Renewable energy is unstoppable

by Giles Parkinson of RenewEconomy

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lmost everywhere, and from nearly every corner, we hear the refrain: The solar revolution is coming and it is unstoppable.

There is now general agreement – from analysts, researchers, the industry, market pundits – that energy markets are being transformed, and half our power needs will be self-generated within a few decades.

Unstoppable thought this force may well be, it seems it can certainly be slowed. And recent Australian pricing decisions suggest that the incumbents are doing their level best to make hay, not so much while the sun still shines, but while policy and pricing regulators are happy to keep moving the goal posts to protect revenue streams.

The forecasts seem emphatic. The Australian Energy Market Operator predicts that rooftop solar will amount to 25,000MW by 2025. Bloomberg New Energy Finance predicts 37,000MW by 2040. Investment banking giant UBS suggested, in one “dream” scenario, solar could provide half the world’s power needs by 2050.

Read the Giles Parkinson story - “Solar revolution can’t be stopped, but it can be slowed”.