TLDR: Mainly good news as power generation from natural gas has dropped significantly, largely replaced by renewables, despite rise in electricity prices during the energy crisis has partly discouraged both industrial and residential consumers from switching to electric alternatives. Energy-intensive industries reduced gas consumption either despite economic challenges, but are still struggling.
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Electricity generation from natural gas has fallen by 26% since 2021 […] While some initial switching in 2022 involved coal or oil, renewables have been the main replacement, with their share of total power generation increasing from 39% in 2021 to nearly 50% in 2024. The decrease in total electricity generation has also contributed to lower gas demand, as the EU’s overall electricity consumption has declined since 2021.
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While the overall manufacturing industry has remained stable (-1% since 2021), energy-intensive sectors such as metallurgy (-11%), non-metallic minerals (-15%), and chemicals (-10%) have seen sharp declines, largely due to high energy costs affecting competitiveness.
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sharp rise in electricity prices during the energy crisis, which has partly discouraged both industrial and residential consumers from switching to electric alternatives. Additionally, low economic and demographic growth and the decline of energy-intensive industries have contributed to an overall reduction in energy demand, slowing down the need for electrification. This suggests that, in the short term, electrification is not yet driving the decarbonisation of final energy consumption at the scale needed to replace natural gas entirely.
Among the challenges that electrification is currently facing is the sharp rise in electricity prices during the energy crisis
This will forever be the most annoying thing to me, cheap renewables are displacing thousands of gwh’s of gas and coal yet prices go up, kills me
I’m not entirely opposed to high electricity prices, since it incentivizes people to lower their electricity consumption (should be complemented with a flat sum that’s paid out to everyone for financial balancing; i.e. the German “Klimageld” idea). Though that doesn’t really work when manufacturing moves to other countries with lower electricity prices (and probably dirtier electricity in most cases) like China.
Steel and other materials don’t grow on trees and we can’t become carbon neutral if demand for materials and energy keeps rising. At least until we’re able to fully electrify ore mining and metal smelting, but we’re very far from that.
we’re very far from that.
As usual, the only thing keeping humanity back is… Humanity.
Petty differences and ancient squabbles that turn deadly over the years has turned humanity into crabs scuttling around a bucket.
We have the capability to feed, house, and clothe everyone on the planet. We have the capability of electrifying every industry on earth.
The only things keeping us from doing so are “it’s expensive” or “the logistics are too complex”
All of which sounds to me like children whining “it’s too haaaaaard” when told to clean their room.
By no means am I saying you are wrong, we are very far from all that. It’s just our own fault.
The only things keeping us from doing so are “it’s expensive” or “the logistics are too complex”
I mean, when it comes to food, housing and clothing it’s not even that. That shit is cheap in the really poor places where it’s needed most, and the logistics aren’t too bad if you were to imagine away wars and give a bit of flexibility on edge cases.
Clothing has mostly been solved by accident, even; all that unusable president Harris swag and similar has to go somewhere.
Steel can be done reasonably well with hydrogen. Plastic (assuming landfilling at EOL), aluminum and glass should theoretically be no problem. Concrete is apparently the hardest, just because it produces non-fossil fuel emissions as it roasts and a giant spinning kiln is difficult to reliably and durably seal.
Of course, all this stuff costs money, and takes time.
Steel can be done reasonably well with hydrogen.
It depends on the availability of hydrogen. We don’t really have hydrogen in the required amounts right now, especially not green hydrogen as opposed to hydrogen that is made from fossil fuels. Maybe the recent discovery of geological hydrogen in France will play out positively, that would be a big stroke of luck.
Ah yes, “white hydrogen”. As you’ve probably heard, blue hydrogen is also an option - you crack it off natural gas like normal, but then sequester the resulting carbon. I guess I’ll just repeat the line about money and time, though.
There are things that are harder to figure out. Landfill space is limited, but there’s no other obvious way to destroy plastic without turning it into emissions, and recycling is very limited. Refrigerants are hard to stop from leaking, and although we’ve switched to ones that don’t kill the ozone layer, none of them are totally harmless AFAIK, and the one that’s really trendy is literally just high-pressure CO2. Speaking of the ozone layer, sending endless rockets through it probably isn’t great.
It still feels like we’ve turned a corner, now that the energy all these green processes need isn’t coming from fossil fuels. Before that it would have been rendered a little pointless.
Ah yes, “white hydrogen”. As you’ve probably heard, blue hydrogen is also an option - you crack it off natural gas like normal, but then sequester the resulting carbon.
While I am skeptical of biogenic hydrogen because as best we know it’s another fossil fuel with limited availability, albeit one that doesn’t hurt the climate much.
Blue hydrogen otoh is an incredibly sketchy proposition. Between the extra energy needed and the leaked CO2, there is apparently zero to negative benefit to it over regular gray hydrogen. (There is a study on this but it’s a few (sub-5) years old and I am too lazy to find it right now.)
There are things that are harder to figure out. Landfill space is limited, but there’s no other obvious way to destroy plastic without turning it into emissions, and recycling is very limited.
Refrigerants are hard to stop from leaking, and although we’ve switched to ones that don’t kill the ozone layer, none of them are totally harmless AFAIK, and the one that’s really trendy is literally just high-pressure CO2. Speaking of the ozone layer, sending endless rockets through it probably isn’t great.
Given that older refrigerants have warming potentials of multiple 100x or even multiple 1000x worse than CO2 or propane, that is massive progress. Some of the older refrigerants are PFAS in addition.
Between the extra energy needed and the leaked CO2, there is apparently zero to negative benefit to it over regular gray hydrogen. (There is a study on this but it’s a few (sub-5) years old and I am too lazy to find it right now.)
Does that assume you’re using external fossil fuels for the power? I don’t see how that could add up otherwise.
Given that older refrigerants have warming potentials of multiple 100x or even multiple 1000x worse than CO2 or propane, that is massive progress. Some of the older refrigerants are PFAS in addition.
Yes, it’s definitely progress, but it’s not perfect.
Does that assume you’re using external fossil fuels for the power?
I think so, yes. It would be easier to be certain if I had the study right now. But even so, it appears that even in other studies, blue hydrogen is estimated to only reduce emissions by up to 25%. That’s not nothing, but the vast majority of permissions continues, even though blue hydrogen is likely massively more expensive than gray hydrogen.
Yes, it’s definitely progress, but it’s not perfect.
Fwiw, acoustic heat pumps are in development right now and they work without a refrigerant gas. That should fix the issue. :) For the moment, though,
I mean, replacing things costs money, at least in the short term.
It’s not just that
Electricity providers still keep old, expensive power plants up and running, and due to merit order pricing, the cheap produced renewable energy isn’t showing up in people’s bills
I feel like really betrayed here, although I have to admit, that I’m maybe not getting the big picture
But also tariffs for using the net have gone up - at least in Austria.
So although the energy got cheaper, I’m paying much more - and I’ve chosen a electricity provider, who guarantees renewables and with that the price should be much lower by nowHmm. I don’t understand how merit order pricing would stop renewables from being used. It literally only uses more expensive sources when the cheap ones run out.
@naeap @CanadaPlus the whole reason why those old plants need to kept up and running for now is that most renewables are fluctuating and there aren’t enough storage facilities available (which also gonna increase prices by the way). otherwise the net can’t be kept stable
In your case, this means that your provider can still sell you renewables, as their net production is covering for the consumer demand, but overall, you still get the mix.Yeah, grid storage is a trillion-dollar problem right now.
Gotta move the power somehow.
This ai generated thumbnail, thought…
Looks pipey enough as for me.
⚠️⬆️SAFETY
What about the AI generated translation?
Country by country?
Oooh, very interesting and a very cool implementation of visualization.
