The Angry Clean Energy Guy's Top 10 Good Climate News Stories of 2024

On Monday 2 December 2024, the mother of all climate lawsuits began at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Unprecedented, it's also the largest ever case seen by the world court, with a record number of 97 States and 11 international organizations speaking in the oral proceedings. The ICJ is being asked to provide clarity on international law with respect to climate change.

The Angry Clean Energy Guy on why what the ICJ says could change the world.

You may have heard that a "nuclear renaissance" is gathering pace, driven most recently by something called “small modular reactors” or SMRs. Apparently, SMRs are going to be ubiquitous everywhere and are going to play a key part in decarbonization. The Angry Clean Energy Guy on why this isn't going to happen; and why all this talk about SMRs (and it's mostly talk) pushes back the era of energy abundance which we are on the cusp of, by diverting capital which would have been much better spent on a faster deployment of renewable energy: solar, wind and batteries.

On 14 June 2024, a major oil spill blackened Singapore's coastline, after yet another shipping accident which punctured the oil tank of a fuel ship and spilled at least 400 tons of oil, with large quantities washing ashore.  This episode of the Angry Clean Energy Guy is the beginning of a ten-part series on the history of fossil fuels in South-East Asia, and how the region will shake-off this last remnant of its colonial history - fossil fuels - to get rid of oil spills once and for all; achieve energy independence; strengthen national security; improve the energy efficiency of buildings, vehicles, appliances, and electronics; and protect and enhance the health of all citizens in this process.

 The Angry Clean Energy Guy on the depravity at the heart of climate finance: those who set the house on fire (rich nations) are lining up outside to sell fire extinguishers, or loan them with interest, to the occupants who need them (poorer nations) - and in the process often saddling these occupants with debts, or worse, taking whatever furniture, savings or cash they have left.   

Chinese innovation on steroids: The Angry Clean Energy Guy on some pretty shockingly amazing announcements in the battery energy storage world from China, and on decisive progress on recycling batteries from the United States. Together, these guarantee that oil is on its way out of the transportation sector; that oil and gas are on their way out of electricity generation, forever, much earlier than people think; and that we will shrink the environmental footprint of energy - by exiting oil and gas and coal - by somewhere between 90% and 99%.  

The Angry Clean Energy Guy on two recent, and historic, renewable energy milestones many thought impossible. First, solar, wind and hydro power exceeded 100% of California's electricity demand on an almost daily basis over a sustained period of several weeks. Second, also in California, battery storage became for the first time ever the largest source of supply in the California grid. The evidence is incontrovertible: not only can we power entire countries with almost 100% renewable energy, but we will also get there faster than most people think. 

The Angry Clean Energy Guy on the fraud that is plastic recycling,  perpetrated by Big Oil and their enablers; and on the emerging evidence that the health dangers of plastic - obfuscated for 50 years - could be life-threatening , including substantially raised risks of strokes, heart attacks and other nasty invasions of our bodies by Big Oil.  

 The Angry Clean Energy Guy's "Top 10 Good Climate News Stories of 2023" 

Disinformation, misinformation, deception and propaganda by Big Oil is rife. The number of oil trolls on my social media feeds - and those of so many other climate activists - has seen a remarkable increase, some collecting 1,000+.  The Angry Clean Energy Guy on the "Top 10 Disinformation Tag Lines" peddled by Big Oil trolls and bots, aided and abetted by some of the world's largest public relations firms and assorted politicians, lawyers and consultants on their payroll.