Until we hear that wind and solar power to generate electricity will be adequate 24/7 without $trillions spent on unfathomably large quantities of batteries, other cost discussions – while obviously important – are of secondary interest. But big numbers may fool some folk.
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Yesterday, the Green media was getting extremely excited about a new paper, which claimed that renewable energy was going to save society millions and billions and trillions of pounds by 2050 (or something like that), writes Andrew Montford.
Ten trillion pounds by 2050 said the BBC.
As readers here know, I keep a close eye on the cost of renewables, and have published papers on both offshoreand onshorewind, showing that the financial accounts of operators in both sectors show no sign of significant cost reductions.
It’s not just me either: my findings closely match those of the energy economist, Professor Gordon Hughes, the energy analyst Kathryn Porter, and an important paper in the peer reviewed literature.