Good morning, folks. Since I’m not a stable genius, I’m foolish enough to try to continue this weekly diary series. (I continue to invite contributions from others and additions in comments.)
First off, The Guardian finds Five Trends in Renewable Energy to watch in 2018:
- Renewable Energy Costs Will Continue to Fall. Solar costs have dropped 62% since 2009 and offshore wind costs have dropped in half “in recent years.” Subsidy free solar and wind farms are a thing and expect this to continue this year. Wind and solar are now cheaper than coal and oil and will only get more so. (My favorite 2 symbols of this reality: 1) Saudi Arabia uses solar power to operate some of its oil wells, now. 2) The Kentucky Coal Museum is solar powered.)
- China, the world’s biggest polluter, is the place moving fastest to renewables. That push to convert to solar, wind, and other renewables will continue and even increase in pace. This includes carbon pricing and 8 large scale carbon capture and storage projects. China also hopes to become the world’s leading manufacturer of electric cars.
- Corporations will make big commitments to renewable energy and green manufacturing. This is not only for “Green wash” PR. It’s also because corporations want to save money and most of them know that climate change is real and is a disruptive factor economically. Changing to renewable energy makes these corporations more stable, and more attractive to consumers, etc. See the article for some of the huge examples.
- The Renewables Industry(ies) will generate more jobs. Trump’s promised coal jobs are an illusion. But around the world, renewable energy jobs are showing the most growth, and are high-wage, too. Wind turbine service technician and solar photovoltaic installer are the 2 fastest growing jobs in the USA.
- Competition in the Battery Market will increase.
Great trends to start off the day on an optimistic note.
Now for a sobering note: The Hill notes that Trump is about to impose huge tariffs on imported solar panels. That’s going to hit the fast-growing solar industry like a body blow. So, state and local governments must lead in pro-renewables policies in the Trump era. The article outlines some of the leadership already being shown and calls for more.
Meanwhile, the world moves on in spite of Trump’s abdication of U. S. leadership. For instance, The African Development Bank achieved 100% investment in green energy projects in 2017.
As an example of the big commitments by corporations, including some that progressives usually view with suspicion, J. P. Morgan and Citigroup are pledging to be powered by 100% renewable energy by 2020. Hey, if even the evil bankers are on board, Trump cannot stop the green energy conversion from a carbon-based economy.
You know the President’s Climate Science Advisory Panel that Drumpf dissolved? Well, it has been reassembled away from political control, at Columbia University, where its research and publication for the public will continue.
Cheap renewables is also undercutting nuclear (fission) power generation. Considering the problems of nuclear waste, and of accidents like 3 Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukiyama, this is encouraging. But I hope the R & D on Nuclear Fusion continues, because we’re going to need it for the colonization of the solar system and beyond.
Anything I missed this week? Exciting things (or worrying ones) happening in your communities? Readers doing rooftop solar or buying an EV? My church is now solar powered. Give us the local news in the comments or gather them for a guest one of these weekly diaries.
If 2 insecure tin dictators don’t rain down “fire and fury” by checking out whose “button” is bigger, we may have a bright green future.