Prof Ray Wills
@profraywills.futuresmart.com.au
3.6K followers 580 following 2.4K posts
Futurist Disruption Ag, biz, cities, climate, ecology, economy, energy, renewables, robots, tech, transport World Top100 Sustainability MD Future Smart Strategies™ Aus Prof UWA NB: I only follow accounts with name+pic+profile (+give me poke!)
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profraywills.futuresmart.com.au
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
profraywills.futuresmart.com.au
If a firm that is a govt service provider like EY, on behalf of a client, produces sophisticated disinformation that purports to be credible, and so misleads govt policymakers, perverts national climate strategy to expand gas production, and delays energy transition, ought lose all govt contracts
Reposted by Prof Ray Wills
Reposted by Prof Ray Wills
guillaumee.bsky.social
Cool stats
profraywills.futuresmart.com.au
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)
Reposted by Prof Ray Wills
dalagiorgos.bsky.social
Βιοδυναμικά φωτοβολταϊκά; /s
profraywills.futuresmart.com.au
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...
profraywills.futuresmart.com.au
Cheapest 'fuel' is behind the meter
Farmers best to power up farm with their own solar for energy
than to farm crops to use to make biofuels

And when you do, most of the farm still left for food crops
bsky.app/profile/prof...
profraywills.futuresmart.com.au
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)
Reposted by Prof Ray Wills
transportenvironment.org
NEW: Biofuels globally emit more than the fossil fuels they replace, our latest study shows.

The first-of-a-kind study looks at global biofuels production today and the potential impacts of government biofuel targets.
🧵⤵️
profraywills.futuresmart.com.au
Imagine a government had legislated for
return of asbestos use
or
removing speed limits
or
unregulated pollution (well, I guess they are)
or
some other unmitigated, MAGA-lite harmful nonsense
reneweconomy.com.au
Queensland LNP scraps coal closure timelines, delays Borumba pumped hydro, scales back Copperstring link, supports gas and offers tiny morsel to renewables.
reneweconomy.com.au
Reposted by Prof Ray Wills
mackayim.bsky.social
🌞Total land required to replace coal fired energy
🌞Example assumes all solar:120,000 hectares
🌞 That’s less than 0.016 percent of Australia’s total land currently used for agriculture
🌞 Australian agriculture currently accounts for 58% of our land use
🌞And agrisolar = panels + grass/sheep etc
profraywills.futuresmart.com.au
Actually even better: in Australia, solar farms are often just rooftops
Current 4.25m homes with solar, 27.6GW solar on rooftops
11m (38%) Aus homes
If we aim for 84GW solar (all of Aus capacity), 2/3 solar can be on roofs, so we only need 40,000ha for utility solar farms
bsky.app/profile/prof...
Solar by system size - virtually everything under 14kW is on a rooftop including 4.25m homes
profraywills.futuresmart.com.au
Better to farm solar for energy
than to farm crops to use for biofuels
But when you do, most of the farm still left for crops
And with improved revenues from economic diversification, also room for biodiversity protection
A thread
bsky.app/profile/prof...
profraywills.futuresmart.com.au
Solar / wind / battery farms can be leveraged not just to generate electricity, but to deliver biodiversity protection, habitat restoration, and threatened species recovery

New solar battery project seeks green tick might save threatened species eaten by cows
reneweconomy.com.au/new-solar-ba...
New holland honey eater on Banksia menziesii
profraywills.futuresmart.com.au
Better to farm solar for energy
than to farm crops to use for biofuels
But when you do, most of the farm still left for crops
bsky.app/profile/prof...
profraywills.futuresmart.com.au
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)
Reposted by Prof Ray Wills
1earthmedia.bsky.social
The Knitting Nannas have gone global ... led by Aunt Tifa.

#AuntTifa #KnittingNannas #GrandmasUnite #UmbrellaSquad #IamAuntTifa
profraywills.futuresmart.com.au
Yes, tho' price spikes from market caps are a diminishing risk in a high-renewables system with strong interconnection and storage. “Burning stuff” is expensive and volatile; building more renewables and batteries leaves far fewer opportunities for market gaming or rorting
profraywills.futuresmart.com.au
By any measure, it most certainly is the opposite of good

bsky.app/profile/prof...
profraywills.futuresmart.com.au
Been working in/around climate since 1988
Expert since ~mid-2000s

Interviews in 2007 and on, I said deadline for climate solutions in place by 2020

In interviews in 2025, I was right
We needed to act in 2020☹️

Now, we can only make things less bad
We still have lots of capacity to make it worse
profraywills.futuresmart.com.au
yup, it's called World Wrestling Entertainment - it's a company, not a nation - national anthems below to events where athletes compete when representing their nations
profraywills.futuresmart.com.au
yup, it's called World Wrestling Entertainment - it's a company, not a nation - national anthems below to events where athletes compete when representing their nations
profraywills.futuresmart.com.au
Wind and solar smash grid market-share records, even after heavy curtailment
Coal at new low
reneweconomy.com.au/wind-and-sol... @gilesparkinson.bsky.social @reneweconomy.com.au
Burning more fossil fuels brings higher electricity price
The more wind and solar we build, the cheaper electricity gets
If we build more renewables, add the batteries, stop burning stuff, electricity gets cheaper. 

Once renewables consistently surpass ~50% of supply, wholesale market prices fall below $100/MWh" 

The goal is to build much, much more than just 50% renewables
profraywills.futuresmart.com.au
Antarctic sea ice crosses critical tipping point, following abrupt change since 2016, showing clear signs the changes unlikely to be halted as climate change progresses unchecked
www.antarctica.gov.au/news/2025/ne...
Rapid global warming brings regime shifts with catastrophic global consequences
profraywills.futuresmart.com.au
thanks - reply here
bsky.app/profile/prof...
profraywills.futuresmart.com.au
The gas industry’s push for e-methane is best seen as an effort to prolong the business case for gas infrastructure, protect legacy infrastructure and public subsidy streams, and burning stuff is not a credible pathway for rapid, affordable decarbonisation
profraywills.futuresmart.com.au
The gas industry’s push for e-methane is best seen as an effort to prolong the business case for gas infrastructure, protect legacy infrastructure and public subsidy streams, and burning stuff is not a credible pathway for rapid, affordable decarbonisation
Reposted by Prof Ray Wills
cowcakes.bsky.social
The continuing environmental devastation of coal mining and burning.

Dr Bino says the results "clearly show toxic brine is leaking from Energy Australia's Mount Piper Power Station ash dump".

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...
Platypus vanish from river where Charles Darwin pondered evolution
Almost 190 years on, in the place where Charles Darwin first spotted a platypus, the egg-laying mammal seems to have disappeared.
www.abc.net.au
Reposted by Prof Ray Wills
reneedsc.bsky.social
“The change shows how ambitious policymaking can directly improve health in large cities. Air pollution is often described by health experts as a silent killer. Both PM 2.5 and nitrogen dioxide have been linked to major health problems, including heart attacks, lung cancer, bronchitis and asthma.”
Paris said au revoir to cars. Air pollution maps reveal a dramatic change.
Air pollution fell substantially as the city restricted car traffic and made way for parks and bike lanes.
www.washingtonpost.com
Reposted by Prof Ray Wills
Reposted by Prof Ray Wills
thierryaaron.bsky.social
It's the 'Scientists Responsibility Summit' today.

Here's a live thread with some take aways from each talk... 🧵
scientistrebger.bsky.social
Tomorrow: Scientists Responsibility Summit!

What is the appropriate stance of scientists in the polycrisis? Let's develop practical paths for a transformative role of academia.

🏛️Attend in-person at HU Berlin: blogs.fu-berlin.de/scientistsre...
💻 Streaming (Webex): tinyurl.com/nh5kpt4e
Scientists Responsibility Summit
Berlin
11. October 2025 9:00-18:00 
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Dorotheenstr. 24, 10117 Berlin
https://blogs.fu-berlin.de/scientistsresponsibilitysummit/