Fossil fuel is good for Australia

 by Cathy Wilcox

The elephant in the room

 By David Pope

Emissions from electricity may have peaked

 From Our World in Data

Solar and wind energy have grown quickly in recent years, but global electricity demand has grown faster. So while their share of electricity generation kept rising, it wasn't enough to push fossil fuels into absolute decline.

But in 2025, that changed. According to Ember's Global Electricity Review, low-carbon electricity sources grew faster than demand, pushing some fossil fuels out of the mix.

Global electricity generation increased by around 850 terawatt-hours (TWh) from 2024 to 2025. As you can see in the chart, solar and wind accounted for nearly all of this growth. While the world still burned slightly more gas, this was more than offset by a decline in coal and oil.

 From now on, it gets easier.  Growth in wind and solar and batteries is much faster than growth in electricity demand, even if we include growing data centre demand.  Rises in output from renewables may not exceed the rise in demand this year, but they will next year, and each year thereafter, by ever-increasing amounts.  Add to that the explosive growth in EVs, and we have prolly passed peak emissions, peak oil and peak coal.   The Iran War has shown how unwise it is for countries to rely on oil, and coal, as the war has also pushed up coal prices.  It isn't just economics driving these transitions: it's also national interest.

That doesn't mean everything is hunky-dory, because temperatures will go on rising until emissions have fallen significantly.  The rise in temperatures is proportional to the level of emissions.  But we're getting there.  Yes, it's taken us too long, it's been too slow, and it's very late.  But it's finally happening.  And if we work at it, we can accelerate that shift, now that it's going in the right direction.

I'll never give you the satisfaction

 By They Can Talk

The world's freest and least free countries

 From Visual Capitalist

Two comments:

• The top three freest countries are constitutional monarchies.  Out of the top 20 freest countries, 11 are monarchies.  Out of the bottom 20, only one, Eswatini (Swaziland as was) is a monarchy, and definitely not a constitutional one.  Yay for constitutional monarchy!
• The US is still freer than China, but is at the bottom end of developed countries, and fell sharply during 2025.  American exceptionalism indeed.

Two-thirds of China's car sales are plug-in

 From EMBER

67% of China's car sales in September 2026 were EVs (47.3%) or plug-in hybrids (19.7%).  In September 2016, just 0.86% were EVs or PHEVs.  I estimate that EV/PHEV sales will reach nearly 100% of total Chinese car sales by late 2028.  China is the world's largest car market and now also the world's largest car exporter.  The electric cars on Chinese roads are already removing nearly 1 million barrels a day of global oil demand.  Oil production is +-84 million barrels per day, so 1% of global oil demand has been taken away over the last few years.  This is one reason why the Iran war hasn't caused an even bigger jump in oil prices.  And it's a long way from being over — there are +-366 million cars on China's roads, and just 14% of them are electric.  Oil demand will ultimately fall by 6 million barrels per day as a result of the transition to EVs in China alone.

Diesel price changes

 From Gavin Mooney

Diesel prices have nearly doubled across much of the American heartland – and the impact of this extends far beyond the fuel pump.

The map compares February with September, showing particularly steep increases in states including Montana, Kentucky, Kansas, Missouri and Texas.

Diesel powers the trucks that are used to deliver goods, the tractors that grow food, as well as much of the machinery that builds roads and houses.

When diesel prices rise, businesses either absorb the extra cost or pass it on. Households feel the impact even if they don't own a diesel vehicle.

And the real sting? Producing oil at home doesn't insulate a country from globally traded fuel prices. (As we know all too well in Australia.)

And this is another reason to electrify freight and heavy machinery wherever practical. Reducing diesel dependence reduces exposure to the next fuel price shock.