A common misconception about switching to renewable energy is that it is a rather expensive transition. Nevertheless, a recent Oxford study suggests that transitioning away from fossil fuels will actually save trillions across the globe. This is due to the significant decrease in clean energy costs, and these costs will only continue to decrease as the world scales up in green energy. "The faster we go, the more we will save," says lead author Dr. Rubert way, a postdoctoral researcher at Oxfords Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment.
The misconception of transitioning being expensive and tedious is based on previous outdated models. In fact, renewable energy has actually been trending downward for the last decade, and many forms of green energy are actually cheaper than fossil fuels. In 2019, costs continued to fall for solar and wind power technologies. Furthermore, in 2020, renewable energy prices hit a record low. The figure attached below shows the downward trend of solar and wind power technologies during 2019.
The recent invasion of Ukraine by Russia has severely inflated the price of fossil fuels around the world. Resultantly, the prices of green energy have also been inflated, but not as severely as fossil fuels. However, if we accelerate the transition to renewable energy by 2050, it is estimated that around 55% more energy services will be available globally than today through wind, solar, batteries, and electric vehicles. So the question is, why haven't we accelerated this transition?
Great post. I don't see the complete switch to renewable energy happening any time soon as many other challenges exist outside the cost of it. For one, it takes up too much space. I think nuclear energy will be implemented on a large scale before renewable energy is developed enough to be practical. With that said, improving renewable energy is incredibly necessary moving forward.
Something so obvious yet most of the time ignored; the benefits of renewable energy. If implemented into every aspect of our lives and ecosystem, renewable energy would renew the world. And while every research and analysis points towards this fact, people seem to not pivot to renewable energy because of its expenses. Just as you said, long term it is quite literally a life saver, both from an ecological standpoint and economic.
Great post! It's so frustrating that people think renewable energies cost too much or can't be profitable. Sustainable energy sources are often framed as the moral thing to do because of the environment, which they are, but that doesn't mean they're not also economically viable. I'm glad you mentioned the war in Ukraine too. I think a silver lining of the war is that it showed that dependence on fossil fuels is also a national security issue - I hope that the US becomes more interested in green energy because of that.