Happy Monday š
Welcome back to another week of The Grumpy Optimists, your positive climate newsletter.
A few fun updates from the week: I finally put my foraging lessons into practice and found some incredible gorse flowers in Hampstead Heath. Yes, I was extremely excited to discover I could eat wild plants and not die.
Iāll also be at the fantastic Sustainability in Drinks event on Tuesday the 21st in London. If youāre looking for a ticket, email me at george [at] zevero.earth and Iāll get you in.
Now, letās dig into the weekly recap of positive climate news.
š News to make you feel good this week
š What if we treated COā like smoking? Charlie Cotton drew a sharp comparison between cutting smoking rates and cutting emissions. Policy, pricing, and public pressure made cigarettes socially unacceptable, yet fossil fuels still enjoy subsidies, advertising freedom, and little regulation. If the UK made smoking taboo in a generation, the same mix of taxes, bans, and campaigns could make COā fall just as fast.
š My thoughts: We already know how to change behaviour at scale. We just havenāt applied it to carbon yet.
š Artificial reef built beneath UK wind farm. One of the worldās largest artificial reefs has been installed at the Rampion Offshore Wind Farm off Sussex. Made of 75,000 low-carbon āreef cubesā, the structure protects turbine bases while creating new marine habitats. The project will be monitored over five years to track biodiversity gains.
ā” The mega-battery boom changing how we power the world. Grid-scale batteries are transforming energy systems. After Californiaās 2020 blackouts, battery storage has tripled to 13 GW, cutting gas use and keeping the lights on. Global capacity is set to grow tenfold by 2035 as costs fall and new tech speeds up deployment.
Batteries now charge when power is cheap and discharge at peak times, making electricity more stable and affordable. In sunbelt regions like India, Mexico, and southern Europe, where sunshine is consistent, this could cut clean power costs by up to 50% compared with fossil systems.
š My thoughts? Iāve worked with breweries a lot in the past 5 years and it led me to think of a rough similarity between brewing and silos. Batteries are doing for electricity what silos did for grain, stabilising abundance and minimising risk of supply issues. The faster policy catches up with technology, the sooner fossil backup becomes obsolete.
š¤ While the US kills solar, China builds it on the roof of the world. The Trump administration has scrapped Esmeralda 7, a Nevada solar complex that could have powered two million homes.
At the same time, China has completed a 162-square-mile solar park on the Tibetan Plateau, where sunlight makes power 40% cheaper than coal. One country cancels progress; the other builds it.
š My thoughts: Ending an industry that powers 7% of the US and employs 370,000 people because the President thinks it ādoesnāt work if the sun doesnāt come outā isnāt policy, itās stupidity, but then again, whoās really surprised?
š„ The worldās biggest industrial heat battery is live. Rondo Energy has switched on a 100 MWh heat battery in California, delivering 24-hour industrial steam powered entirely by solar. The system stores heat at over 1000 Ā°C with 97% efficiency, proving factories can ditch gas for cheaper, zero-carbon energy.
š Spain expands marine protection by 17,000 kmĀ². Spain has declared five new marine protected areas and one seabird sanctuary, adding 17,000 kmĀ² to its waters. The move brings protection to 22.45% of its seas, edging closer to the 25% goal for 2025 and safeguarding biodiversity hotspots like the Mallorca Channel and Alboran Sea.
š„ Minor Figures brews up a regenerative first. Minor Figures has launched a barista oat milk made with regeneratively grown oats from Wildfarmed. Their work restoring soil and biodiversity is phenomenal, and theyāre also Zevero customers. You can now get a regen pastry and coffee for breakfast. Whatās next?
āŗļø Because I liked itā¦
I watched a great video from Lewis of Newel of Knowledge this weekend about how closing loops, ticking off tasks and moving forwards is important to reclaim your energy and quite frankly, get sh*t done.
It made me think about why I write this blog. Why I want to bring positive news to people. The goal was simple: share good climate news and build optimism.
The world is not a climate utopia, but we can still move it that way.
Five years and 142 editions later, I still do not know what the tower looks like, but I am enjoying building it.
This optimism applies to both my life and to the way we can see the future of the planet.
*P.S. I am dreadful at closing the loop, but Iām proud Iām able to carry on building.
This weekās music recommendation is Tame Impalaās new album - all timer of a band.
Have a great week everyone and I hope your Monday is better than mine with a wisdom tooth removal š.
George, the Grumpy Optimist š