How a superpower of solar, wind and batteries could turn our lives upside down

The costs associated with solar photovoltaics, onshore wind power, and lithium-ion batteries have been decreasing for years. This, coupled with an increase in their capabilities, should trigger the abandonment of investment in expensive coal, gas, and nuclear power assets.

“The disruption of the conventional technologies is now inevitable, and...no new investment in coal, gas, or nuclear power generating assets is rational from this point forward.”

A RethinkX Sector Disruption Report, Adam Dorr & Tony Seba

“Conservation in the new system will mean maximizing rather than minimizing energy use, because it is not harmful to utilize electricity generated from sunshine and wind but rather it is harmful to let it go to waste.”

A RethinkX Sector Disruption Report, Adam Dorr & Tony Seba

In case studies that focused on the US states of California and Texas, it was found that the lowest cost 100% SWB system will produce more super power output than today’s total annual electricity demand. The cost of installing a 100% super power system in an area the size of the United States is $2 trillion over the course of the 2020s – just 1% of GDP – and would create support millions of new jobs during that time. This also applies to nearly all the overwhelming majority of other populated regions of the world.

Transforming to 100% SWB systems will not completely eliminate fossil fuels outside of the electric power sector, but generating this amount of super power could displace up to half of all fossil fuel energy use in sectors such as transportation, industry and agriculture outside of the existing electric power sector.

The findings of the report are clear: efforts to mitigate the world’s carbon footprint over the course of the next ten years will be led by regions who decide to invest in SWB systems.

Furthermore, the return on investment is not linear so regions may choose to make an additional investment to disproportionately increase the quantity of super power that their clean energy system produces. In countries with sunny climates, an additional 20% investment could double super power output, further enhancing the economic and social benefits that arise from energy superabundance.

The data-driven evidence presented by ReThinkX leaves no doubt that a cleaner, more powerful and cheaper way of generating electricity is possible within the next decade by embracing an energy revolution driven by solar, wind and battery systems.