Renewables (especially solar) & batteries are on an unstoppable path to global domination. The simple reason? Cost. Thanks to economies of scale, they are now the cheapest source of energy – and they still have far to go in getting even cheaper. By the early 2030's, they will be vastly cheaper than the alternatives.
The electrification of the economy that this is driving in China is on the scale of the 19th Industrial Revolution in Europe. What today is China, will tomorrow be the world. Many in the rest of the world seem caught in the tailspin. In particular, clinging to outdated narratives courtesy of the Fossil Fuel industry.
But that's a big mistake. From now on, the only way to credibly plan for and model the future is to talk about it as what it really will be – a place where renewables and batteries will provide almost all energy.
China is poised to displace petro-states as the leading global energy power this century. While the world's total installed electrical capacity is roughly 10 TW, China's solar industry alone can now produce 1 TW of panels annually.
byu/lughnasadh inFuturology
3 Comments
Petrostates will be severely hit by moving away from using fossil fuels for power generation but this is not all there is to them. There are many kinds of different uses for oil and gas products which will need to be severely reduced and replaced with alternatives where reduction were not to be possible – and that requires proping up whole new industries.
In order for us to simply *maintain* the current infrastructure and growth trajectory we will need to mine as much copper in the next decade as we have throughout human history. It’s an absolute fantasy. I’m not against it, it’s just not going to happen because the material reality says no.
Panels arent even the problem anymore.
The storage and installation is bulk of the cost.
You need power 24/7 in all seasons. Not just peak solar output.