Solar power became inexpensive. So why don't we make use of it more?
Natural gas prices dropped throughout that period too, however, by a lesser amount--32 percent--due to the current fracking boom, rather than a long-term trend such as renewable energy sources, as per the report. In the last 10 years, the cost of developing coal plants has remained essentially constant.
The source of the cheap price
According to the paper, affordable solar panel installation mesa Az is because of processes referred to in the field of learning curves or good cycles. The cost of harnessing the sun's electricity was at one time so expensive that it was only utilized to power satellites.
The current energy mix
The energy mix of the world has been altered as a result of low prices for renewable energy. Renewable energy comprised 72 percent of all new capacity for energy in the year 2019 and the world's capacity of renewable energy has more than tripled in the last 20 years.
Renewable energy has also been increasing across the United States. In 2007, wind accounted for just 1percent of the total capacity for energy and solar accounted for more than half of the capacity, while coal made up half. While estimates for 2020 are still preliminary but it's likely that the total output from renewables (including wind and solar, along with other sources, like hydropower and biomass) will be higher than coal and account for roughly a fifth of total energy generation.
According to an energy expert from the Union of Concerned Scientists, "2020 is going to be the best year in the history of new wind installations throughout the US and the best year for solar installations."
From 2001 to the year 2019 the area chart showing the fluctuating energy percentage across the United States was created.
Despite price reductions even though renewable energy is still responsible for a small percentage of our total energy usage. But, these changes do not suffice to cut greenhouse gas emissions to the pace required to reduce the worst impacts on climate change.
While coal plants have been closing across the country Fracking has inundated the market with inexpensive fossil gas. In spite of the fact, this plentiful and cheap fuel creates as much as 60 percent less carbon dioxide when burning than coal nonetheless causes climate change, particularly through methane leaks that emanate from its installations. Oil still accounts for an important portion of the harmful emissions due to its use in trucks and automobiles. Transport is the only industry that emits the most carbon dioxide of any other business in the nation.
Delays in the process of transitioning to a green economy
Renewable energy sources haven't replaced fossil fuels at the pace you'd imagine, despite huge cost savings. This is because the energy industry's investment, policies and infrastructure are heavily biased toward fossil fuels.
This is particularly true for the monopolies controlled by state law that supply power in roughly half of US states. These investor-owned utilities are assured that they will earn a certain amount of money on their investments in power plants and thus ensure that they will continue to earn cash in exchange for operating the plants. Even if the actual market prices of their energy sources make their operations extremely expensive, these monopolies have been set up in such a way that this isn't an issue.
There are existing fossil fuel plants that we've already constructed In most cases producing an additional unit of power from existing infrastructure is less costly than developing new infrastructure. Because we've already paid for this fossil fuel infrastructure right up front, the economics don't necessarily align to allow for the speedy gradual elimination of fossil fuel plants prior to the expiration of their useful lives.
Contracts for long-term services between utility companies, energy producers, and mining companies have resulted in an enormous amount of inertia in the system as well as the fact that it's currently heavily engaged in fossil fuels. There's little incentive to build more renewable power plants because the total demand for energy in the United States doesn't increase much each year.
Other than market forces and monopolies there are a few other obvious obstacles to the widespread adoption to renewable sources of energy.
The sun and the wind don't constantly constant during the day or throughout the year and the most suitable areas to power sources don't always have an abundance of people. Fewer people live in the windiest areas of the country and are usually in the interior regions such as those of the Great Plains, than in large coastal cities. Batteries and water can store energy, and better transmission networks are possible to be built and therefore the challenges of intermittently and geography aren't insurmountable. But, significant investment will be required in order to develop and create the necessary infrastructure.
Making the switch to renewable energy
Renewable energy and it is now affordable price could be finally getting their chance amid the pandemic's very high levels of unemployment along with low-interest rates. The United States, the federal government have a significant contribution to these efforts. It is able to borrow money at low-interest rates and use the benefit to help states and local governments with energy transition projects.
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