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from the job-of-the-future-solar-panel-washer dept.
Most new wind and solar projects will be cheaper than coal, report finds:
Almost two-thirds of wind and solar projects built globally last year will be able to generate cheaper electricity than even the world's cheapest new coal plants, according to a report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena).
The agency found that the falling cost of new windfarms and solar panels meant 62% of new renewable energy projects could undercut the cost of up to 800 gigawatts (GW) worth of coal plants, or almost enough to supply the UK's electricity needs 10 times over.
Solar power costs fell by 16% last year, according to the report, while the cost of onshore wind dropped 13% and offshore wind by 9%.
In less than a decade the cost of large-scale solar power has fallen by more than 85% while onshore wind has fallen almost 56% and offshore wind has declined by almost 48%. Francesco La Camera, Irena's director general, said the agency's latest research proved the world was "far beyond the tipping point of coal".
He said: "Today renewables are the cheapest source of power. Renewables present countries tied to coal with an economically attractive phase-out agenda that ensures they meet growing energy demand, while saving costs, adding jobs, boosting growth and meeting climate ambition."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 25 2021, @07:48PM (1 child)
I'm confused, is "child labor is used for mining" and argument against moving away from coal?
Or are you saying that coal mines don't use child labor only those OTHER mines do.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday June 25 2021, @07:54PM
Child labor was a serious problem from the earliest days of industrialization. In the past ~300 years, laws have been passed in the industrialized "first world" to eliminate both child labor and slave labor.
Today, mining takes place in more third-world countries, where such laws don't exist. But, environmentalists and human rights advocates pretend not to notice those details. We must make the changes that the environmentalists want, and if a few million children and slaves are exploited along the way, well, so be it.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.