University of León
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Lecturer in the Electrical Engineering Department of the School of Mining Engineering of the University of León
Full Professor in the Electrical Engineering Department at the University of León, in the Electrical Engineering, Systems, and Automation Department, and researcher at the Institute for Research and Innovation in Engineering (I4)
Lecturer in the Department of Engineering and Agricultural Sciences at the University of León
Science magazine has chosen “the seemingly unstoppable growth of renewable energy” as the most notable scientific advance of 2025. The journal highlights that this year was the first in which solar and wind energy surpassed fossil fuel-based energy in certain areas. In this transition, Science highlights the role of China, which now dominates global production of solar panels, wind turbines, and lithium batteries, and has managed to make renewable energy technology cheaper. Among the obstacles, the magazine cites the continued widespread use of coal and political resistance in countries such as the United States.
Climate change has made the hot, dry and windy weather conditions that spread fires across the Iberian Peninsula 40 times more frequent and 30% more intense than in the pre-industrial climate, according to a rapid study by World Weather Attribution. The ten-day heatwave was also 200 times more likely and 3°C hotter due to climate change. The study, which analysed weather observations rather than climate models, warns that fires in Europe are overwhelming firefighting resources and highlights the importance of controlling vegetation in affected areas.
A US team has analyzed the evolution of the global population exposed to forest fires between 2002 and 2021. The study indicates that the number of people exposed has increased by 40%, despite a 26% reduction in the area burned. This is mainly due to the increase in the population living in urban-forest interfaces. 85% of exposures occurred in Africa, even though forest fire disasters in North America, Europe, and Oceania have received most of the attention, notes the study, which is published in the journal Science.
The power outage that occurred after midday on Monday has left millions of people in the Iberian peninsula and some parts of southern France without electricity. According to Red Eléctrica, at 11:15 (peninsular time) on Tuesday, the peninsular electricity system was back to normal. ‘After surpassing the morning peak demand at 8:35 am with 28,677 MW, the night peak is expected at 21:10 pm with 31,200 MW’, they indicate.