The Way Humans Get Electricity Is About to Change Forever

[kristopher]

These six shifts will transform markets over the next 25 years

The renewable-energy boom is here. Trillions of dollars will be invested over the next 25 years, driving some of the most profound changes yet in how humans get their electricity. That's according to a new forecast by Bloomberg New Energy Finance that plots out global power markets to 20401.

Here are six massive shifts coming soon to power markets near you:

1. Solar Prices Keep Crashing
The price of solar power will continue to fall, until it becomes the cheapest form of power in a rapidly expanding number of national markets. By 2026, utility-scale solar will be competitive for the majority of the world, according to BNEF. The lifetime cost of a photovoltaic solar-power plant will drop by almost half over the next 25 years, even as the prices of fossil fuels creep higher.

Solar power will eventually get so cheap that it will outcompete new fossil-fuel plants and even start to supplant some existing coal and gas plants, potentially stranding billions in fossil-fuel infrastructure. The industrial age was built on coal. The next 25 years will be the end of its dominance.

2. Solar Billions Become Solar Trillions
With solar power so cheap, investments will surge. Expect $3.7 trillion in solar investments between now and 2040, according to BNEF...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-23/the-way-humans-get-electricity-is-about-to-change-forever

My opinion is that they are still underestimating the changes we can expect to see in our energy systems...

[daleanime]

1. kick, kick, kick....

Hope so, lots of work ahead.

[GliderGuider]

2. Cool! Let's see what the next 25 years bring.

How good will your crystal ball turn out to be?

[Sherman A1]

3. Yes,

[FBaggins]

4. They had BETTER be underestimating the changes...

...

6. The Climate Is Still Screwed

Even with all of those predicted changes (including $1.3 Trillion invested in nuclear power that somehow missed this summary) - they expect CO2 from power generation in 2040 to be 13% higher than today.

[GliderGuider]

5. Odd that the last point you mention was omitted from the OP.

Not.

[OKIsItJustMe]

7. Thanks for following the link…

I confess, I was too lazy to. I filled in the blanks myself.

[kristopher]

8. As do others, they predict nuclear declines from 6% global electric to 4%.

It is too expensive to matter.

[bvar22]

6. We lived on Solar Power for 3 years. (750 watt array on a house boat)

It taught us to be Power Misers.

The only drawback is the storage. we used 12 RV Batteries along the keel of the boat,
but I always worried about them.
WE would on Solar today if we didn't have to bring 1/2 ton of extremely toxic materials to our place
to store the electricity...and our Rural Grid has no Sell Back capacity.