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Pick Your Power

May 12, 2019

What do wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and hydro power all have in common? You're right - they're all forms of renewable energy. Better than that, taken together they all put the kibosh on coal-produced energy this past April. Expectations are that they'll do the same thing in May. Best of all, this is the first time that's ever happened, and it won't be the last. According to Dennis Wamsted, of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), "Five years ago this never would have been close to happening. The transition that's going on in the electric sector in the United States has been phenomenal."

Renewable forms of energy are expected to enjoy sporadic dominance over coal during the rest of 2019 and 2020.The IEEFA is a non-profit organization that supports the transition to renewable energy.  Their analysis indicates that renewables will surpass the roughly 2000 to 2200 thousand megawatt hours per day generated by coal in the coming years. Be aware, however, that spring is generally the best time of the year for renewable energy. Demand for energy to run air conditioners and furnaces is low, with many coal plants going offline for maintenance. In addition, spring runoff causes hydropower to be at its most abundant. Renewables aren't expected to dominate coal on an annual basis for years.

That being said, coal is in decline. Natural gas now produces 35 percent of the nation's electricity, compared with coal's 27 percent. Which brings us to what might be the most surprising part of the story: wind and solar surpassed coal production for the first quarter of 2019 in, of all places, Texas. There are nearly 300 renewable energy projects on the books in that state, inevitably leading to greater renewable electricity production. And Texas isn't the only one! Many states are investing in clean energy, while Hawaii, California, New Mexico and others are aggressively pursuing carbon-free energy programs.

That's not all. Michael Grunwald at Politico reports that enormous, cheap lithium-ion batteries can be used to make green energy available on demand. This will make clean energy of interest to conventional energy companies. Dennis Wamsted tells us, "[Just] as natural gas achieved earlier, renewable generation is catching up to coal, and faster than forecast." Unfortunately, carbon emissions were still on the increase in the United States last year, by 3.4 percent, because of the transportation sector. Electric vehicles, anyone?

With thanks to PeakProsperity and Smithsonian.com.

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