Renewable Energy

The World Solar Challenge, celebrated biennially since 1987, saw teams from around the world set off from Darwin on a 3,000km race to Adelaide by solar-powered car. Belgian team Agoria took first place this year after Dutch rivals Vattenfall caught fire 250km from the finish line

Reasons to be cheerful include signs that a renewables revolution could soon end rising demand for fossil fuels

Oil has been a game-changer for humanity. It turbocharged more than a century of growth and destruction: people got bigger, went further, stayed warmer and lived longer. Oil powered travel, exploration, science, industry and innovation.

But it also powered conflict, both as a fuel and a potential spoil. It exacerbated inequality. And it polluted – oceans, rivers, wildernesses and, of course, the atmosphere.

Excellent article which captures so well the grit and stamina of this inspired group. Their collective achievement is massively inspiring in the climate of these troubled times ... Long live!

It is most stimulating to hear of trends towards reversing the manmade effects of climate change, albeit it must not be viewed as a replacement or reduction of pressure on the need to reduce emissions in any case. Ideally the best solution is not to pollute in the first place.

Love the emails. I think they would flow and read better if you didn’t underline the links in the text. Having them a different colour is enough, they don’t need to be underlined as well.

We don’t rely on colour alone for the important element like hyperlink on the website, as some users have difficulties to distinguish the differences between certain colours.

NunaX car of Dutch team catches fire 250km before finish of 3,000km Darwin to Adelaide race

The leading car in the World Solar Challenge has caught fire and withdrawn from the race a little more than 250km from the Adelaide finish.

The NunaX car of Dutch team Vattenfall caught fire just before Mambray Creek on Thursday.

With a very heavy heart we have to tell you that our @WorldSolarChlg is over. A first 'did not finish' for Nuna in 20 years.
Driver Tim is okay and got our of the vehicle in time.

Keep you updated. #BWSC19 pic.twitter.com/VgI5hbA6Ge

The team is devastated, our solarcar caught fire and we won't be finishing the @WorldSolarChlg. Currently managing the fires and figuring out what happened.#bwsc19 pic.twitter.com/jIN5dhW9Hv

Of the extra pumped hydro capacity promised by the project, less than half can be delivered

The federal government’s much-vaunted Snowy Hydro expansion is supposed to smooth out the bumps in electricity supply as Australia transitions to renewables. But not only is the project a bad deal for taxpayers, our analysis suggests it will deliver a fraction of the energy benefits promised.

Fossil-fuel power generators store coal or gas at the point of production. This means electricity can mostly be created on demand when homes and businesses need it. The most commonly used sources of renewable energy, solar PV panels and wind turbines, cannot do this. If wind or sun is not abundant, they may not produce enough electricity to meet demand. At other times they might produce more than required.

Related: Australia's tortured energy debate: what's the state of play?

Related: Centennial Coal massively increased emissions from two mines with no penalty

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Related: Labor learned ‘all the wrong lessons’ from election defeat, Richard Di Natale says

Individual action alone won’t solve the climate crisis. So what political changes might help?

• Renewables may see off oil firms decades earlier than they think

Individual actions, such as flying less or buying electric cars, are helpful, but they will be futile without collective political action to slash emissions on a corporate, national and global scale. Politicians need to feel this is a priority for the electorate. That means keeping the subject high on the agenda for MPs with questions, protests, emails, social media posts, lobbying by NGOs and most of all through voting choices. Politicians need to know the public is behind them if they are to take on the petrochemical industry.

The Guardian has collaborated with leading scientists and NGOs to expose, with exclusive data, investigations and analysis, the fossil fuel companies that are perpetuating the climate crisis – some of which have accelerated their extraction of coal, oil and gas even as the devastating impact on the planet and humanity was becoming clear.