Three Trends That Shake Up the Energy Industry

The energy industry is estimated to be valued at around $6 trillion currently, with gas, and coal still being included.  But this is all set to change over the next two decades with the introduction of solar, battery and electric vehicles.  Will gas and coal disappear completely?

Solar Power:  The boom in solar power use is no real surprise as there as is much energy needed to supply the whole globe for one year in just 88 minutes of the Sun hitting the Earth’s surface.  In less than five days there is enough energy provided by the sun that is equivalent to all oil, coal, and gas reserves on the planet.  With the cost of solar now falling at less than both the coal and gas industries, it makes sense to make the switch to solar.  Chile has just set a new solar record with a really low price of just $0.0291 per kWh, which is more that 50 percent less than the cost of natural gas from a new plant.

Battery Power:  Another area that is due to make a big difference in the energy industry is battery power.  While solar energy is a fantastic source of energy, it’s limited to the day, hence the increase in the need for batteries.  The cost of lithium batteries is constantly decreasing while their capacity increases.  If Tesla’s Gigafactory is as successful as it’s predicted to be then the price of electricity storage could drop even further to an astonishing $0.11 per kWh.  Other developments in the energy storage world include flow batteries, compressed air storage, and Time-of-Use Arbitrage.

Electric Vehicles:  Electric vehicles have taken off massively over the past six years, and they’re only going to get more popular over the next 6.  In 2010 there were only two electric vehicle models on offer; now there are more than 25.  With their popularity will come a fall in prices, and estimates show that by 2030 electric vehicles, with a range of over 200 miles per charge, will be cheaper than another car that sold in the U.S. in 2015.  Tesla has already secured 400,000 pre-orders for the new Model 3 that is due to be released in 2017 and Ford are investing $4.5 billion in electric cars and are looking to add 13 electric and hybrid cars to it ranges by 2020.

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