It's Inevitable

As Trump continues to hire people non-conversant with tech, here's some information that the all wise soon-to-be leader of the US might consider if he intends to deny the ever increasing cost reductions gained by using high tech to generate clean energy.

The best charts of 2016 reveal the clean energy revolution is unstoppable. At least, it is unstoppable globally.

But if the United States makes a historic blunder and shifts its focus back toward dirty energy just when the rest of the world has made a $50 trillion (or higher) commitment to a carbon-free future, then it won’t reap the vast job-creating benefits of the remarkable ongoing cost reductions shown in chart above.

Ironically (or tragically), the cost reductions described in the 2016 DOE report “Revolution…Now: The Future Arrives for Five Clean Energy Technologies” were made possible in part by DOE investments over many decades. Indeed, accelerated deployment driven by smart government policies around the world have created economies of scale and brought technologies down the learning curve faster than almost anyone expected.

These price drops have, in the past decade, led to an exponential explosion in clean energy installations globally.

Now, with Rick Perry having NO EXPERTISE in energy, one needs to ask the question: Why do you want the department you are to head, gone when DOE has done some pretty smart investments in making renewable energy a cost efficient enterprise. 

It gets better.

The master chartists at Bloomberg New Energy Finance said in their New Energy Outlook (NEO) from June, “The chart below is arguably the most important chart in energy markets. It describes a pattern so consistent, and so powerful, that industries set their clocks by it”:

CREDIT: BNEF

BNEF projects that by 2040, the world will invest an astonishing $3.4 trillion in solar alone — more than the projected cumulative investment for all new fossil fuels and new nuclear combined. Therefore, learning and cost drops will continue, meaning solar, wind and other technologies will become the cheapest ways to produce power in more and more places.

It's inevitable regarding the rise of renewables, the question to ask is, does the Donald understand this paradigm shift and does he know what it will mean for America if he ignores this emerging trend? 

No one knows, do one? - Fat Waller