Climate change politics

[Ananke]

The R32-based heatpumps we just had installed in the cabin are rated for a COP of >2 down to -25C (Daikin Moskus, SCOP 5.0/A++)): it's not the 1990s any more and we do, in fact, have the technology. Although there is definitely a gap between the specialised Nordic models sold by dedicated installers (usually from Mitsubushi, Daikin or Toshiba), and the various less-well-known brands sold in the big box DIY stores. Those tend to be not very much cheaper, and only go down to -10C or so.

The only flaw with ductless ones is that they're not a good match to having multiple small rooms: the indoor units just too powerful for a typical bedroom or office (even the smallest indoor units are rated at 2kW+, where the typical room gets a 400-600W oven); and the multi-headed units are fiendishly expensive (every quote I have seen indicates that for 2-3 indoor units, it's cheaper to have 2-3 outdoor units vs a single larger outdoor unit running all of them).

In our 1960s home, a single 1.2kW(e) heat pump in the sitting room provides about 70% of our space heating thermal energy budget - but it's less than half of our space heating electrical budget, because the two home offices, bathroom, and bedroom need their own top-up resistive ovens. And no matter which way I look, I can't find a way to get the numebrs to make sense trying to replace those four ovens with a second heat pump. Even if there weren't efficiency issues with having a heat pump running very low duty cycle (because overpwoered indoor handlers), it wouldn't repay itself within the expected lifetime of the heat pump.

 

[wco81]

Yeah how do heat get distributed to multiple rooms from a heat pump? A lot of European dwellings don't seem to have ducts pushing heated air to multiple rooms. For instance, you see apartments in old buildings, some may have those mini-split systems in one or more rooms but they're mounted high, closer to the ceiling than the floor. That works well for AC mode but in heating mode, not as well.

 

[karolus]

Resistance heaters are very energy inefficient.

If your home is from the 1960s, do you have radiators? If so, could you use a hydronic heat pump?

 

[karolus]

Yeah how do heat get distributed to multiple rooms from a heat pump? A lot of European dwellings don't seem to have ducts pushing heated air to multiple rooms. For instance, you see apartments in old buildings, some may have those mini-split systems in one or more rooms but they're mounted high, closer to the ceiling than the floor. That works well for AC mode but in heating mode, not as well.

In many parts of Europe, air conditioning isn't necessary, even now. Radiant heating can suffice, and requires comparatively little space. I know people with medieval-era houses that have these setups. These systems can be modernized by replacing a combustion boiler with a hydronic heat pump. The heat pump (and its electrical connection) is all that needs changing. In most cases, it will be smaller than the boiler (and fuel tank, if oil-fired) it replaces.

 

[slowtech]

Interesting and wide-ranging discussion between Paul Krugman and David Roberts. Topics include energy scarcity, coming energy abundance, renewables, correlations between urban density and both energy efficiency and political affiliation, autonomous cars, and much more. Well worth a listen.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yx9WvIwiqLQ

 

[w00key]

In many parts of Europe, air conditioning isn't necessary, even now. Radiant heating can suffice, and requires comparatively little space. I know people with medieval-era houses that have these setups. These systems can be modernized by replacing a combustion boiler with a hydronic heat pump. The heat pump (and its electrical connection) is all that needs changing. In most cases, it will be smaller than the boiler (and fuel tank, if oil-fired) it replaces.

One of the problem is that an air to water heat pump needs to deliver water hot enough for radiators. When gas-fired, it doesn't cost a lot more energy to produce 60°C water vs lower temperature. When you use a heat pump, dT directly affects COP and air-air heat pumps don't need to heat up the indoor part to more than 40°C.

The big renovation for "heat pumps", Dutch style, the proper way, is to add an air source heat pump generating warm water, in floor tubing so you can run this at 30°C, 24/7, insulation to reduce heat requirement and improve comfort, but by now you're spending like 100k, mostly for anything but the heat pump that costs only like €6-10k.

Example unit for €6k: https://www.climamarket.nl/nl/warmte-en-kouden-monobloc-daikin-altherma-3-bla16dv
Daikin Altherma 3 EBLA16D3V37, 16 kW power, monoblock (so water in water out, no coolant circuit), easy peasy to install, you only need some insulated water lines.


On the other hand, if you buy this and just set it to 45-60°C, yeah sure you lose some COP but it's still so much better than gas, the saved €30k for floors buys you like... wait, that €30k, put it in bonds and the interest will pay the power bill forever (3000 kWh x 30ct = €900, or 3% of 30k, get a better rate and the 30k will grow instead of shrink).

If you compare a full renovation to nearly energy neutral home vs gas, yeah that ROI is too low to be ever worth it. But half-assing it with a monoblock or minisplits is an option people don't consider enough. And for multiple small rooms, there's no reason why you can't get a set of https://www.climamarket.nl/nl/daikin-kanaalsysteem-ba35a - ducted split, mount a rectangle to 3x 200mm round air duct and run these to three separate rooms. These are often hidden in ceilings of hotel rooms but you don't have to send the air out one huge vent instead of several smaller ones.

 

[Ananke]

Resistance heaters are very energy inefficient.

Eh? They're, to a first approximation, 100% efficient, or at least closer to 100% than a combustion boiler/furnace, where some of the thermal energy goes out the exhaust.

Resistance heating is generally disfavoured compared to other options because of cost, not efficiency: fuel oil or natural gas tend to be significantly cheaper primary fuels per kWh, despite the lower efficiency. Except where electricity was historically so cheap that the infrastructure cost for a combustion boiler and central heating system outweighed just sticking a resistance oven in each room.

Where I grew up in the UK, basically every house has a single gas boiler that provides both hot water and space heating via a radiator in each room. In Norway, such systems are basically unique to commercial offices. Domestically, single-room wood or oil burners dominated until about the 1960s or so, when resistive ovens became ubiqitous. Air-air heat pumps started becoming common from the alte 1990s onwards, and by this point, about 2/3rds of detached housing has one or more; but they are invariably the ductless type - central air service is essentially unknown in both the UK and Norway in housing, due to the lack of need for cooling.

I did, out of curisoity, price out what it could cost to refit the house for liquid underfloor heating - about 1/3rd of the cost of the house, increasing to about 1/2 the cost if I took advantage to bring it up to modern insulation standards at the same time. I, uh, did not proceed with the quote, let us put it that way. It is possible that the companies I talked to were quoting fuck-off prices to make me go away - I suspect I presented as the kind of customer with at least enough knowledge to be very annoying.

 

[Da Xiang]

In our first home in Seattle we had a giant 8-armed monster in the basement that ate coal delivered through a window well-shoot,. I don't remember the house ever feeling cold. But we had to leave that house when it was condemned in order to make room for I5 through the city.

Our next home (after 5 years in an apartment) had oil heat and I remember the agony of my parents every time the oil tank got filled. Mom guarded the thermostat like her life depended on it and winters daytime was 65°F and nighttime was 60°F and everyone in the family had these really heavy sweaters that mom knitted......

 

[w00key]

They're, to a first approximation, 100% efficient, or at least closer to 100% than a combustion boiler/furnace, where some of the thermal energy goes out the exhaust.

People mean total effective use of energy. Fuel burnt to electricity to electric heat is lossy, ~40% ends up in your home.

Electricity to heat pump x4-5 brings the total up to 160-200% which is fine.

Both can run on renewable, but obviously for resistive heating you need 4-5x the amount.


Condensing boilers extract over 100% of heat value from gas, up to 107% because water vapor condenses back to water due to the cold water inlet and that gives it another nudge. Those are fine, and much preferred over winter power mix with relatively high gCO2/kWh. With a winter mix, 1 kWh resistive heat is maybe 350g CO2, and burning gas for a kWh heat is 200-225g CO2, ~40% less.

Heat pump of course win easily at 1/4 to 1/5 of 350g or ~80g/kWh heat. Or lower if you don't run it on a static schedule and use the concrete as a thermal battery, running it hotter during the day and sunny than at night. It's zero again right now, so go go 24°C / 75°F setpoint.

 

[Scotttheking]

Yeah how do heat get distributed to multiple rooms from a heat pump?

Either ducted, via water source (radiators), or multisplits? The heat pump generates the temperature differential, how it is distributed hasn’t really changed.

 

[Scotttheking]

New here - I see MD is finally getting to balcony solar but the limit is written as a low 391 watts. Does anyone have an idea why it would be so low?

I emailed a representative, their intern said they are working to change it but not the why.

 

[Ananke]

People mean total effective use of energy. Fuel burnt to electricity to electric heat is lossy, ~40% ends up in your home.

Ah, Mea culpa.

 

[AverageDutchGuy]

One of the problem is that an air to water heat pump needs to deliver water hot enough for radiators. When gas-fired, it doesn't cost a lot more energy to produce 60°C water vs lower temperature. When you use a heat pump, dT directly affects COP and air-air heat pumps don't need to heat up the indoor part to more than 40°C.

The big renovation for "heat pumps", Dutch style, the proper way, is to add an air source heat pump generating warm water, in floor tubing so you can run this at 30°C, 24/7, insulation to reduce heat requirement and improve comfort, but by now you're spending like 100k, mostly for anything but the heat pump that costs only like €6-10k.

Example unit for €6k: https://www.climamarket.nl/nl/warmte-en-kouden-monobloc-daikin-altherma-3-bla16dv
Daikin Altherma 3 EBLA16D3V37, 16 kW power, monoblock (so water in water out, no coolant circuit), easy peasy to install, you only need some insulated water lines.


On the other hand, if you buy this and just set it to 45-60°C, yeah sure you lose some COP but it's still so much better than gas, the saved €30k for floors buys you like... wait, that €30k, put it in bonds and the interest will pay the power bill forever (3000 kWh x 30ct = €900, or 3% of 30k, get a better rate and the 30k will grow instead of shrink).

If you compare a full renovation to nearly energy neutral home vs gas, yeah that ROI is too low to be ever worth it. But half-assing it with a monoblock or minisplits is an option people don't consider enough. And for multiple small rooms, there's no reason why you can't get a set of https://www.climamarket.nl/nl/daikin-kanaalsysteem-ba35a - ducted split, mount a rectangle to 3x 200mm round air duct and run these to three separate rooms. These are often hidden in ceilings of hotel rooms but you don't have to send the air out one huge vent instead of several smaller ones.

You hit the nail on the head for my situation, mostly. The monobloc unit you link has a max heating water temp of 60 degrees, which isn't quite high enough to get comfortable heating in my home (it's got some relatively inefficient radiators). There's all sorts of bodges possible, but to really make things comfortable and efficient, the only GOOD solution is to go for radiative underfloor heating.

As for "easy peasy to install".... No, not really. My current setup is entirely built around the boiler/heating being situated in the attic. There's no good way to route hoses from where this CV is to an outside unit and the distance would be considerable. There's ways to make it happen, but the vast majority of these again mean a lot of rerouting and making a mess of things to get there.

 

[wobblytickle]

One of the problem is that an air to water heat pump needs to deliver water hot enough for radiators. When gas-fired, it doesn't cost a lot more energy to produce 60°C water vs lower temperature. When you use a heat pump, dT directly affects COP and air-air heat pumps don't need to heat up the indoor part to more than 40°C.

The big renovation for "heat pumps", Dutch style, the proper way, is to add an air source heat pump generating warm water, in floor tubing so you can run this at 30°C, 24/7, insulation to reduce heat requirement and improve comfort, but by now you're spending like 100k, mostly for anything but the heat pump that costs only like €6-10k.

Example unit for €6k: https://www.climamarket.nl/nl/warmte-en-kouden-monobloc-daikin-altherma-3-bla16dv
Daikin Altherma 3 EBLA16D3V37, 16 kW power, monoblock (so water in water out, no coolant circuit), easy peasy to install, you only need some insulated water lines.


On the other hand, if you buy this and just set it to 45-60°C, yeah sure you lose some COP but it's still so much better than gas, the saved €30k for floors buys you like... wait, that €30k, put it in bonds and the interest will pay the power bill forever (3000 kWh x 30ct = €900, or 3% of 30k, get a better rate and the 30k will grow instead of shrink).

If you compare a full renovation to nearly energy neutral home vs gas, yeah that ROI is too low to be ever worth it. But half-assing it with a monoblock or minisplits is an option people don't consider enough. And for multiple small rooms, there's no reason why you can't get a set of https://www.climamarket.nl/nl/daikin-kanaalsysteem-ba35a - ducted split, mount a rectangle to 3x 200mm round air duct and run these to three separate rooms. These are often hidden in ceilings of hotel rooms but you don't have to send the air out one huge vent instead of several smaller ones.

I'm taking part in a pilot for a startup here in the UK where they have a controller which dynamically manages both the HP and the existing radiators; idea being that you can replace a boiler with a HP but not need to be spending the tens of thousands on new radiators, and to remove the distressed-boiler-purchase all together. 2 years in and we have only changed 1 radiator, and it's not the one the heatloss survey suggested needing changing

 

[LizandreBZH]

One of the problem is that an air to water heat pump needs to deliver water hot enough for radiators. When gas-fired, it doesn't cost a lot more energy to produce 60°C water vs lower temperature. When you use a heat pump, dT directly affects COP and air-air heat pumps don't need to heat up the indoor part to more than 40°C.

The big renovation for "heat pumps", Dutch style, the proper way, is to add an air source heat pump generating warm water, in floor tubing so you can run this at 30°C, 24/7, insulation to reduce heat requirement and improve comfort, but by now you're spending like 100k, mostly for anything but the heat pump that costs only like €6-10k.

Example unit for €6k: https://www.climamarket.nl/nl/warmte-en-kouden-monobloc-daikin-altherma-3-bla16dv
Daikin Altherma 3 EBLA16D3V37, 16 kW power, monoblock (so water in water out, no coolant circuit), easy peasy to install, you only need some insulated water lines.


On the other hand, if you buy this and just set it to 45-60°C, yeah sure you lose some COP but it's still so much better than gas, the saved €30k for floors buys you like... wait, that €30k, put it in bonds and the interest will pay the power bill forever (3000 kWh x 30ct = €900, or 3% of 30k, get a better rate and the 30k will grow instead of shrink).

If you compare a full renovation to nearly energy neutral home vs gas, yeah that ROI is too low to be ever worth it. But half-assing it with a monoblock or minisplits is an option people don't consider enough. And for multiple small rooms, there's no reason why you can't get a set of https://www.climamarket.nl/nl/daikin-kanaalsysteem-ba35a - ducted split, mount a rectangle to 3x 200mm round air duct and run these to three separate rooms. These are often hidden in ceilings of hotel rooms but you don't have to send the air out one huge vent instead of several smaller ones.

I live in Picardie, northern France, in the winter the lowest temperature in recent years is about -5°C, a few days between -5 and -10 in case of a cold wave. My house is an old brick house from the 19 th century or early 20. Insulation is poor, about 5 cm of an old glass wool from the 80's.

The temperature of the radiators range from 30°C to 40°C in winter, up to high 40 in those rare cold waves.

I just dropped three years ago an air to water heat pump in place of the old oil boiler (split unit). Absolutely nothing else to change. With the old installation the temperature of the radiators would oscillate between super hot (70°) and cold, my aging father was feeling uncomfortable. With the heat pump, the temperature is mostly constant or changes slowly. Comfort ++

My COP is averaging 4,5 those last three years and the cost of heating the house and water almost halved. The professional that installed the pump told me that old houses with bad insulation but good thermal inertia (thick brick walls) were totally Ok for heat pumps.

 

[w00key]

It's great hearing more success stories of real retrofits by normal people. Heating isn't that complex but if you listen to the installers it might well be gold plated magical boxes.

 

[Tom the Melaniephile]

You hit the nail on the head for my situation, mostly. The monobloc unit you link has a max heating water temp of 60 degrees, which isn't quite high enough to get comfortable heating in my home (it's got some relatively inefficient radiators). There's all sorts of bodges possible, but to really make things comfortable and efficient, the only GOOD solution is to go for radiative underfloor heating.

Air sealing, insulation and controlled air exchange through an ERV can improve comfort and efficiency immensely while reducing the demand on HVAC.

In many cases, the air sealing and insulation is very DIY friendly. Start with simple maintenance/replacement of degraded door seals. Caulk gaps in the envelope. Etc.

 

[bjn]

I live in Picardie, northern France, in the winter the lowest temperature in recent years is about -5°C, a few days between -5 and -10 in case of a cold wave. My house is an old brick house from the 19 th century or early 20. Insulation is poor, about 5 cm of an old glass wool from the 80's.

The temperature of the radiators range from 30°C to 40°C in winter, up to high 40 in those rare cold waves.

I just dropped three years ago an air to water heat pump in place of the old oil boiler (split unit). Absolutely nothing else to change. With the old installation the temperature of the radiators would oscillate between super hot (70°) and cold, my aging father was feeling uncomfortable. With the heat pump, the temperature is mostly constant or changes slowly. Comfort ++

My COP is averaging 4,5 those last three years and the cost of heating the house and water almost halved. The professional that installed the pump told me that old houses with bad insulation but good thermal inertia (thick brick walls) were totally Ok for heat pumps.

Ooooh. I have an 1880s house in London with solid brick walls, so it is uninsulatable without alot of very expensive external cladding. That has put me off getting a heat pump. I shall have to look into it if thermal mass is a useful thing.

 

[slowtech]

Ooooh. I have an 1880s house in London with solid brick walls, so it is uninsulatable without alot of very expensive external cladding. That has put me off getting a heat pump. I shall have to look into it if thermal mass is a useful thing.

Oh man, I feel your pain. Had a condo in a brick building - there are no good insulation options (except the cladding, which we did in Spain with wood-pulp external insulation covered with synthetic sealant). You have to be super careful that no water gets behind the insulation, but you get the thermal mass of the brick inside, which is a very good thing (Spanish brick tends to be very thin, so the method for attachment of the cladding is probably different).

 

[LizandreBZH]

Ooooh. I have an 1880s house in London with solid brick walls, so it is uninsulatable without alot of very expensive external cladding. That has put me off getting a heat pump. I shall have to look into it if thermal mass is a useful thing.

French electricity is rather cheap I think compared to other (ex) EU countries.

 

[karolus]

No doubt because of EDF. Similarly, have extended family in the mountains of Tennessee, who used to have electric baseboard resistance heat. Normally, that would be a costly arrangement, but due to ample cheap hydropower courtesy of the TVA, it was workable. That has since been converted to forced air ventilation with heat pumps.

As more renewables come online, heat pump retrofits will probably be a realistic option for many older homes.

 

[bjn]

French electricity is rather cheap I think compared to other (ex) EU countries.

The electricity market they devised for the UK means the most expensive thing generating at the time sets the price for everything generating. Over 80% of the time that is expensive imported gas, even if it's only a tiny fraction of generation. They are finally thinking about changing that.

 

[wobblytickle]

Ooooh. I have an 1880s house in London with solid brick walls, so it is uninsulatable without alot of very expensive external cladding. That has put me off getting a heat pump. I shall have to look into it if thermal mass is a useful thing.

I'm in a '30s detached build far, far out (and high) in metroland so it actually gets cold here but I still have a scop > 3. Obvs every situation is different but it's working for me

 

[w00key]

The electricity market they devised for the UK means the most expensive thing generating at the time sets the price for everything generating. Over 80% of the time that is expensive imported gas, even if it's only a tiny fraction of generation. They are finally thinking about changing that.

In an auction, that does set the most fair price. But the problem is that you are not supposed to always buy all your demand the day before - bigger players purchase power in advance, like production from a certain asset like wind or solar farm, and some share of a gas turbine, and that decides most of the price already. When they have surplus or deficit, you trade in day ahead based on forecast. The last bit - difference between forecasted vs actual, is done with real time intraday trading.

This obviously does introduce some inefficiencies so generally speaking, fixed rate yearly contracts are a bit more expensive than cost plus auction pricing. Pick your poison.


As far as I know, this is the only thing that passed:

Contracts for Difference (CfDs): Most new renewable projects already bypass the "gas-sets-the-price" problem. They agree on a fixed "strike price" with the government. If the market price (set by gas) is higher, the generator pays the extra back to the government/consumers.

Pay as bid: nope, experts say that just encourages strategic bidding and even higher cost. Regional pricing: nope too complex. Green power pool: nope too complex.

So I don't see an easy way to reform this other than just brute force installing enough batteries. And accept that with less revenue, we will lose conventional generators and can't count on them to be there next time there is an issue.

 

[demultiplexer]

There's a lot of confusion and misunderstanding about the auction system.

THe highest bidder setting the price for all others is not the problem. That's actually basically identical across all countries in the world who do short term commodity bidding on anything, not just energy.

w00key explained the actual problem much better.

 

[Maxxim]

Ooooh. I have an 1880s house in London with solid brick walls, so it is uninsulatable without alot of very expensive external cladding. That has put me off getting a heat pump. I shall have to look into it if thermal mass is a useful thing.

We had a converted warehouse in Docklands - originally two barely seperated brick walls.

The previous, previous owner added an inner wall with an insulation gap filled with glass fibre and wool insulation. This made the walls ~45cm thick. All windows were double/triple glazed and there was extensive insulation in the loft space.

It can be done, but you loose floor space and it is not cheap.

 

[slowtech]

We had a converted warehouse in Docklands - originally two barely seperated brick walls.

The previous, previous owner added an inner wall with an insulation gap filled with glass fibre and wool insulation. This made the walls ~45cm thick. All windows were double/triple glazed and there was extensive insulation in the loft space.

It can be done, but you loose floor space and it is not cheap.

I hope that works. The problem I read about is that, if the insulation is on the inside, then the outer wall is cold. That means that moisture coming through the insulation condenses (or freezes) on the inside of the outer brick wall, which is not good. Further, brick likes to be warm. It is relatively porous, so it absorbs water and if the temperature drops below freezing (as it often did where I had my condo), it blows out bits of brick, leading to it needing to be repointed fairly regularly. The temperature changes age the brick quite a bit.

Of course, if it doesn't get below freezing that often, or if you can reliably seal it from the outside against moisture, that is better. But you still have all that moisture coming from inside.

 

[AverageDutchGuy]

I hope that works. The problem I read about is that, if the insulation is on the inside, then the outer wall is cold. That means that moisture coming through the insulation condenses (or freezes) on the inside of the outer brick wall, which is not good. Further, brick likes to be warm. It is relatively porous, so it absorbs water and if the temperature drops below freezing (as it often did where I had my condo), it blows out bits of brick, leading to it needing to be repointed fairly regularly. The temperature changes age the brick quite a bit.

Of course, if it doesn't get below freezing that often, or if you can reliably seal it from the outside against moisture, that is better. But you still have all that moisture coming from inside.

The outside facade of my home is 40 year old brick and the brick is absolutely fine (hasn't been repointed in that time apart from the one settling crack I did myself). I've never heard of properly pointed brick degrading in the Netherlands, which can have pretty decent temp swings (though we don't go as deep into freezing temps as other parts of the world do). Moisture condensation can definitely be a concern and if done properly when the inner wall was added in the mentioned warehouse conversion they would have added a moisture barrier on the outside of the insulation facing the outside wall. Construction brick definitely shouldn't be so porous that it starts blowing chunks off when it freezes. That's imho an indicator of (very) poor brick quality.

 

[AverageDutchGuy]

In other news, truly flexible hydrogen electrolysis at an industrial scale seems to be incoming: https://www.vdlgroep.com/en/news/battolyser-systems-and-vdl-hydrogen-systems-merge-to-become-alquion. Bit of a sales blurb but if they can actually make it commercially viable an electrolyser that can actually be switched on and off as demand allows is definitely going to make Hydrogen a lot more interesting as a storage medium (note though that a lot more is from "not interesting at all levels" imho so... your results may vary)

 

[demultiplexer]

It's a bit of a desperation move and consolidation at this point in the industrialization curve is bad news for the actual viability of the market, but y'know, let's see if they will actually deliver. The electricity market is immensely volatile at the moment and expected to get worse over at least the next 2 years, so having dispatchable demand and supply that isn't e-boilers and CCGTs is a good thing for the climate and grid stability.

 

[bjn]

Substituting green H2 for fossil gas in higher value markets like fertiliser production would free up some fossil gas supply for power generation.

 

[wco81]

Tesla saw an improvement in sales in Q1 2026 over Q1 2025.

However, there was hope that they'd see a 10% improvement year over year and it was in fact about 6%.

It saw some improvement in markets such as France. But sales are down sequentially from Q4 2025 and Tesla may be facing a third consecutive year of declining sales.

Tesla delivered 358,023 vehicles in the first quarter, missing analysts' estimates of 368,903, according to Visible Alpha data. Deliveries were up 6.3% from a year earlier, when protests against Musk’s far-right politics had weighed on demand.

Smaller rival Rivian Automotive (RIVN.O) delivered more vehicles than analysts expected in the first quarter.

While Europe weighed on Tesla's global figures last year, the company has since showed signs of stabilization, growing its foothold in key markets such as France in the first quarter of 2026.

Read in Reuters: https://apple.news/AJ_nMTRxoRLGCCkRnOyC3Dw?highlight=quarter.

 

[AverageDutchGuy]

Tesla saw an improvement in sales in Q1 2026 over Q1 2025.

However, there was hope that they'd see a 10% improvement year over year and it was in fact about 6%.

It saw some improvement in markets such as France. But sales are down sequentially from Q4 2025 and Tesla may be facing a third consecutive year of declining sales.



Read in Reuters: https://apple.news/AJ_nMTRxoRLGCCkRnOyC3Dw?highlight=quarter.

I have to wonder if those cars are sold because people just don't care or because there's some other market incentive going on. Tesla's are comparatively cheap overall compared to a lot of other offerings for longer range/large battery models which means they're popular in the company-car market. I could imagine in France long distance range is important and thus Tesla would still have an edge in that regard. In the Netherlands they're down over 22% YoY from Q1 2025. I'm also curious to see how the numbers will hold over the year.

 

[w00key]

I have to wonder if those cars are sold because people just don't care or because there's some other market incentive going on. Tesla's are comparatively cheap overall compared to a lot of other offerings for longer range/large battery models which means they're popular in the company-car market. I could imagine in France long distance range is important and thus Tesla would still have an edge in that regard. In the Netherlands they're down over 22% YoY from Q1 2025. I'm also curious to see how the numbers will hold over the year.

Maybe this, from the Reuters article?

When you have too many cars sitting at the dealer you have to dump them. Tesla is indeed very well priced but still trending down YoY.

 

[dio82]

I stumbled over this amazing YouTube video on the boom of solar in Africa:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJfuU2uKpYI


What has been holding back African nations is reliable power. The video exposes the myriad issues behind unreliable power and shows how one printing company paid back their entire investment within 2.1 years with a Deye PV+Battery setup.

The video totally shamelessly plugs Deye Inverters with Storage. But its all fair, IMHO. For islanding/blackout operation Deye Inverters are among technically the best (only Victron is better) and a huge step up over other Chinese manufacturers. In terms of price/quality nothing beats Deye for large installations and i am using them for my +80kWp installations, too.

 

[wrylachlan]

I used to work in sub-Saharan Africa doing malaria prevention. One of the biggest wins for solar there is supporting cellular networks in areas that don’t have electricity. There are villages whose first streetlights are solar and kids will sit under them to do homework at night while looking things up on a cell phone.

Much of rural Africa will bypass telephone poles entirely - never connecting to a grid and never having land lines.

 

[bjn]

I stumbled over this amazing YouTube video on the boom of solar in Africa:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJfuU2uKpYI


What has been holding back African nations is reliable power. The video exposes the myriad issues behind unreliable power and shows how one printing company paid back their entire investment within 2.1 years with a Deye PV+Battery setup.

The video totally shamelessly plugs Deye Inverters with Storage. But it’s all fair, IMHO. For islanding/blackout operation Deye Inverters are among technically the best (only Victron is better) and a huge step up over other Chinese manufacturers. In terms of price/quality nothing beats Deye for large installations and i am using them for my +80kWp installations, too.

In a related note, I listened to The Energy Transition podcast today and the guest was Professor Tom Brown from the Technical University of Berlin. He’s big into energy modelling having written the Python For Power Systems Analysis open source tool. Using some very conservative costings for solar and batteries, he estimates that by 2030 solar and batteries can supply 90% of the electricity needed by 80% of the world’s population for a price of €80/MWh. Those 80% are within 40° of the equator. So Africa looks to be in for some good times solar energy-wise. For regions more polarward, wind will help with the darker months of the year, but yer dunklefaute will be an issue. None the less even Birmingham (UK), can still get over 60% of its energy from solar and batteries at those prices. Note that this is full system costs, assuming fossil gas as covering the last few percent.

His blog goes into the details and he links to the open source model he used to come up with those figures.

https://nworbmot.org/blog/solar-battery-world.html

 

[1Zach1]

There was an expectation that the 5 offshore wind projects that the US government had attempted to stop based on "national security", which the courts threw out, would be in for an appeals fight. Based on this article the appeals deadline has passed with nothing happening, so they can continue their work (which they had already been doing in the meantime) without this specific threat looming. Wouldn't be shocked at another attempt at this though.

Burgum had vowed to fight back, but last week, the department quietly let the final deadline for appealing the courts’ decisions lapse. The move means construction of the nation’s first five major wind farms along the eastern seaboard can continue absent a change in the case. When complete, the wind farms will generate enough electricity to power well over 2 million homes.

The lack of appeals likely represents a recognition that the government couldn’t stop the five projects from moving forward, said Tony Irish, who served as an Interior Department lawyer for decades before leaving in 2025.

 

[dio82]

There was an expectation that the 5 offshore wind projects that the US government had attempted to stop based on "national security", which the courts threw out, would be in for an appeals fight. Based on this article the appeals deadline has passed with nothing happening, so they can continue their work (which they had already been doing in the meantime) without this specific threat looming. Wouldn't be shocked at another attempt at this though.

Hmm . With all of those delays those projects are surely financially underwater, or at least not generating the hoped for ROI. Not good. Hopefully the investment can be reused for further projects and smoother regulatory interactions and faster grid connection.

 

[Shavano]

The city of Colorado Springs is fighting to keep a coal plant open and they're offering a plan to investigate all alternatives including nuclear.

Sorry, no C. Springs. Nuclear can't compete on cost. It can't compete on time to first power, and it can't compete on environmental impact with renewable power.