Renewables To Surpass Coal By 2021

Based on existing trends, sources of eco-friendly energy should go beyond energy produced by coal in the United States by the end of 2021.

A current CNN article explains on this inevitable transition. CNNs info was stemmed from the Institute of Energy Economic and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).

Its not an excellent time to be in the coal business.

Image credit: Annette Gibbs

Not long back, coal reigned supreme in Texas. Much so that wind now accounts for 22 percent of the states energy requirements, while coal presently provides 21 percent.

To shed light on how quickly this shift is occurring, its notable that coal really supplied the country with half of its energy requires in between 2000 and 2010. Natural gas changed coal as the most pre-owned energy source in 2016. While the natural gas boom was happening, sustainable energy started to experience major growth.

Case in point is the fact that Murray Energy, the biggest private coal mining business in the U.S., declared insolvency just last month. Likewise, Navajo Generation Station, the biggest coal plant in the West, simply shut down for good. The pace and size of coal plants being shut down is something hard to overlook. This enormous shift is happening at a rate that is unexpected to many in the energy market.

Whats the underlying inspiration here? Economics, of course. The cost of solar energy and wind power are economically extremely attractive. Otherwise, this energy shift would not be taking place almost as rapidly as we are witnessing.

PJ Deschenes, a partner at Greentech Capital Advisors, (a financial investment bank with expertise on clean energy) had this to say about this energy transition– “The next piece of the energy shift is extremely close at hand. Coal is coming offline as fast or much faster than anticipated.”

Coals impending demise is primarily due to competing energy sources, particularly, natural gas. However, wind and solar power have grown at fast rates making the role of natural gas as being a “bridge fuel.” Aging coal plants and pressure from ecological concerns are speeding up the death of coal plants throughout the nation.

Of course, a huge part of the renewable resource story should include energy storage. When the wind isnt blowing and the sun isnt shining, trustworthy and enough energy storage systems must be in location for. Fortunately is that costs for energy storage are falling rapidly too.

In fact, it is expected that the countrys use of coal will fall from 28 percent in 2018 to 22 percent in 2020. The “crossover” year is predicted to take place by 2021, according to Dennis Wamsted, expert at the IEEFA. He anticipates sources of renewable resource to surpass coal, at the really newest, by 2022.

It will not be a lot longer before wind and solar power are the brand-new kings of energy production!

Coals impending demise is mostly due to contending energy sources, namely, natural gas. To shed light on how quickly this transition is occurring, its noteworthy that coal actually provided the country with half of its energy requires in between 2000 and 2010. Natural gas replaced coal as the most pre-owned energy source in 2016. Much so that wind now accounts for 22 percent of the states energy needs, while coal presently supplies 21 percent.

Of course, a major part of the eco-friendly energy story must consist of energy storage.