The rate of glacier melt worldwide is in line with the worst forecasts of climatologists, according to results released in January of the first study of the size of glaciers using satellite images. However, there is also a reason for optimism: technologies for reducing carbon emissions (decarbonization) are gradually becoming commonplace—first, renewable energy sources (RES) and wind energy stocks.
Two other news from the beginning of the year deserve attention: in China, the share of renewable energy in electricity generation in 2020 reached 25% (data from the National Energy Administration of the PRC), and in Europe it amounted to 38%, exceeding the share of fossil fuels for the first time (report by the British center Ember and the German Institute Agora Energiewende).
It is noteworthy that this process is less and less in need of coercion from above: “green” energy is simply more profitable than fossil energy.
Digitization of energy and ultra-high-capacity batteries, and the development of new ways of extracting and transporting energy – are the main segments of the emerging ClimateTech market. The largest corporations are investing, trying to meet the cutting-edge views and increase wind energy stocks.
Advances in photovoltaics (technologies for generating electricity from sunlight) and the development of wind turbines are beginning to bear fruit. During the 2010s, solar panels fell by 82%, wind turbines of various types – by 29–40%.
The average cost of solar electricity in the world market decreased by 13% annually, reaching $0.07 (about 5 rubles) per 1 kWh in 2019. Wind electricity, cheaper by 9% per year, costs $0.05–0.12 per 1 kWh at the end of the decade (data from the International Renewable Energy Agency).
According to the PwC forecast, the cost advantage of renewable energy over fossil fuel-based power generation will become apparent in the coming years. By 2030, solar energy will become more affordable by another 58%, wind energy by 25%.
In China, the world leader in generating solar energy, according to a 2019 report in the journal Nature Energy, a “solar” kilowatt-hour is already costing residents of the country (the study covered 344 cities) cheaper than bought through the grid.