Climate Progress Will Continue in the USA. Red States Can't Stop Themselves From Installing More Wind and Blue Cities & States Are Committed
I came across two interesting news stories today that illustrate why, despite the current president's best efforts, coal will keep dying and renewables will keep growing.
1. Places like Texas and Iowa will keep adding wind (and solar in TX) at an incredible clip because it is the cheapest option.
Cheaper than new coal plants, cheaper in places, than even natural gas. Remember, once built, solar and wind have no fuel cost.
Check this article explaining why wind and solar are putting a major hurt on coal in Texas and scaring the crap out of natural gas as well: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-06-20/texas-is-too-windy-and-sunny-for-old-energy-companies-to-make-money
If you weren't already aware, coal plants are closing like crazy and have been since about 2010. Many more closures are planned for the next 2-3 years and these are happening in places like Kentucky, Texas, Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, and North Dakota (aka Red States). In the past 15 years, coal dropped from generating half of our electricity to less than a third of it.
Note, this graph is already dated. As of the past few months, renewables (including large hydro) have overtaken nuclear and are producing over 20% of the electricity in the country.
2. Mayors, governors, CEOs, and other assorted leaders representing a large chunk of our population and economic output have pledged to uphold the Paris Agreement
...and do enough to keep the country as a whole on track to meet the obligations of the agreement. (Not to mention, the current president's action won't get the US out of the Paris Agreement until he is likely out of office, and other decision makers will have a say.)
Check my other article on how renewables now produce more electricity in the US than nuclear plants (and soon coal).
https://steemit.com/news/@johnniec/renewable-energy-now-provides-more-electricity-than-nuclear-in-the-us
Feel free to check out my other posts on science, photography, volunteer computing, sustainability, cryptocurrencies with a purpose, and travel. Here are some of my favorites:
Photography and Travel
Hawaii – Lava and Plants
Death to Snowballs!
End of the Road – Lava!
Sunset Over Mt. Tamalpais, California
Toque Macaques in Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka
Birds on San Francisco Bay – With GIFs
My Favorite Places to Backpack in the US
Why You Should Visit Arkansas: Mountains, Rivers, Public Diamond Mines & Great Food!
Sleepy Lizard
Sustainability and Climate
Renewable Energy Now Provides More Electricity Than Nuclear in the US
Using Algae for Wastewater Treatment and Biofuel Production
Why Climate Progress Will Continue in the USA.
Six Non-tree Things Paper Can be Made From (I promise these are interesting)
Drawdown - The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming
Science, Volunteer Computing, and Gridcoin
Let Your Computer Dream About Science While You Sleep (& Earn Cryptocurrency For Doing So!)
Steemit Writers, Science Needs Your Help! Get the word out on how any computer or Android can boost research on cancer, astrophysics, clean energy & more!
The Best Volunteer Computing Screensavers – Crowdsourcing Project
Scientists of Steemit! Tell us about your research on #Science!
BOINC – Impressive Accomplishments and Incredible Potential
Nice to see!
It didn't look good when Trump forced the US out of the Paris Agreement, so it's really nice to see these numbers you write about. That the states are so independent of the lands government is a weird thing 😆
Solar and Wind is indeed the future
And I hope they will do their best to make sure we go that way. New cool inventions in how to generate power from these sources are constantly evolving, and only the sky is the limit here.
I'm a huge fan of these vertical mills and liked them when they came
Unfortunately my yard where I live is to small and I don't own my house, otherwise I would install wind and solar in an instant.
As things get less pricy they will gain much more ground, and I think that's what we are seeing here now.
Great post with good info!
Thanks
@johnniec, One thing most people miss about solar is we are currently getting about 1% of our energy from it. The % doubles every 2 years, which means in 14 years, we could get 100% from it. That is the theory, but I do think in 10 year we will get at least 50% from solar, and 25% from other renewable.
Here is a new start up that looks very promising, if their claims are proven out, solar will explode in the next few years.
http://www.computerworld.com/article/3173166/sustainable-it/bill-nye-backed-startup-uses-particle-accelerator-to-make-solar-panels-60-cheaper.html
I have looked into solar for my home, and at $25k-$30k it is a bit too steep. But at $10k-$15k, I would do it. My electric bill each year is about $3k, so in 3-5 years it would pay for itself. Not too bad.
Look forward to reading more from you, I will follow.
Thanks for the comment John. I agree about solar's future going forward. Price declines and efficiency increases that are already in the pipeline will have a huge impact. Humans are notoriously poor at comprehending exponential growth. The next ten years are going to be hard for people who saw solar at 1% as non-threatening to fossil fuels. There are lots of ways to invest in solar and other renewables that are more affordable than putting solar on your own roof. You can lease, you can buy green bonds, join services like Arcadia power, purchase #solarcoin, get into neighborhood solar, power purchase agreements, etc.
Thank you for the info. I will look into Arcadie and solarcoin.