New Energy’s Low Cost Is Taking The Market

What’s Behind the World’s Biggest Climate Victory? Capitalism

Lynn Doan, Brian Eckhouse, Christopher Cannon and Hannah Recht, September 15, 2019 (Bloomberg News)

“…In 2010, coal] supplied nearly half of America’s power…This April, for the first time ever, renewable energy supplied more power to America’s grid than coal…In two-thirds of the world, they’ve become the cheapest forms of power…[and] will power half the globe by 2050…By that time, coal and nuclear will have all but disappeared in the U.S., forced out by cheaper renewables and natural gas…[It is] the biggest victory yet in the fight against global warming. Solar and wind are proliferating not because of moral do-gooders but because they’re now the most profitable part of the power business in most of the world…[And electricity generation is no longer] the world’s biggest source of greenhouse-gas emissions…

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…[Since 2016, U.S.] power plants have given off less carbon dioxide than the nation’s transportation sector, where oil continues to dominate. The turnabout owes a lot to cheap and cleaner-burning natural gas, but wind and solar farms are playing an increasingly important role…[Transportation, manufacturing, agriculture and heating and cooling homes and businesses will now] need to match the sweeping technological advances and more efficient manufacturing that have slashed the costs of solar and wind power…In a sign of where things are headed, solar installers and wind technicians are the two fastest-growing professions in the U.S. Solar now employs more people than any other power source. Wind supports almost as many jobs as gas…[and natural] gas is increasingly coming under attack…[but could temporarily replace coal] as the fuel of last resort…” click here for more

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