2021-03-26 12:00:00
U.S. SOLAR COSTS WILL DOWN
REUTERS - MARCH 25, 2021 - The Biden administration on Thursday set a goal to cut the cost of solar energy by 60% over the next decade as part of an ambitious plan to decarbonize the United States’ power sector by 2035.
The U.S. Department of Energy said the goal accelerates its previous utility-scale solar cost target by five years. For the U.S. power grid to run entirely on clean energy within 15 years, a key pillar of President Joe Biden’s climate change agenda, solar energy will need to be installed as much as five times faster than it is today, DOE said.
To get there, the agency committed to spending $128 million on technologies including perovskite solar cells, which are regarded as a promising cheap alternative to the silicon cells that dominate the market. Funds will also support research on cadmium telluride and concentrating solar technologies.
Part of the funding will also seek to extend the lifetime of existing photovoltaic solar plants by improving components like inverters, cables and racks.
“This first burst of funding will help us add even more affordable clean energy to the grid, jobs to communities across the country, and will put us on the fast track toward President Biden’s goal of 100% clean electricity by 2035,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a statement.
The cost of generating power from the sun has dropped more than 80% in the last decade, making it competitive with plants powered by fossil fuels like coal and natural gas. Solar energy now accounts for the largest share of annual new generating capacity in the United States, according to government data.
DOE has set ambitious targets for solar in the past. In 2017, the agency said the cost had hit its goal three years ahead of schedule due to a drop in the cost of solar panels tied to expanded production in China.
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Earlier:
2021, March, 19, 12:45:00
U.S. ZERO EMISSIONS RISKS
Modelling Princeton conducted on the path to a net-zero future showed not much, if any, increase in gas-fired generation capacity starting now, with small increases in some areas to manage reliability needs from rapid coal retirements offset by retirements of older gas plants in other areas.
2021, February, 9, 15:25:00
U.S. RENEWABLES WILL DOUBLE
the share of renewables in the U.S. electricity generation mix will increase from 21% in 2020 to 42% in 2050.
2021, January, 27, 13:55:00
U.S. CO2 EMISSIONS WILL UP
Economic growth and the lessening of pandemic-related restrictions result in more energy consumption and associated CO2 emissions. EIA expects total energy-related CO2 emissions to increase to 4.8 billion metric tons in 2021 and 4.9 billion metric tons in 2022.
2021, January, 26, 12:10:00
U.S. ENERGY TRANSITION STRATEGY
Some of the country's largest energy customers, including Amazon, Facebook, General Motors, McDonald's, PepsiCo, Target and Walmart have called on the federal government to implement "strong and specific national policies" to accelerate the transition to a zero-carbon dioxide emissions power sector
2021, January, 21, 14:10:00
U.S. NUCLEAR DEVELOPMENT
The U.S. nuclear energy industry pulled out some big wins in 2020,
2021, January, 19, 13:45:00
U.S. FOSSIL FUEL WILL UP
U.S. production of all fossil fuels—crude oil, coal, dry natural gas, and natural gas plant liquids (NGPL)—to increase in 2022, but forecast fossil fuel production will remain lower than the 2019 peak.
