And, given his track record, perhaps we should take the conclusion seriously-the man who most accurately predicted our current clean power boom back in 2005 says we could see 100 percent clean energy by midcentury.
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The full 364-page report is available here (PDF), but there are some key takeaways that are worth pointing out here.
The Energy [R]evolution scenario calls for an incremental phase-out of fossil fuels at the same time as the renewable increase.
Interestingly, numerous developed countries across the globe are using lesser energy in spite of decent overall growth in their economies. However, Greenpeace still believes a “fundamental shift in the way we consume and generate energy must begin immediately and be well underway before 2020 in order to avert the worst impacts of climate change”.
In 2014, 19% of the electricity in Britain was generated using renewable energy which is 5% higher than 2013. In the report entitled Energy [R]evolution 2015, there will be 100% renewable energy, absolutely no greenhouse emissions, phased out nuclear energy, and fewer quests for new oil in the Arctic and deep sea. In the beginning, the report, which mines market research to predict clean energy industry trends, may have read to an outsider like an activists’ wishful dreaming.
“The worldwide transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy is under way …” according to the Earth Policy Institute’s new book, The Great Transition. “It is not just technically and economically possible to make the transition to 100 percent renewables within one generation, it is a must-do to save our climate”. This is done by combining different types of solar cell materials together as a single unit, which will convert more of the incoming sunlight to electricity, including the infrared waves produced by the sun, even on cloudy days. However, this is offset when you consider the already-visible increasing costs of conventional fuels.
In both the Energy [R]evolution and Advanced scenarios wind power is the largest source of electricity globally by 2050, supplying about 30% and 32% respectively. “It is very likely that they will overtake the coal industry in terms of jobs and energy supplied within the next decade”, Teske says.
“For a long time the government and the fossil fuel industry have peddled the argument that renewables can’t keep the lights on if the wind’s not blowing. Governments need to manage the dismantling of the fossil fuel industry which is moving rapidly into irrelevance”. Wind energy is also substantially cheaper now compared to its price only ten years ago.
Although resolving the issue of carbon dioxide emissions from the energy industry alone would not suffice to solve climate change, it remains the biggest challenge of all and is therefore wont to be the primary focus of countries meeting at the Paris summit.
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In 2007, the state goal mandated a goal of generating at least 1,250 megawatts of electricity through renewable resources, which state officials expect to meet by the end of this year. However, while that is a phenomenal figure, Greenpeace is quick to remind that the savings in a non-fuel renewable energy future is around $1.07 trillion a year. We intend to offer a wide variety of replacement and new construction lights that will enable Renewable Energy and Power, Inc., to be an important part of this market. “What is needed now is the political will to enact the appropriate policies and fiscal and regulatory measures to implement them fully”.
