Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Jonathan Koomey

Just Kevin @kevinleecaster.bsky.social · 20h

When the Paris Accord was signed in 2016, less than 5% of the installed global electricity production capacity was solar. Coal was 31% and methane was 26%.

In 2024, solar was almost 20% of installed capacity and coal was down to 23% and methane was down to less than 22%!

World share of capacity
Percentage share

Solar
wind

Hydro
Bioenergy
Other renewables
Nuclear
Gas
Coal
Other fossil

Data: Ember Electricity Data Explorer, ember-energy.org EMB=R

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Reposted by Jonathan Koomey

Josh Lappen @jlappen1.bsky.social · 13h

This, of course, is what it looks like when a political party cares deeply about whales, and is definitely not just doing the bidding of the fossil fuel industry in blocking offshore-wind development.

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 1d

Republicans are aiming next to dismantle the marine mammal protection act, which protects whales, dolphins, manatees, polar bears, and sea otters.. among other ocean wildlife. 🦦

Horror Tor, friend of Union ghosts @splitrailfence.bsky.social · 1d

I love it. Makes me happy.
Weird that I'm now seeing your post here after I just read about the bill to end the 1970s marine mammal legislation to protect these beautiful creatures.
abcnews.go.com/Politics/wir...

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Miranda Yaver @mirandayaver.bsky.social · 3h

Janet Mills is 77 and Democrats need to knock it off with the gerontocracy.

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 3h

Breaking News: Janet Mills, the Democratic governor of Maine, is running for Senate, aiming to unseat Senator Susan Collins, a Republican.

Gov. Janet Mills of Maine to Run for Senate, Aiming at Senator Susan Collins

A two-term Democratic governor, Ms. Mills called herself “battle tested” in an interview. But she faces a Democratic primary before she can challenge the Republican incumbent.

nyti.ms

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Aaron Huertas @aaronhuertas.bsky.social · 23h

It’s not my fault or intention that reactionary centrists don’t like being called reactionary centrists. If there is another term they would like someone to deploy to describe this same orientation and set of behaviors, I’m all ears!

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Reposted by Jonathan Koomey

Aaron Huertas @aaronhuertas.bsky.social · 23h

I’m in the newspaper with Julia Roberts.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/o...

In 2018, the Democratic strategist Aaron Huertas coined the term “reactionary centrism” to describe a style of politics that prides itself on even-handedness while being disproportionately obsessed with left-wing overreach. Always deployed as an epithet, “reactionary centrism” is overused by progressives to inoculate themselves from criticism. But it describes a real ethos — a loathing of wokeness so intense it led some elite former Democrats to support Donald Trump. “After the Hunt” brings reactionary centrism to prestige cinema.

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Reposted by Jonathan Koomey

Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 22h

Few would ever love "reactionary" but there's a deeper refusal to accept any label because that would be conceding they are obviously just another ideological faction or political camp that can be critiqued, instead of all just the One Noble Truthteller whose opinions are simply objective reality.

Aaron Huertas @aaronhuertas.bsky.social · 23h

It’s not my fault or intention that reactionary centrists don’t like being called reactionary centrists. If there is another term they would like someone to deploy to describe this same orientation and set of behaviors, I’m all ears!

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Reposted by Jonathan Koomey

Mike Masnick @mmasnick.bsky.social · 17h

Was worried that this was going to be *yet another* of the "people should all go back to Twitter" nonsense pieces, but @ianbetteridge.com's law of headlines rarely fails. The answer here is a clear "no" with good reasons:

Well – no. Bluesky may or may not be, as one centre-right friend who felt unwelcome put it, “self-righteous island”. But the idea that that is the reason why we went is nonsense. That I’ve largely stopped posting on a site that’s done more to shape my career and social circle than the rest of the internet combined is less about avoiding rival opinions (I love arguing with people who are wrong) than with the fact the site simply became unusable. It stopped generating the things (good jokes, interesting debate, clicks) I wanted; it became extremely good at generating the things (racists, pornbots, racist pornbots) I did not.

Those who stayed behind have lost something, too: the ability to not have their worldview shaped by some of the maddest people on the internet. One of the Tories’ big conference announcements was the promise of an Ice-style border force that would deport [citation needed] 150,000 people a year. That mass deportations of most existing migrants is not actually popular in the UK – that such a policy places yet more distance between the Tories and the mainstream centre which deserted them last year – seems not to have occurred.

It’s hard not to connect this to the fact that much of the political class remains on a platform now dominated by the political extremes. They might do well to remember: Twitter is not the real world.

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Qasim Rashid, Esq. @qasimrashid.com · 15h

One of the only statements by an elected official who acknowledges the humanity of Israelis AND Palestinians, who recognizes this atrocity as a US funded genocide, & who understands that future peace must include a dismantling of apartheid and occupation.

NYC—elect this man as your next Mayor.

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 17h

My statement on today's profoundly moving scenes in Israel and Palestine.

Today’s scenes of Israelis and Palestinians are profoundly moving: Israeli hostages being freed and families reunited after years of fear, uncertainty, and torture; the first days in Gaza without relentless Israeli bombardment of Palestinians as families return to rubble and loved ones freed from detention.

There is finally a glimmer of hope that this ceasefire will hold and the long difficult work of reconstruction can begin. I also know this news brings solace to millions of New Yorkers, who’ve felt the pain of the past few years. We have watched as our tax dollars have funded a genocide. The moral and human cost will be a lasting stain and requires accountability and real examination of our collective conscience and our government’s policies.

The responsibility now lies with those of us who believe in peace to make sure it endures, and that it is just. Once aid is delivered, the wounded are cared for, and a lasting agreement secured, we cannot look away. We must work towards a future built upon justice, one without occupation and apartheid, and for a world where every person can live with safety and dignity.

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Roy Edroso @edroso.bsky.social · 15h

This is the way. www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...

Maryland Democrats want a candidate in every 2026 race

An initiative dubbed “Contest Every Seat” aims to fill ballots across the state with Democratic candidates for the House of Delegates, state Senate, county councils and county commissions.

www.thebanner.com

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lastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 21h

Yeah the nice thing about Columbus is he neatly sidesteps debates about historical relativism by just being bad relative to every time. Superbad, but in the analytic philosophy way not the cool way.

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Jack Tripper @chadstanton.blacksky.app · 23h

“Virtue signaling” has been an all-purpose tool to invalidate any form of advocacy which isn’t centered around selfishness.

larry @larrrrrry.bsky.social · 3d

her advocacy for Palestinians doesn't bother me nearly as much as she is so desperately doing all this as an actual act of transparent virtue signaling, to fill the absence she has in depth of character

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Jonathan Koomey @jgkoomey.bsky.social · 21h

What’s the matter with signaling virtue, anyway? Virtue is good!

Reposted by Jonathan Koomey

Kendra "Gloom is My Beat" Pierre-Louis @kendrawrites.com · 1d

This is an aside but Spirit Halloween and a few other online stores carry these if you want to avoid Amazon

Doug Gordon @brooklynspoke.bsky.social · 1d

It’s hilarious how something simple like “people are sharing Amazon links to buy the same costumes” gets filtered through these conspiratorial grifters’ minds and becomes “They are highly organized.”

Michael Edison Hayden @michaelehayden.bsky.social · 1d

“They are highly organized … [they] have purchased their own animal costumes”

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Senate Gabe @senategabe.bsky.social · 2d

I really have yet to find a very good theory explaining why it is that both the Republicans and the Democrats have been so openly handing power to a guy who tried to murder them.

It is truly one of the scariest and most bizarre political events I've ever seen.

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Prof Ray Wills @profraywills.futuresmart.com.au · Nov 30

the 1.1 MWh apricum-group.com/electricity-... is 2020
the IEA reference is 2022
there are various numbers
1.1 is now conservative - it's likely better
I would argue EROEI is actually around 3 months, but the conservative numbers are pretty huge

Electricity payback time of a PV system – the facts - Apricum - The Cleantech Advisory

Opponents of solar energy tend to circulate the misinformation that a PV module cannot generate the amount of electricity during its lifetime that was used in its production. How much electricity is r...

apricum-group.com

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Reposted by Jonathan Koomey

Prof Ray Wills @profraywills.futuresmart.com.au · Nov 29

Try bringing coal-fired power to your village by boat or donkey

#coal owned by companies

#solar belongs to the peeps

Villagers unload solar panels from a boat and carry up the beach

Masia woman leads donkey carrying solar to her village

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Prof Ray Wills @profraywills.futuresmart.com.au · Jul 20

Solar improves farms, improves soil below, improves biotic activity and biodiversity, improves crops
Hawaii installed solar on old contaminated site while long-term amelioration deployed

Farm with solar energy better farms
#Agrivoltaics
bsky.app/profile/prof...

Prof Ray Wills @profraywills.futuresmart.com.au · Dec 1

Farm with solar energy
Agrivoltaics increased grape yield up to 60%

2 vineyards of French biz Sun’Agri increased grape yields by 20-60% in 2024, vs areas with no solar
PV modules helped moderate temperature extremes, reducing summer heat and winter cold
www.pv-magazine.com/2024/11/29/a...

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Prof Ray Wills @profraywills.futuresmart.com.au · Nov 30

IEA report Solar PV Global Supply Chains
- and so includes data on life cycle costs of solar
www.iea.org/reports/sola...
(2022 report)

Executive summary – Solar PV Global Supply Chains – Analysis - IEA

Solar PV Global Supply Chains - Analysis and key findings. A report by the International Energy Agency.

www.iea.org

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Reposted by Jonathan Koomey

Prof Ray Wills @profraywills.futuresmart.com.au · Dec 1

Farm with solar energy
Agrivoltaics increased grape yield up to 60%
bsky.app/profile/prof...

Prof Ray Wills @profraywills.futuresmart.com.au · Dec 1

Farm with solar energy
Agrivoltaics increased grape yield up to 60%

2 vineyards of French biz Sun’Agri increased grape yields by 20-60% in 2024, vs areas with no solar
PV modules helped moderate temperature extremes, reducing summer heat and winter cold
www.pv-magazine.com/2024/11/29/a...

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Reposted by Jonathan Koomey

Prof Ray Wills @profraywills.futuresmart.com.au · Nov 27

Better to farm solar for energy
than to farm crops to use for biofuels

Far better

1 hectare annual yield:

2t soy bean
➡️ 800 litres biodiesel ➡️ 8.29 MWh

70t sugar cane
➡️ 7000 litres ethanol ➡️ 57.5 MWh

600 kW solar
➡️ ➡️ 900 MWh (low estimate)

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Reposted by Jonathan Koomey

T&E @transportenvironment.org · 5d

⚡️ Public funds should prioritise smart electrification, efficiency and truly sustainable alternatives.

Using just 3% of this land for solar would produce the same amount of energy.

Explore the full report on the state of global biofuels ⤵️
bit.ly/4h1M5W9

CrOP30: Why burning food for land-hungry biofuels is fuelling the climate crisis

For the first time ever, Cerulogy, on behalf of T&E, looks at the global biofuels landscape today and what a growing market will look like in 2030.

www.transportenvironment.org

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Fred Guttenberg @fredguttenberg.bsky.social · 2d

This senile liar who currently occupies the White House does not remember that he was President on January 6th.

If you voted for this senile liar, and if you enable him today, you clearly are ok with breaking America. The ruins of our once great nation are because of you.

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 2d

a key thing about vought — and all of these guys — is that they have a totally top down and hierarchical vision of the world. they believe that the cultural changes they hate can be turned off by destroying the federal government because they can’t imagine that they emerged bottom-up in society

Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 2d

What he’s railing against is a profound shift in culture, status… He’s obsessed with the idea that America is controlled by a leftist “ruling elite” - but “elite” isn’t defined socio-economically or by political power, it means something like: Getting to define “real America” and who gets to belong.

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Jason Linkins @dceiver.bsky.social · 2d

I wrote about the government shutdown—and why this one is different

newrepublic.com/post/201612/...

Why It’s Pointless for Democrats to Negotiate a Shutdown Deal

The most overlooked aspect of the current impasse is that it began a long time ago—and is rooted in a deep Trumpian dysfunction.

newrepublic.com

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