Owing to the increasing stress on exhaustible resources, alternate sources of energy are getting more popular and innovative breakthroughs are under progress. Scientists and researchers are experimenting and brainstorming relentlessly to reduce our dependence on these depleting resources like coal and fossil fuels for our energy needs. There has been a significant shift in the energy consumption through solar and wind energies.
It is estimated that renewable sources of energy have the potential of costing less than conventional sources. The International Renewable Agency (Irena) has declared that 2/3 of the solar and wind power plants built all around the world in the past year will produce electricity cheaper than the modern coal plan projects. It was reported that the solar power costs were cut by 16% in the last year and 13% in wind power costs. If we talk about the reduction in costs, in the long run, the solar power costs have experienced a decline by approximately 85%, and the wind power costs have dropped by 56% onshore and 48% offshore.
These statistics depict prospects for an affordable and sustainable future in the energy sector. Reduced dependence on coal for power will also lead to less pollution and less stress on natural resources. If the governments were to remove coal plants with that of solar and wind, 32.3 billion dollars could be saved every year in energy and 3 gigatons of carbon dioxide emission could be evaded as well. This is almost equivalent to eradicating 9% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions.
The optimistic results and conclusions drawn by this report have shown a prospective path for the world to shift to renewable sources of energy. This will not only lift the burden on exhaustible resources but provide cheap and clean alternatives of energy that are more environmentally friendly.
