2007: Did We Reach the Tipping Point? (Renewable Energy)

[jpak]

http://www.renewableaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=51033

At the beginning of each year, as the renewable energy industry looks back on its progress over the previous 12 months, the phrase "tipping point" always seems to enter the discussion. But how will we know when renewables have truly hit that tipping point?

Will one quarter of the world's electricity come from renewable resources? Will more investment go into clean energy than into the fossil energy industries? There's no agreed upon standard for how to define a turning tide, but one thing is certain: 2007 clearly proved that there is a major change underway in how the world produces and consumes energy.

"If 2007 isn't the tipping point, we are close to that," says Janet Sawin, Director of the Energy and Climate Change program at the Worldwatch Institute in Washington, DC. "This has been a truly remarkable year, and we're seeing impressive development figures worldwide."

According to a REN21 2007 Renewables Global Status Report due out in February, there are now 237 gigawatts (GW) of electrical generation capacity from renewable resources online around the world.

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[bullimiami]

1. i think tripling the price of oil really makes alternatives economically viable.

i guess in a way we can thank bush/cheney for hastening the renewable era.

[Barrett808]

2. LOL! That's making lemonade from lemons

:toast:

[bullimiami]

3. i think its more like imagining lemonade from a pile of pits.

:toast:

right back to you.