AukeHoekstra Profile picture
Apr 14 6 tweets 3 min read Read on X
Five of the Fossil Fuel Industry's Biggest Disinformation Tactics

@guardian article by @WesterveltAmy and @kylepope

Very recognizable for me too, so allow me to summarize the five points and add some observations/examples.
theguardian.com/us-news/2024/a…
1 "FF provides Energy Security"

In reality FF cause(d)(s) many INsecurities.

From the climate crisis, to "Dutch disease", to the end of democracy in Iran, to the war in Ukraine. [My examples]

Renewables are not scarce and last forever.
That sounds more secure to me. Image
2 "You must choose the economy or the environment"

The article gives great examples of this claim.
I hear it daily.

But the reality is that speeding up the transition to renewable SAVES money. Yes, really.

Don't be fooled by their delaying tactics!
cell.com/joule/pdf/S254…
Image
3 "We make your life work"

We always knew FF would run out this century:
we use it ~100000x faster than it was produced.

Renewables last forever and we already have all the technology we need to replace fossil fuels.
No need to wait.
4 "We're part of the solution"

Let's not be naive:
FF needs to go asap to reach climate goals.

I'm tired of all the lying.

"Gas as a transition fuel"
CCS lab vs reality
Under-counted methane and car emissions (e.g. PHEVs) Etc. Etc. Etc.
5 "The Worlds Greatest Neighbor"

FF pays for a lot of lobbyists, PR firms, museums, newspaper supplements and academic positions.

And since we really have to get rid of fossil fuel, misinformation and greenwashing is often their only option. Don't fall for it. Image

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More from @AukeHoekstra

May 11
Well meaning but misguided EV activists like this make me very tired sometimes:

The German Tesla factory is attacked because it's not perfect.

No, nothing is!

But you should make a COMPARISON with combustion cars or other EV factories.
Very quickly:

1) "It makes no sense to charge EVs in coal heavy Germany".

This is nonsense: 4x less emissions over lifetime. See my pinned thread. And many cars of a factory are for export.

2) "They kill the forest!" It's low quality production forest compensated elsewhere.
The only things this accomplishes as far as I can see:

More emissions because less EVs.

Less jobs in Germany and more in China.

I also feel it's entitled ("not in my backyard") and childish (acting out against Musk?).

This is not how we save the planet.
Read 6 tweets
May 6
Someone just alerted me to this @guardian article from January about a *big 5 yearly UN report!* on material extraction.

The @guardian singles out cobalt and electric vehicles.
But look at this graph from the report!
WTF is going on here?

I must do a 🧵
theguardian.com/environment/20…
Image
I have a love-hate relationship with the @guardian.
😍
I recently contributed to an impeccably researched series.
😡
Last year they did a hit piece on EVs, again using the material use angle, that cited figures a 1000x too large!
As usual the @guardian refuses to link to the original report, but it can be found here:

The article uses the attached pick of a cobalt mine in Congo to set the scene🤔

And it complains EVs use 10x more critical raw materials than ICE cars 🤬 wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.…
Image
Read 8 tweets
Apr 30
Solar PV is growing exponentially at the fastest rate of any energy source in history.

BUT we should stop comparing it to other energy technologies using WATT. (So the picture below from @renew_economy is doing it wrong!)

We should compare in WATT-HOUR!
reneweconomy.com.au/solar-is-now-b…
Image
Put differently: we should take the CAPACITY FACTOR into account.

For example: imagine we install 1 kilowatt-peak of solar (that's 2 or 3 solar panels).

How much kWh per hour will that produce on average?

If 1 kW produces 0.25 kWh/h on average,
the capacity factor is 25%.
And that means, we have to install 2 kW of solar to achieve the same as 1 kW of coal and up to 4 kW to achieve the same as nuclear.

In Europe, offshore wind can have a capacity factor of up to 50% and PV can be as low as 10%.
stout.com/en/insights/co…
Image
Read 4 tweets
Apr 13
The European Union just came out with an official report:
REAL-WORLD emissions versus the new WLTP cycle.

The results are
*UNBELIEVABLE!!*

PHEVs emit on average
THREE AND A HALF TIMES MORE
than the official test claims!
climate-energy.eea.europa.eu/topics/transpo…
Image
Remember my complaints about @Toyota's misinformation claiming PHEV's are better than full EV's because they need smaller batteries?

Well, @Toyota actually scores WORSE than average with a gap of OVER FOUR TIMES the official value.

(Although their cars are more frugal.) Image
Researchers know since 2012 or so that EU tests are bollox and only useful as an illustration of "regulatory capture".

In my texts explaining how to calculate CO2 emissions I refer to it as "Error 4" (of 6).


sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
researchgate.net/publication/37…
Image
Read 10 tweets
Apr 12
GEOTHERMAL
Just saw a fascinating webinar and you should too if geothermal interests you.


It explains how techniques from fracking are creating a game-changer in the last few years that can reduce the cost of energy systems without fossil fuels.

🧵
Image
The webinar by prof. Roland Horne from @Stanford is about Enhanced Geothermal Systems or EGS that he defines as using fracking to make the area between the infusion and extraction well permeable for water. Image
He focuses on @fervoenergy, a company founded by two @Stanford alumni (one from his program) that has for the first time in history used the horizontal boring technique from fracking in geothermal.
Image
Image
Read 12 tweets
Apr 5
OVERsupply for lithium batteries is looming!

It will bring battery prices down, helping the transition to EVs and clean energy, but create headaches for the lithium industry

Let me give some perspective, showing the long term trend is clear and e.g. @Toyota should be ashamed
🧵
This eviscerates the last credibility of @Toyota regarding EVs.

They (esp. Gill Pratt) have been pushing the story we should buy their hybrids instead of full EVs because lithium batteries are and will stay the bottleneck

BNEF shows that's simply untrue
The energy transition is the largest project in the history of humanity. OFF COURSE there will be some hickups when developing new industries.

But we should stop freaking out anytime some false doom prophet provides clickbait to push their agenda.
Read 10 tweets

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