Sign In or Create an Account.

By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy

Climate

U.S. Wind and Solar Just Hit a Power Milestone

On the rise of renewables, peak oil, and carbon capture

U.S. Wind and Solar Just Hit a Power Milestone
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: More than 10 inches of rain fell over nine hours in southwestern China • Wildfires are spreading in Canada, with at least 140 burning as of yesterday afternoon • The streets of Cape Town in South Africa are under water after severe storms caused widespread flooding.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Wind and solar surpass nuclear in U.S. electricity generation

More electricity was generated by wind and solar than by nuclear plants in the first half of 2024 for the first time ever in U.S. history, Reuters reported, citing data from energy think tank Ember. Solar and wind farms generated 401.4 terawatt hours (TWh) compared to 390.5 TWh generated from nuclear reactors, setting 2024 on pace to be the “first full year when more U.S. electricity will come from renewables than from any other form of clean power.” It’s helpful to compare these numbers to the same period last year, when nuclear generated 9% more power than solar and wind. Solar saw the greatest gains, with output 30% higher in the first half of 2024 compared to 2023; wind generation was up 10% and nuclear was up just 3.4%. Between 2018 and 2023, installed capacity grew by 168% for utility solar and 56% for wind. Meanwhile, nuclear generation capacity dropped by 4%.

2. BP forecasts that oil demand will peak next year

In its latest energy outlook report, fossil fuel giant BP forecasts that global demand for oil will peak in 2025, and the related carbon emissions will, too. The analysis is based on current climate policies and pledges, growing efficiency standards for the internal combustion engine and a rise in electric vehicles, and rapid expansion of renewables. By 2050, oil’s share of the energy mix is predicted to fall to about 25%, and that would decrease even more, to just 10%, if nations strengthen (and follow through on) their climate pledges to better align with the Paris Agreement.

BP

The report notes that energy demand is rising, and says the world must enter an “energy substitution” phase in which clean energy supply increases quickly to keep up while also allowing for fossil fuels to be phased out. “The longer it takes for the world to move to a rapid and sustained energy transition, the greater the risk of a costly and disorderly adjustment pathway in the future,” wrote Spencer Dale, BP’s chief economist.

3. Intense U.S. heat wave kills least 28 people, breaks temperature records

More than 160 million Americans have been under excessive heat warnings this week. The heat is particularly oppressive in the West, where temperature records have been falling and heat-related deaths are rising. At least 28 people have died due to heat in the last week, and that number is expected to climb, especially as the heat wave persists into next week.

NWS/NOAA

Las Vegas recorded five days a row where temperatures soared above 115 degrees Fahrenheit, breaking a record of four days set in 2005. On Sunday the city hit 120 degrees, a new record for the hottest day. It will be 118 degrees there today. “This is the most extreme heatwave in the history of record-keeping in Las Vegas since 1937,” Nevada National Weather Service meteorologist John Adair told The Associated Press. In California, the weather has been so hot that emergency rescue helicopters are struggling to fly.

Human-caused climate change is making heat waves more intense and more frequent. “While this summer is likely to be one of the hottest on record, it is important to realize that it may also be one of the coldest summers of the future,” wrote climate scientist Mathew Barlow and meteorology professor Jeffrey Basara in an essay for The Conversation.

4. Report: Biden ‘made progress’ on most climate commitments since 2020

Climate change advocacy group Evergreen Action reviewed President Biden’s record of following through on climate actions over the last four years. In 2020, the group put forward a comprehensive set of policy recommendations for Biden to use as a roadmap. The new analysis finds that the administration has “made progress” on 85% of those recommendations, including implementing new clean power policies, advancing environmental justice, the creation of the American Climate Corps, and trying to restrict liquefied natural gas exports. “The Biden-Harris administration has done more on climate than any president before,” Evergreen said. It’s worth reviewing the entire list of recommendations.

Get Heatmap AM directly in your inbox every morning:

* indicates required
  • 5. Google-linked carbon removal startup signs deals worth $40 million

    A carbon capture company named 280 Earth has signed agreements worth $40 million to remove 61,600 tons of the greenhouse gas between now and 2030, Bloomberg reported. The company emerged from Alphabet’s moonshot factory and recently launched direct air capture operations at its plant in Oregon. The plant is located next to a Google data center and can use excess heat from that center to “improve its efficiency, while cutting the center’s cooling costs,” according to Bloomberg. The company’s website says it plans to build more facilities across the United States. It recently raised $50 million from private investors in a Series B round.

    THE KICKER

    “Biden’s tremendous climate legacy rests on whether he can sell his accomplishments to the public and win the 2024 election. And that ability is faltering, to say the least.” –Heatmap’s Robinson Meyer

    Yellow

    You’re out of free articles.

    Subscribe today to experience Heatmap’s expert analysis 
of climate change, clean energy, and sustainability.
    To continue reading
    Create a free account or sign in to unlock more free articles.
    or
    Please enter an email address
    By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy
    Sparks

    Trump Says He’s Going to Slap a Huge Tariff on Copper

    “I believe the tariff on copper — we’re going to make it 50%.”

    Donald Trump.
    Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

    President Trump announced Tuesday during a cabinet meeting that he plans to impose a hefty tax on U.S. copper imports.

    “I believe the tariff on copper — we’re going to make it 50%,” he told reporters.

    Keep reading...Show less
    Green
    Climate

    The Only Weather Models That Nailed the Texas Floods Are on Trump’s Chopping Block

    Predicting the location and severity of thunderstorms is at the cutting edge of weather science. Now funding for that science is at risk.

    Texas flooding.
    Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

    Tropical Storm Barry was, by all measures, a boring storm. “Blink and you missed it,” as a piece in Yale Climate Connections put it after Barry formed, then dissipated over 24 hours in late June, having never sustained wind speeds higher than 45 miles per hour. The tropical storm’s main impact, it seemed at the time, was “heavy rains of three to six inches, which likely caused minor flooding” in Tampico, Mexico, where it made landfall.

    But a few days later, U.S. meteorologists started to get concerned. The remnants of Barry had swirled northward, pooling wet Gulf air over southern and central Texas and elevating the atmospheric moisture to reach or exceed record levels for July. “Like a waterlogged sponge perched precariously overhead, all the atmosphere needed was a catalyst to wring out the extreme levels of water vapor,” meteorologist Mike Lowry wrote.

    Keep reading...Show less
    Blue
    Politics

    AM Briefing: ‘Natural Variability Alone’ Cannot Explain Texas Floods

    On the Texas floods, wind and solar restrictions, and an executive order

    ‘Natural Variability Alone’ Cannot Explain Texas Floods
    Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

    Current conditions: An extreme heat warning is in place for Phoenix, which could reach 113 degrees Fahrenheit today • Flooding in central North Carolina has killed at least one person after two months’ worth of rain fell in 24 hours • Parts of the U.K. this week will experience their third heatwave in less than a month.

    THE TOP FIVE

    1. Early analysis concludes ‘natural variability alone’ cannot explain Texas floods

    The catastrophic flooding in central Texas that claimed more than 100 lives late last week was intensified by human-driven climate change, according to a rapid attribution report by ClimaMeter, an experimental framework funded by the European Union and the French National Centre for Scientific Research. The researchers compared historic and contemporary weather patterns in Texas’ Hill Country and found that conditions going into Fourth of July weekend were up to 7% wetter than during similar events in the past. “These results suggest that meteorological conditions similar to those of the July 2025 Texas floods are becoming more favorable for extreme precipitation, in line with what would be expected under continued global warming,” the researchers wrote, concluding that “natural variability alone cannot explain the changes in precipitation associated with this very exceptional meteorological condition.”

    Keep reading...Show less
    Yellow