cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/54245880
The U.S. war with Iran has raised fossil fuel prices so much that the resulting drop in oil demand has put the world on track to see a rare dip in carbon emissions from these sources in 2026.
Between 2019 and 2025, carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels grew by about 0.8 percent annually, according to a new study published in Nature Climate Change. But 2026 is set to buck that trend: high oil prices, as well as the continued rise of green technology—solar power, wind and electric cars—will cause a “short-term” 0.4 percent drop, according to the study.
“The high petrol prices following the war in Iran are reducing oil use and keeping emissions low,” says the study’s lead author Corinne Le Quéré, a professor of climate change science at the University of East Anglia in England. “But that’s not the whole story: The expansion of renewable energy has progressed a lot in recent years, led by China. And [along with electric vehicles], this is offsetting two thirds of the growing demand for energy.”
With all sources of carbon considered, including deforestation, total global CO2 emissions are set to continue increasing.
agreed, and a lot of people have no choice for the fuel used to power their domiciles. If you want solar you have to own your home, not have a restrictive HOA, and have the cash (or credit rating for a decent loan) to fund it.
That’s true if you’re all-or-nothing on residential solar, but if you’re interested in making any small changes you can, a 30W solar panel is enough to charge smart phones and power banks. They come in portable versions with USB hookups and aren’t crazy expensive. Good for emergencies at the very least.
On a slightly larger scale, you can find portable power stations ranging from 500W to 2400W max continuous output, usually with built-in MPPT controllers and power inverters so you can charge them with solar and they can provide AC power. 100W panels are enough for the lower end of these, and can be daisy-chained in parallel to output higher wattage (parallel keeps the correct voltage while increasing amps; don’t do series unless you need higher voltage, which isn’t likely on this scale).
It’s not the same as running your whole house on it, but it’s better than say a backup generator, and the larger power stations can run most kitchen appliances. Or some you can use as a UPS switch, but only if it’s rated for that.
So there are options. By no means perfect. We’ll need more sweeping legislation to make residential solar more viable for more households.
And personal solar really isn’t the entire goal anyway. Symbiotic goals are appliance electrification and the most cost effective approach is when you need to anyway.
I installed a heat pump in my family room …… because the air conditioner died, and a heat pump was the same price as a new air conditioner. I still heat with gas when it gets cold but now I also have a cheaper, cleaner option in the “shoulder” seasons.
I don’t have solar, but if I could afford it, I would now also benefit even more from it
Yeah, that’s why if we had incentivized it more starting several years ago, we could have made more progress by now. But we did the opposite.
Not everything is an immediate decision. At some point renters need to renew, nomads need to relocate, people have to find a different personal vehicle: there are larger decision points. We can’t be afraid of driving those larger decisions over time
You can’t claim something is useless if people cant change their habits immediately, but they probably have a yearly apartment lease and there may be opportunities every year.