From Mike Hudema’s tweet on Ikea’s investment in renewables to Sammy Roth’s tweet on the importance of decolonisation, leading data and analytics company GlobalData lists ten of the most popular tweets on wind in December 2019, based on data from the company’s Influencer Platform.

1. Mike Hudema’s tweet on investment in renewable power by Ikea

Mike Hudema, a climate campaigner, shared a video by the World Economic Forum on Ikea’s plans to generate more energy than consume it by the end of the year. The influencer further tweeted that Ikea installed one million solar panels to power its stores and warehouses. The furniture retailer also built 535 wind turbines in Europe and North America and has stakes in two solar parks in the US.

On 6 December, @MikeHudema tweeted: “Ikea put 1 million #solarpanels on their stores. They built 535 wind turbines. 2 #solar parks. They plan to be climate positive by 2030. We have the solutions, let’s implement them. #ActOnClimate #climate #energy #tech #climatestrike #GreenNewDeal@GretaThunberg,” which collected 1,073 likes and 2,846 retweets.

 2. Mark Jacobson’s tweet on Fukushima Prefecture turning into a wind and solar hub

Mark Jacobson, a professor at Stanford University, shared about Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture, which suffered a disastrous nuclear accident in 2011, turning into a wind and solar hub. The $2.7bn project will see the area transform its goals to include 40% of its electricity from renewables by 2020, two-thirds by 2030, and 100% by 2040.

On 12 December, @mzjacobson tweeted: “The Fukushima Prefecture’s goals now include sourcing 40% of its electricity from renewables by 2020, two-thirds by 2030, and 100% by 2040. Fukushima Reborn As Japan’s Wind And Solar Hub forbes.com/sites/energyin…@Forbes,” which attracted 256 likes and 155 retweets.

3. Erik Solheim’s tweet on Scotland’s wind turbines working at double capacity

Erik Solheim, a diplomat and former politician, shared a video by the World Economic Forum on Scotland producing enough wind energy to sustain all its homes. Achieving new wind energy records, the country was able to power approximately 4.4 million homes between January and June.

On 23 December, @ErikSolheim  tweeted: “Wind turbines in Scotland now generates almost twice the entire land’s domestic power requirements. Solutions are here – time we just do it!” which gained 431 likes and 200 retweets.

4. Kees Leun’s tweet on wind energy contributing 20% to Europe’s electricity

Kees van der Leun, the director of Navigant, tweeted on wind providing for nearly 20% of Europe’s electricity. The influencer further added that Denmark is the highest contributor with a 92% share, followed by Germany (63%), Ireland (63%), the UK (28%), and Sweden (27%).

On 8 December, @Sustainable2050 tweeted: “On Saturday, wind produced 20% of Europe’s electricity once more! Top-5 (share) Denmark 92% Germany 63% Ireland 63% UK 28% Sweden 27% Top-5 (production, in millions of kWh) Germany 842 UK 227 Sweden 104 Poland 102 France 94,” which saw 229 likes and 141 retweets.

5. Peter Gleick’s tweet on how wind-powered pumps in the Arctic may help combat climate change

Peter Gleick, a water and climate scientist, tweeted on how wind-powered pumps creating Arctic ice might help combat climate change, although a fictitious thought. The influencer shared an article by the American Geophysical Union to show how measures are being taken to combat global warming and sea ice retreat.

On 7 December, @PeterGleick tweeted: “Why is ten million wind-powered pumps magically creating ice in the Arctic more plausible than ten million 1 MW wind turbines in developing countries displacing a terawatt of climate-changing fossil-fuel burning power plants? https://twitter.com/theAGU/status/…,” which acquired 353 likes and 97 retweets.

6. Mike Shellenberger’s tweet on the UN insisting on renewables

Mike Shellenberger, an American author and policy writer, tweeted on why the UN is insisting on not digging and drilling and to focus on renewables. He further emphasised that harnessing solar energy would require 17 times more of the material and solar plants than nuclear energy. The building of wind and solar farms, as a result, would require 400-450 times the land than nuclear plants.

On 2 December, @ShellenbergerMD tweeted: “The idea that renewables will allow us to stop digging & drilling is ridiculous Solar needs 17 times more materials than nuclear & natural gas plants as back-up And solar & wind farms require 400 – 450 times more land than nuclear Yet UN insists it has to be renewables. Why? ,” which collected 243 likes and 117 retweets.

7. Brad Plumer’s tweet on renewables growing but carbon intensity being still sustaining

Brad Plumer, a New York Times climate reporter, tweeted on the stunning statistics showing carbon intensity still sustaining on the planet for 30 years. The influencer added that despite the efforts to reduce carbon emissions through wind and solar energy, the global energy still roughly appeared to be dirty.

On 4 December, @bradplumer tweeted: “I found this graph stunning. The carbon intensity of global energy is nearly the same as it was in 1990. It’s maybe getting a bit cleaner in recent years as wind and solar have been surging, but right now global energy is roughly as dirty, on average, as it was 30 years ago.,” which gained 144 likes and 90 retweets.

8. Glen Peters’ tweet on China playing a key role in low-carbon energy technologies

Glen Peters, research director at the Center for International Climate Research, Oslo, shared an article on China gradually rising to the status of becoming a low carbon leader. The article further stated that the nation produced two-thirds of the world’s solar panels and one-third of the global wind turbines.

On 7 December, @Sustainable2050 tweeted: “Is China a low carbon leader? Produces 2/3 of the world’s solar panels Producers 1/3 of world’s wind turbines Largest supplier of electric vehicles Producers 2/3 of world’s lithium-ion batteries China can drive down costs like no other country! science.sciencemag.org/content/366/64…,” which attracted 153 likes and 78 retweets.

9. Thomas Hillig’s tweet on innovation in renewables

Dr Thomas Hillig, creator of THEnergy, tweeted on innovations in renewables. He predicts that renewable energy will have multiple applications, but niche ones will become important. He also mentions that redeployability will be an important factor in achieving greater value and profits, with inflatable wind turbines being a near possibility.

On 16 December, @THEnergyNet tweeted: “There will still be many mainstream #renewableenergy applications. But niche applications will become more important. For example, redeployability will be a factor. Will we see inflatable #wind turbines in the future? What do you think? #innovation,” which saw 133 likes and 71 retweets.

10. Sammy Roth’s tweet on the importance of decolonisation

Sammy Roth, an energy reporter, shared an article on how nations are focused on utilising land for growing wind and solar energy, but ignoring that the land belongs to the indigenous people. He shared an interview with Estes, a professor and organiser of the indigenous resistance organisation, to convey technological and scientific progress in the face of problems associated with land acknowledgments.

On 28 December, @Sammy_Roth tweeted: “.@nick_w_estes: “The Red Deal says that if we’re going to imagine carbon-free economies and the end of fossil fuels, then we also have to talk about decolonization. How are we going to build wind turbines but not give the land back to Indigenous people?” logicmag.io/nature/water-is-life-nick-estes-on-indigenous-technologies/…,” which earnt 147 likes and 49 retweets.