You got the power!

Welcome back to The Strawman, the daily climate newsletter that’s like the only friend you trust with the aux. We’re dropping bangers baby.

Today we’re digging deep - everyone knows renewable energy is critical in the path to getting to net zero, but what everyone misses is making the energy is just part of the solution.

Let’s dive in.

Movement matters

We use electricity for everything - but we don’t really spend all that much time thinking about how it gets from A to B.

Sure it starts at some production site (a nuclear plant, a coal-powered station, a wind turbine or whatever) and ends at our house where we use it to charge electric toothbrushes and whatever else, but what happens in the middle?

That’s where The Grid comes in.

Most of us have heard about The Grid - but just because we know it’s name, doesn’t mean we know it’s story.

See The Grid does a lot, and usually doesn’t get the credit it deserves. Nearly all the electricity that goes to nearly all homes in most countries around the world does so through a localised version of The Grid.

But what is it actually?

Simply put, The Grid is a bunch of wires and electric equipment held together with duct tape and prayers. After electricity gets generated, it’s put up to a super high voltage (to minimise losses) and sent on long distance transmission lines. Once it’s close to where it needs to be, local networks “step-down” the electricity to make it usable in your home.

All in a day’s work for The Grid.

The Grid’s all locked up

Now we get the idea - if electricity was a car, The Grid is the motorway. Thing is, now we have all these new renewable projects trying to get onto the motorway but it’s harder than driving 5 miles during rush hour.

With all the focus on building out renewables, almost all countries have consistently under-invested in The Grid. What that means is endless delays for projects that could otherwise drastically change the mix of our energy consumption.

In the UK, Spain, and Italy, over 150 GW of wind and solar projects are stuck in grid connection queues. In the U.S., grid connection requests grew by 40% in 2022.

The Grid has gone under the radar for too long - but now its time to shine has come.

We’ll see you tomorrow,

The Strawman