The cost of renewables is plummeting, heat pumps are selling like crazy, and red states are raking in cash from the IRA. There's no stopping the inevitable.

The cost of renewables is plummeting, heat pumps are selling like crazy, and red states are raking in cash from the IRA. There’s no stopping the inevitable.

  • dragontamer@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    AI boom and Cryptocoin mining will eat up all the spare energy.

    We are fucked.

    Unless AI and Crypto crash soon. Which maybe even Trump/Elon/Peter Thiel cannot prevent. As I’ve said before: presidents do not control the economy. Things will crash when they want to crash…

    • Ben Matthews@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      Some sense to this - global emissions probably just peaked because China’s housing bubble burst - responsible for much more CO2 than AI/crypto, and even a communist government can’t effectively control such crashes. So no, we are not f****d, but not always saved for noble reasons.
      Also regarding crypto - how much of that was sustained by russians evading sanctions - which new team in US is likely to remove ?

      • dragontamer@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        2 months ago

        So no, we are not f****d, but not always saved for noble reasons.

        Yeah, this statement here is likely closer to the truth than what I wrote earlier.

        Also regarding crypto - how much of that was sustained by russians evading sanctions - which new team in US is likely to remove ?

        Hmmm.

        Non noble reasons ehhhh? Does Team Trump really want to open free trade with Russia? That really goes against his platform of isolationist racists.

        I know Elon Musk wants trade with Russia for that Lithium, Aluminum and Titanium. But Trump also cannot look weak.

        Elon will have huge influence (he did appear in the Ukrainian x Trump talk after all). But officially I don’t think I’ve seen anything suggesting Elon Musk influence over foreign policy.

    • solo@slrpnk.netOPEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      I would argue that the issue is the model of endless growth of capitalism because this is what drives energy consumption.

  • Ben Matthews@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    Indeed there is huge momentum in renewable costs. I recall 20 years ago climate economists starting to model endogenous technological change, but they just had to invent ’ learning curves’ with magic numbers. Now it has happened.
    On the other hand, I still wish heat pumps were cheaper. Where I live, the cost is inflated by the requirement for installation by people qualified with refrigerant gases.