Technology

ECONOMICS TRUMPS IDEOLOGY:

Solar power hits new milestones in the US even as Trump boosts coal over clean energy (JENNIFER McDERMOTT, June 10, 2026, AP)

Data released Wednesday by global energy think tank Ember, along with a report by the Solar Energy Industries Association and analytics firm Wood Mackenzie, show the continued growth of solar and decline of coal in the United States despite federal policy. In May, for the first time, solar supplied more of the nation’s electricity than coal, or 12.8%, Ember said. Coal supplied 12.2%, its fourth-lowest monthly share ever.

“For years solar power has risen in the U.S. electricity mix,” said Nicolas Fulghum, senior energy and data analyst at Ember. “At the same time, coal power has lost its status, first as the largest source in the U.S. mix, and then gradually over the years has fallen even further.”

YOUR NEXT PLANE WILL BE A VOLT:

Flying car industry turns to solid-state batteries for commercial takeoff (Bojan Stojkovski, Jun 07, 2026, Interesting Engineering)

In the long run, battery technology is emerging as one of the most important factors shaping the future of aerial mobility. Su noted that solid-state batteries will play a central role in enabling the next generation of flying cars by delivering both the energy density required for longer flight ranges and the safety standards needed for commercial operations.

DONALD WHO?:

Trump vowed to kill wind power. Under his watch, America will produce more than ever (David Charter, May 29 2026, The Times uk)

The United States will have the capacity to produce record amounts of wind power under President Trump despite his vow to “terminate” all renewable energy windmills.

Experts say the industry is “winning” a fightback in the courts against Trump’s war on wind, with offshore wind farms expected to generate six gigawatts of energy by the end of Trump’s term — 34 times the capacity of the 174 megawatts in place when he came to office in January 2025.

THE SUN SHINES ON THE SAME DOG ALL DAY EVERY DAY:

24/7 renewables could happen sooner than you think (Julian Spector, 21 May 2026, Canary Media)

As technology prices fall and industry prowess compounds, a new type of clean megaproject is starting to look not only possible but also economically attractive. These projects would load up the sunniest and windiest places on Earth with enough solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries to deliver ​“firm power” 24 hours a day.

Such firm renewable projects could already compete with the cost of building a new coal- or gas-fired power plant in many regions, according to a new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency. It may sound fanciful to American ears, but projects resembling what IRENA describes are already getting built elsewhere in the world.

IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO OVERSTATE DEFLATIONARY PRESSURES:

The case for clean energy abundance: It’s a good idea — and strikingly different from conventional environmentalism. (Matthew Yglesias, May 14, 2026, Slow Boring)

But while this is all offered in good faith, I think it fundamentally underrates the merits of energy abundance.

For example, despite the considerable progress that’s been made with batteries, we are nowhere near being able to electrify things like aviation and maritime shipping. It is, however, chemically possible to manufacture liquid hydrocarbons (including jet fuel, bunker oil, and so forth) out of the carbon dioxide present in the air.

This is a lossy, energy-inefficient process for reasons of fundamental physics. If you snapped your fingers and generated enough clean energy to replace all the coal and gas currently burned to make electricity without raising prices for consumers and then snapped again to generate enough clean energy to electrify all cars and trucks and home heating, that would still leave you with electricity that’s wildly too expensive to make jet fuel.

But if electricity were abundant — too cheap to meter — then it wouldn’t matter that using electricity to manufacture liquid hydrocarbons is inefficient. It would still be cheaper to do it that way than to drill for oil and refine it. The problems of the “hard to decarbonize” sectors would be solved.

This is why, again, despite my disagreeable insistence on saying that clean energy abundance is different from conventional green politics, I sincerely think most adherents to conventional green politics should switch sides. A genuine abundance approach can solve the problem they’re trying to solve, and tweaking utility regulation or getting people to use better-insulated windows can’t.

Removing externalities multiplies abundance.