One Simple Chart Shows Why An Energy Revolution Is Coming - And Who Is Likely To Come Out On Top

[NeoGreen]

http://www.iflscience.com/environment/one-simple-chart-shows-why-an-energy-revolution-is-coming-and-who-is-likely-to-come-out-on-top/

One Simple Chart Shows Why An Energy Revolution Is Coming - And Who Is Likely To Come Out On Top
The cost of producing solar power is rapidly declining: it now costs $50 to produce one megawatt-hour of solar power, according to a new analysis.

Coal, on the other hand, costs $102 per megawatt-hour to produce.

This recent change could be a sign that the world is on the verge of an energy revolution.

The cost of solar power is decreasing so rapidly, it's now cheaper than coal, based on a new analysis.

A recent report from Lazard shows how the costs of producing electricity from various sources are changing. Energy from utility-scale solar plants — plants that produce electricity that feeds into the grid — has seen the biggest price drop: an 86% decrease since 2009.

The cost of producing one megawatt-hour of electricity — a standard way to measure electricity production — is now around $50 for solar power, according to Lazard's math. The cost of producing one megawatt-hour of electricity from coal, by comparison, is $102 — more than double the cost of solar.

Cross-posted from Quixote1818's post in GD:
https://upload.democraticunderground.com/100210610481

[zipplewrath]

1. That's not the revolution

All I see is a shift in how electrical energy is produced. The revolution I sense is the need for vastly larger power sources. The energy consumption in the world is increasing, and the need for ever more powerful, compact, and portable energy is emerging. When you look at many of the technologies we dream about, most of them will demand lots of portable energy.

[jpak]

2. Nucular is becoming too cheap to meter!!!11111

[NNadir]

3. Well, maybe in bourgeois fantasy land. The atmosphere, which hasn't continuously lied...

...about Godot's "energy revolution," the revolution that never comes, has a far different representation of what is happening:



We're at 410 ppm, and still we have bourgeois brats talking about what's "cheap."

When you need two systems to do what one can do, and you pretend that the other system doesn't matter, this specious argument can seem serious.

However, if one were to have a brain, and recognize that the "other system" is gas for the rich, and coal for the poor, it's less impressive.

Of course, the people who keep carrying on about "cost" are as bad at economics as they are at science and math, so these happy dances are unsurprising.