2017 showed global clean energy revolution is unstoppable, no matter what Trump does

Workers examining solar panels in a rural landscape (Source: RenewEconomy)

RenewEconomy reproduced this article with the above title from ThinkProgress by Joe Romm with permission. It is well worth reading the whole article which references data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) and other good sources, but here is a brief summary:

The price of installing and building new renewable energy is now cheaper than just running old coal and nuclear plants.

“Solar remains the most amazing story. Solar panel prices plunged by a shocking 26 percent in the last year - despite having already dropped 80 percent in price in the previous 10 years and 99 percent since the late 1970s.”

Similarly, the price of wind energy has dropped almost as much. More importantly, the price of building offshore wind dropped by 28% in a year making this more reliable and convenient wind energy source very competitive.

“The battery revolution is another incredible story, one that will speed the renewable energy transition while enabling the rapid switch to electric cars. Battery pack prices have dropped 75 percent since 2010 alone ....... and BNEF projects they will drop another 75 percent by 2030.”

Read more at: 2017 showed global clean energy revolution is unstoppable, no matter what Trump does. RenewEconomy, December 15, 2017.
Also see: This is how coal dies: super cheap renewables plus battery storage, also by Joe Romm from ThinkProgress via RenewEconomy.