In Europe, wind and solar overtake fossil fuels

Scope of “Overtaking Fossils”

• Many point out the article is about electricity generation only, not total energy use.
• Electricity is ~20–25% of EU energy; oil for transport and gas for heating still dominate overall.
• Several commenters stress that this is still a big milestone, since electricity is the easiest sector to decarbonize and underpins further electrification.

Prices, Competitiveness, and Inequality

• EU household and industrial electricity prices are often much higher than in the US; some link this to CO₂ pricing, Russia’s gas cutoff, grid bottlenecks, and design of power markets (marginal gas setting price).
• Concerns that high prices are pushing energy‑intensive industry (especially chemicals) out of Europe, while China combines cheap power and looser regulation.
• Others argue much of the pain is from fossil fuel dependence itself (gas price spikes, Russian leverage), not from renewables.

Rooftop Solar: Economics, Policy, and Fairness

• Strong enthusiasm from Canada and Australia: generous grants/loans, cheap panels, and short payback times; daytime power sometimes free or even negatively priced.
• US rooftop solar is described as “criminally” expensive due to soft costs (permitting, marketing, interconnection) and tariffs on Chinese panels; California’s net‑metering cuts are contentious but seen by some as correcting a regressive cost shift to non‑solar customers.
• Debate over rooftop vs utility‑scale solar: rooftops aid local capacity and resilience but are costlier per watt; some say subsidies skew toward wealthier homeowners unless paired with social design (e.g., renter access, fixed grid fees).

Grid Integration, Storage, and the “80–90% Problem”

• Intermittency and seasonality remain core worries, especially multi‑day winter “dark doldrums” in northern Europe.
• Batteries are already shaving evening peaks and displacing gas peakers in places like Australia and parts of Europe; sodium‑ion and other chemistries could drive costs down further.
• Long‑duration storage options (hydrogen, synthetic fuels, thermal “Carnot” or sand batteries, pumped hydro) are widely discussed, with disagreement over economics and timing.
• Some argue the real need is flexible, continent‑scale grids (HVDC, interconnectors) plus demand shifting, not “baseload” as traditionally framed.

Transport, Heating, and Remaining Fossil Demand

• Electrification of cars (EVs) and heating (heat pumps, district heating) is seen as the next frontier; heat pumps are expanding rapidly in some countries and can be 3–5× more efficient than combustion.
• Several note that as heating and transport move to electricity, total demand will rise, potentially shrinking renewables’ percentage unless build‑out continues aggressively.

Nuclear, Policy Choices, and Geopolitics

• German nuclear phase‑out is heavily debated: critics call it a strategic blunder that increased gas dependence; defenders note it had broad political support after Chernobyl/Fukushima.
• Nuclear backers emphasize firm, low‑carbon power; skeptics cite high capex, delays, overruns, waste, accident risk, and poor economics versus ever‑cheaper wind+solar+storage.
• Russia’s war and gas weaponization are widely seen as accelerants for European renewables and energy autonomy.
• Some warn about over‑reliance on Chinese manufacturing (panels, batteries, turbines), while others see Chinese scale as what made cheap solar possible at all.

Politics, Media, and Oil Influence

• Multiple comments describe fossil‑fuel interests (domestic and foreign) shaping policy and media narratives, especially in the US, to slow renewables and protect oil & gas.
• US partisan divides are highlighted: one side more aligned with subsidizing and deregulating fossil fuels, the other more supportive of renewables, though both operate within heavily lobbied systems.

Overall Sentiment

• Optimists see Europe’s numbers as evidence of an accelerating S‑curve: renewables now cheapest, scaling fast, and already displacing coal and much gas without economic collapse.
• Skeptics focus on high European bills, industrial stress, and the unsolved last 10–20% of decarbonization.
• Broad agreement that progress is real and rapid, but long‑duration storage, heating, transport, and industrial processes remain the hard part.