Nick Cunningham writes—
Could $12 Trillion Trigger A Renewables Revolution?
After years of anticipation, the renewable energy revolution is finally here.
Solar energy is poised to become the dominant player in electricity markets worldwide moving forward, capturing a large share of the expected $12 trillion in investment between now and 2040, according to a new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Geographically speaking, the vast majority of the $12 trillion in investment will take place in the Asia-Pacific region, driven, as usual, by India and China. [...]
The report details the revolution that is just starting to get underway. By the middle of the next decade, utility-scale solar power will be competitive in most places around the world. The cost of solar has fallen by 75 percent since 2009, but costs are still going down. Over the next two and a half decades, not only will solar outcompete new fossil fuel plants – natural gas and coal – but solar will also start to edge out existing fossil fuel power plants.
That is significant because when the sunk costs of older natural gas and coal-fired power plants are taken into account, the cost of running the plants tend to be low. But in the years ahead solar will be even cheaper than that.
Moreover, it won’t just be utility-scale solar, which tends to offer cheaper power generation. The future of solar growth will take place in the residential rooftop segment. As energy storage becomes cheaper and more accessible—thanks to innovations like Tesla’s home battery pack—decentralized solar becomes not only viable, but the preferred option. In 2040, decentralized rooftop solar will be the cheapest form of electricity in “every major economy,” even cheaper than grid power, according to BNEF. Individuals generating their own power on their rooftops, with battery storage for use at night, will become the norm.
Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2003—Rumsfeld: 'really, we will find something!'
It's good that the press continues to ask about the lack of WMDs. It's comical hearing administration officials say, "give us time."
U.S. forces have not found any biological or chemical weapons in Iraq, and some Democratic presidential candidates have raised the WMD issue to criticize the current Republican administration.
"It's now less than eight weeks since the end of major combat in Iraq and I believe that patience will prove to be a virtue," Rumsfeld said.
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Of course, patience was not a virtue for the UN weapons inspectors. But this classic Rummy moment takes the cake:
[Rumsfeld] said no one had contended that Iraq had nuclear weapons. |
Granted, no one claimed Saddam had them. They claimed, repeatedly, that Saddam was on the verge of developing nukes. A technical distinction akin to "depends on what the definition of 'is' is."
Tweet of the Day
On
today's Kagro in the Morning show, it's the 6/25/14 episode.
Greg Dworkin and
Joan McCarter join us to round up the stories of the day. NC's Outer Banks are largely doomed, but the real estate industry wants to pretend it's not so. Primary elections wrapped up in MS, NY & elsewhere. Crappy-looking GDP numbers give everyone a scare, but there's a twist. NN14 is coming up fast! A federal court finds due process fault with the "no-fly list." The Detroit water crisis. More filibuster follies. Speaking of which, it's the 1 year anniversary of Wendy Davis' Texas filibuster, and her campaign's looking for supporters' help in marking it. SCOTUS decides on cell phone searches. And one BIG GunFAIL.
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