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UN says booming solar, wind and other green energy hits global tipping point for even lower costs
And the world passes by our banana republic.
https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-solar-wind-power-fossil-fuels-6aca4846e594ea8405f91edda39a03ad
NEW YORK (AP) — The global switch to renewable energy has passed a “positive tipping point” where solar and wind power will become even cheaper and more widespread, according to two United Nations reports released Tuesday, describing a bright spot amid otherwise gloomy progress to curb climate change.
Last year, 74% of the growth in electricity generated worldwide was from wind, solar and other green sources, according to the U.N.’s multiagency report, called Seizing the Moment of Opportunity. It found that 92.5% of all new electricity capacity added to the grid worldwide in that time period came from renewables. Meanwhile, sales of electric vehicles are up from 500,000 in 2015 to more than 17 million in 2024.
The three cheapest electricity sources globally last year were onshore wind, solar panels and new hydropower, according to an energy cost report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Solar power now is 41% cheaper and wind power is 53% cheaper globally than the lowest-cost fossil fuel, the reports said. Fossil fuels, which are the chief cause of climate change, include coal, oil and natural gas.
“The fossil fuel age is flailing and failing,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in Tuesday morning speech unveiling the reports. “We are in the dawn of a new energy era. An era where cheap, clean, abundant energy powers a world rich in economic opportunity. Just follow the money,” Guterres said, quoting the reports that showed last year there was $2 trillion in investment in green energy, which is about $800 billion more than in fossil fuels.
Last year, 74% of the growth in electricity generated worldwide was from wind, solar and other green sources, according to the U.N.’s multiagency report, called Seizing the Moment of Opportunity. It found that 92.5% of all new electricity capacity added to the grid worldwide in that time period came from renewables. Meanwhile, sales of electric vehicles are up from 500,000 in 2015 to more than 17 million in 2024.
The three cheapest electricity sources globally last year were onshore wind, solar panels and new hydropower, according to an energy cost report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Solar power now is 41% cheaper and wind power is 53% cheaper globally than the lowest-cost fossil fuel, the reports said. Fossil fuels, which are the chief cause of climate change, include coal, oil and natural gas.
“The fossil fuel age is flailing and failing,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in Tuesday morning speech unveiling the reports. “We are in the dawn of a new energy era. An era where cheap, clean, abundant energy powers a world rich in economic opportunity. Just follow the money,” Guterres said, quoting the reports that showed last year there was $2 trillion in investment in green energy, which is about $800 billion more than in fossil fuels.
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Last edited Mon Aug 11, 2025, 06:30 AM - Edit history (1)
Solar and wind are trivial forms of energy that have done absolutely zero, zilch, nothing to address extreme global heating.
The price tag is over 5 trillion dollars in the last decade for stuff that will last 20 to 25 years before needing replacement.
IEA overview, Energy Investments.
Global Investment in the Energy Transition Exceeded $2 Trillion for the First Time in 2024, According to BloombergNEF Report
There has been no effect on the accumulation of the dangerous fossil fuel waste carbon dioxide because access to this shit requires access to dangerous fossil fuels.
Trends in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Mauna Loa CO2 Observatory.
In Europe, this winter, during the Dunkelflaute event, electricity prices surged to absurd levels and Europe was almost out of gas to burn.
Cold without wind: German ‘dunkelflaute’ brings electricity prices to crisis levels and depletes gas reserves
Subtitle:
German consumers will pay almost €400 per megawatt hour on Thursday, the highest figure since the end of 2022
The lie that so called "renewable energy" is "cheap" is based dishonestly on the cost of electricity when the sun is shining and the wind is blowing. However, in economic terms, the LCOE (Levelized Cost of Energy) by which the so called "renewable energy" fraud measures itself, should be replaced by LFSCOE, (Levelized Full System Costs of Energy)
Critiques of LCOE are not scarce. Joskow is one of the first to point out that LCOE ignore the costs associated with intermittency [3]. It is easy to see the fundamental misunderstanding in LCOE: The LCOE describe the costs of generating electricity. However, the function of supply in electricity markets is not to generate electricity but to provide a specified amount of electricity to a specific place at a particular time. The locational aspect adds significant additional costs to renewables that are generally less flexible about where they can be sited than fossil fuel plants. As a result, a larger grid is required to transport the electricity from, e.g., hydropower plants to the demand in urban areas. These transmission costs are partly taken care of in some LCOE estimates when a transmission cost adder is included in the LCOE. But the timing aspect turns out to be even more crucial and the focus of this paper. Many renewables (like wind and solar) are intermittent and non-dispatchable (hereafter referred to just as “intermittent” unless further specified), and some that are not intermittent (like run-of-river-hydro) are often not fully dispatchable.2 As long as the share of intermittent generation is low, sufficient dispatchable generation capacity will usually be available to step in and replace missing intermittent generation output. Economically, the fact that intermittent generation has no obligation to meet the demand can be seen as a hidden subsidy. One can even go one step further and argue that intermittent generation is of zero value if it cannot be made available to consumers who demand a steady electricity flow.
In fact, investors in so called "renewable energy" can only recover their investment when electricity prices are low, and while so reliable plants, which require continuous O&M costs, are unable to sell their product, meaning that reliable electricity costs more.
The fondness for so called "renewable energy" is a disaster, an unfortunate lie we tell ourselves that has left the planet in flames. The scale of delusion is typical of these times, where dishonesty has become more popular than truth. These are harbingers of societal collapse.
The planet is burning, and still we repeat the same tiresome bullshit. So called "renewable energy" is lipstick on the fossil fuel pig.
Who are we kidding besides ourselves?
History will not forgive us nor should it.