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posted by mrpg on Saturday December 17 2016, @03:15PM   Printer-friendly
from the solar-wind dept.

A transformation is happening in global energy markets that's worth noting as 2016 comes to an end: Solar power, for the first time, is becoming the cheapest form of new electricity.

This has happened in isolated projects in the past: an especially competitive auction in the Middle East, for example, resulting in record-cheap solar costs. But now unsubsidized solar is beginning to outcompete coal and natural gas on a larger scale, and notably, new solar projects in emerging markets are costing less to build than wind projects, according to fresh data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

The chart below shows the average cost of new wind and solar from 58 emerging-market economies, including China, India, and Brazil. While solar was bound to fall below wind eventually, given its steeper price declines, few predicted it would happen this soon.
...
"Renewables are robustly entering the era of undercutting" fossil fuel prices, BNEF chairman Michael Liebreich said in a note to clients this week.

Will we see a sharp pivot in energy production, or a gradual tailing off of fossil fuels as renewables take hold?


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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 17 2016, @08:10PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 17 2016, @08:10PM (#442502)

    > Why is it the business of public policy whether the energy companies recoup their investments? If you decide to invest heavily in buggy whips right about the same time these new-fangled "automobiles" are being invented and perfected, you deserve to take a loss.

    It's the central tenet of the Too-big-to-fail ideology: capitalism for the poor (don't expect Uncle Sam holding your hand when your house gets foreclosed) and bailouts for the ultra rich when they lose at roulette with your money. Or in other words privatize profits and socialize losses.

    It's good to be a banker, if you win you win and if you lose you still win.

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