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The world is finally spending more on solar than oil production [technologyreview.com]:

But smaller sectors are growing quickly, especially when you look at projections for this year. I’m really excited to see how fast money is moving into electric vehicles: spending went from $29 billion as recently as 2020 to an expected $129 billion in 2023. And spending on batteries for energy storage is set to double between 2022 and 2023.

All that new money could change everything, and there are already big shifts in the battery industry because of it. We can’t seem to go more than a few days without an announcement of a new battery factory (most recently, yet another multibillion-dollar factory [nytimes.com] in Georgia).

If all these plans take shape, we’re going to reach nearly seven terawatt-hours of manufacturing capacity for lithium-ion batteries in 2030. That’s enough for over 100 million EVs annually. Most of it’s going to be in China, but the US and Europe are starting to make a dent in that country’s dominance of all things EV.

The road ahead

So this all sounds like a lot of money … but is it enough?

To keep global warming below 1.5 °C over preindustrial levels and avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we need to reach net-zero emissions around 2050. If we’re going to hit that goal, according to the IEA, annual investment needs to reach $4.5 trillion in 2030—nearly triple current spending.

Some technologies are actually in great shape. Solar spending just needs to keep growing as it has been for that sector to keep pace with the 2050 goal. But there needs to be much more spending in other areas, especially technologies like energy storage and transmission lines—that will help balance the grid as more solar and other intermittent renewable power sources come online. There’s also a huge geographical imbalance, and poorer countries will need a significant boost to help build up their electrical grids and establish new technologies.

Investments are broadly on the right track, and I’m excited to see what next year’s report will hold. But there’s still definitely a long road ahead and a lot of building left to do.

Keeping up with climate

Induction stoves could replace your polluting gas range. They might seem like magic, but these futuristic appliances are powered by magnets. (Canary Media [canarymedia.com])

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