Will the Transition to Renewables Be Fast or Slow? [View All]

[kristopher]

Will the Transition to Renewables Be Fast or Slow?
Yes, solar is a miniscule part of the energy budget, but history shows market shares can shift rapidly.


The technology is dangerous, expensive and hard to find.

That was the conclusion of a panel convened by the U.S. Navy in the 1850s to determine whether the fleet should switch from boats powered by sails to ones that run on coal, according to Ray Mabus, the current Secretary of the Navy. Nonetheless, the switch took place, and in a few years' time, coal ruled the seas.

In the 1890s, a new generation of experts argued that a switch from coal to oil would be cost-prohibitive. Think of all that money spent on coaling stations! And in the 1950s, the critics once griped that nuclear-powered ships and submarines were an impractical fantasy. Now, all of the Navy’s carriers and submarines run on nuclear power.

Can the world rapidly jump when it comes to solar, wind or alternative fuels? Energy technology, from a day-to-day perspective, seems to move at a snail’s pace, particularly when compared to things like TVs or electronics. Back in the late '80s, only billionaires had cell phones and they were the size of small shoeboxes. Twenty years later, the cellular industry can brag about having billions of subscribers worldwide.

Over that same time 25-year span...

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/will-the-transition-to-renewables-be-fast-or-slow/


See also this article, it shows that Italy has installed enough solar in the last 20 months to nearly equal the output of 2 nuclear power plants.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/kristopher/743