For me it is that renewable energy is now cheaper than fossil fuels, which really gives me hope for the climate. And the James Webb space telescope successful launch because I love space.

16 comments

  1. Well the successful vaccine rollout, for the most part. Even if it did take longer in most of the EU than it should have done and even if half of people in former Communist countries still refuse to take it. And it’s also paved the way for a malaria vaccine.

    Also the landing of Perseverance on Mars and the first drone flight on Mars.

    Trump left office (mostly) peacefully and democracy was restored in Bolivia.

  4. Off the top of my head:

    * The re-awakening of the trade-union and the birth of the anti-work movements in the US; hopefully this will result in the growth of a proper worker’s movement over there

    * The many defeats inflicted upon liberals by Progressive candidates and parties across the globe, particularly in South America

    * The further alienation of the working class from many social democratic parties in the west, hopefully finally allowing many western countries to see a resurgent Leftist political direction

    * The general lesson of the pandemic, that state intervention in the economy and such aren’t as bad as liberal ideology in the last 50 years soon have dictated

    * The sentencing of the liberal politican who violated human rights in Denmark

    * The large backing autonomous strikes saw in Denmark following the social democratic attack on the nurses in the summer

    * The victory of the worlds largest strike in India, against PM Modi’s liberal market reforms

    * And many other progressive victories against liberals and conservatives across the globe

  6. I’m going to be the bearer of bad news but LCOE (which I assume you refer to) does not include storage. To compensate for the intermittency of renewables a lot of countries are building gas power plants…

  7. Not sure if it counts but The Great Resignation news from the US was something I see as positive. I hope it will lead to better wages and more unionization in the US.

    The fall of our “holier than though” chancellor Sebastian Kurz definitely sparked some schadenfreude in me although it doesn’t change much in our politics – the conservatives still lead the government.

    The new government in Germany makes me hope for more leftist policies in Europe. Their plan to legalize weed is a step in the right direction IMO. (Not a smoker but I think legalization makes much more sense than criminalization.)

  10. Some wins in the Dutch government agreement:
    1: 2 new nuclear reactors.
    2: college will become free.
    3: primary school teachers will make the same as high school teachers.

  11. * Companies are much less reluctant to teleworking. → Less people on the commute. → Less mineral oil consumption. → U.S. global energy dominance strategy foiled. → we all get richer
    * People do their vacations at home instead of overseas due to Covid restrictions. → Less air travel. → Less mineral oil consumption. → U.S. global energy dominance strategy foiled. → we all get richer
    * Nord Stream II pipeline completed. → Less dependency on mineral oil. → U.S. global energy dominance strategy foiled. → we all get richer
    * The U.S. botched their Afghanistan adventure → future U.S. military interventions unlikely to gain support in Europe → open proxy war in Ukraine unlikely → peace in Europe → we all get richer

  13. This is going to be very political but oh well.

    From a European perspective:

    – EV sales in Europe practically [exploded in 2020](https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/coal/012021-europe-overtakes-china-in-ev-sales-growth-in-2020) and even though China probably sold more again in 2021, Europe is now a real competitor. Both are expected to have sold more than 2.5 million EVs in 2021.

    – Even better, the batteries (including the technology) are actually [home made](https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/europe-could-face-overcapacity-e-car-battery-production) with the entire supply chain (chips, rare earths) becoming less dependent on Asia thanks to the current shortages but also thanks to investment in the last 5 years. In 2021 I think battery production in Europe met our own demand for the first time ever. That’s actually pretty cool imo.

    – Europe became the [second largest source of unicorns](https://www.trendingtopics.eu/e100-billion-will-bring-almost-100-new-unicorns-to-europe-in-2021/) (startups valued at least $1bln) in 2021 after the US (loooong way to go lol) but ahead of China. The UK did a lot of heavy lifting this year (fintech boom) but many European/EU countries grew their unicorns by more than 100% including some you wouldn’t expect like Spain. Doesn’t really have a direct impact on my life but it’s nice to know that all of these “Europe is doomed, left behind, lost the tech race to Asia” articles all the time are mostly clickbait..

    – lots of national good news (in my opinion): Italy pushed a lot of important and long overdue reforms thanks to Draghi, Germany’s new government could finally be more cooperative on fiscal reform in the eurozone, elections in the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Bulgaria etc made me cautiously optimistic, my own corrupt chancellor (Austria, Kurz) finally had to resign, as someone who opposes Brexit, it’s nice to see gains for Labour in the UK and pressure increasing on Boris after a bunch of scandals…

    ……………………

    From a global perspective:

    – the [US rejoined](https://www.npr.org/2021/02/19/969387323/u-s-officially-rejoins-paris-agreement-on-climate-change) the Paris climate agreement

    – China [eliminated Malaria](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/30/world/asia/china-malaria.html) this year

    – we might get a [global minimum corporate tax](https://www.reuters.com/business/g20-leaders-endorse-global-minimum-corporate-tax-deal-2023-start-2021-10-30/) by 2023

    – India’s fertility rate dropped [below replacement levels](https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/india-fertilitaty-rate-declines-replacement-level-meaning-nfhs-survey-1880894-2021-11-25) for the first time in 2021 and way sooner than expected by the UN – which is a bit of foreshadowing on the global fertility rate (2.4 at the moment) and the chances of global population growth to finally stabilize

  14. I am an optimist, 2021 is not over yet, I am still waiting. I am hoping any moment, there will be a good breaking news.

  15. – Record-breaking EV sales in Europe, with the EU increasing it’s lead over US and European companies growing to become behemoths in the BEV landscape (and not just among passenger cars, but Trucks (Volvo, Daimler, Scania) and Buses (Solaris, Daimler again) as well).
    – There have been several very positive developments in the European space sector, with several private companies securing additional funding and/or completing critical tests (e.g. Rocket Factory Augsburg), PLD Space emerging from an extremely troubled 2020 with the assembled Miura 1, THEMIS running its first ground tests, to record-breaking success of the 2021 astronaut recruitment (record-breaking in every measurable way). 2022 will be *the* year of space with the start of Ariane 6, Vega C, Miura, RFA and several other new, key things to happen. From non-European news, it’s worth to mention Tiangong, Chinese Space Station making it to orbit. This is the first time we have two modular space stations in orbit, though the assembly off additional modules will only happen in 2022.
    – Europe leads the world in the % of the vaccinated population among regions, as well as being the highest donor of the vaccines
    – Europe finally starts to realize that the nuclear powerplant help avert the global warming. Though that’s with mixed results given the latest news from Germany and Belgium.
    – 2021 marked a Year of Rail in the EU, with several huge rail projects being undertaken, some bits on the passenger rail [here](https://europa.eu/year-of-rail/news/new-action-plan-boosting-long-distance-and-cross-border-passenger-rail-2021-12-14_en).
    – Athens appointed Chief Heat Official – it’s not good that there’s a need for it, but it’s great that the need was recognised and people have someone dedicated to help with the effects of the global warming.
    – Belgium started the process of [returning stolen art to DR Congo](https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/belgium-begins-long-road-returning-looted-congolese-art-works-2021-07-06/)
    – Russians largely retreated from the border of Ukraine, so… no second wave, yay!

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