the global energy transition in 2024—a record-breaking amount.
• The U.K. would need a forest twice the size of London to offset its airport expansion emissions.
• Oxford University, at 699 years old, is replacing gas heating with heat pumps to cut carbon emissions.
• The Baltic states successfully cut ties to the Russian power grid and are now fully synchronized with the EU grid.

Thank you for five years of listening! Here's to the next five!

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