news
Summary
- The cost of renewable energy sources like wind and solar drastically dropped, with solar power becoming cheaper than fossil fuels.
- Global renewable capacity quadrupled from 2010 to 2019, with solar capacity rising 26-fold.
- The shift towards renewable energy sources is not just cost-effective but also a significant economic benefit.
- Clean energy has transitioned from being much more expensive to cheaper than fossil fuels, making climate policy stronger.
In 2010, a major climate change law passed by the House died in the Senate, but 12 years later, a major climate law passed both Houses. In the meantime, there had been a revolution in energy economics. If cellphone prices had dropped as fast since 2010 as the cost of power from solar panels, you could buy a new iPhone for about thirty bucks today.
I’ll unpack the numbers, but this graph from Penn State tells the story. Even if you don’t much care for graphs, I guarantee that this one is worth a look.
As you can see from the graph, the price changes were spectacular. Here’s what my research turned up. Numbers vary a bit from source to source, depending on how just how they did the calculations. But the overall picture is consistent.
Read the full post at Legal Planet.
