Five New Energy Insights From 2021

The 5 biggest clean energy stories from 2021

Sarah Golden, December 16, 2021 (GreenBiz)

“…[T]he public and private sectors are spurring forward the great energy transition in meaningful ways…[But, one, past] performance is no indication of future grid stability…All signs point to weather getting more extreme…Power outages jumped 73 percent in the U.S. last year…As a result, communities and organizations are beginning to think about the value of resilience…During COP26, 40 world leaders signed onto an agreement to, two. decarbonize five high-carbon sectors: steel; transport; agriculture; hydrogen; and electricity. The countries represent more than 70 percent of the world’s economy…[And] industry is showing that [green steel produced using clean energy] is possible…

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Long-duration energy storage — defined as a system that can store energy for more than 10 hours — has been the Next Big Thing for about 20 years. But 2021 may, three, just have been the tipping point…[After the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Earthshot Initiative to drive down the costs of long-duration energy storage by 90 percent by 2030,] a tremendous amount of finance flowed to the sector, with funds backing new technologies and companies that have the potential to unlock the Holy Grail of deep decarbonization…As the clean energy procurement market matures, some corporate buyers are, four, looking beyond the number of megawatts to more holistic criteria when considering new energy deals…

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…[D]eals are increasingly taking into account land use and the full life cycle of materials used in clean energy technologies…[But, five,] supply chain disruptions have increased the cost of projects…As a result, some corporate buyers are waiting for costs to fall before engaging in new projects…[A] marginal increase in costs could derail important progress in the clean energy transition…” click here for more

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