Global funding for solar power will outpace oil production in 2023

[Alfonso Maruccia]

In context: The renewable energy revolution is coming faster than many people believe. According to the latest report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), an important milestone for the energy transition process will be set by the end of 2023.

Global investment in clean energy production will keep growing in 2023, the IEA said, further outpacing funding in fossil fuel production. Energy projects related to solar power will overtake oil production for the first time, strengthening solar position as one of the most important technological improvements the world can employ to adopt a truly renewable energy model.

The latest prediction for the energy market is included in the 2023 edition of IEA's World Energy Investment report, which states that clean energy funding is on course to rise to $1.7 trillion by the end of the year. Investment in clean energy technologies is "significantly outpacing spending on fossil fuels," the Paris-based intergovernmental organization says, as concerns about energy affordability and security keep growing because of the state the world is in right now.

The money spent on global energy throughout the entire 2023 is set to reach about $2.8 trillion, IEA says, and more than $1.7 trillion out of that sum is expected to go to clean and renewable technologies such as electric vehicles, storage, low-emission fuels, and heat pumps. The remaining $1 trillion will keep funding coal, gas and oil, which are exacerbating the catastrophic effects of global warming.

According to IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol, the trends don't lie, and clean technology investments are pulling away from fossil fuels: clean energy is moving fast, even "faster than many people realize," and for every dollar spent on fossil fuels there's now about 1.7 dollars going into clean energy. Five years ago, Birol said, this ratio was one-to-one.

Solar power is one "shining example" of the aforementioned trend, as the technology is expected to finally overtake the amount of investment going into oil production soon. Spending on solar energy projects is expected to reach over $1 billion per day or $382 billion for the entire 2023, while oil production would still amount for $371 billion.

Solar is the true "superpower" of renewable energy generation, energy think tank Ember's Dave Jones said. Ironically, Jones remarked, some of the sunniest places on the planet still have the lowest levels of investment in solar plants and technology projects. The unrelentless clock of global warming is ticking for them too, anyway.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/98840-global-funding-solar-power-outpace-oil-production-2023.html

 

[godrilla]

No mention on Geothermal and nuclear. Pop quiz who makes the most solar panels?

 

[yRaz]

No mention on Geothermal and nuclear. Pop quiz who makes the most solar panels?

China, which also burns more coal than the rest of the world combined.

 

[axiomatic13]

Don't think for one nanosecond that the big O&G companies are not ready to switch to renewables. I own a tiny natural gas company and in 6 months plan to finish my first windmill out in West Texas. Oh and about the "jobs" issue? I added one guy with windmill experience. The rest of my existing employees will help him. The jobs are VERY interchangeable.

 

[toooooot]

If the climate change and there are many cloudy days in a row, a green cities could stay without power.
But do you know how to fight power shortage? High utility bill!

 

[Puckmanoz]

Don't think for one nanosecond that the big O&G companies are not ready to switch to renewables. I own a tiny natural gas company and in 6 months plan to finish my first windmill out in West Texas. Oh and about the "jobs" issue? I added one guy with windmill experience. The rest of my existing employees will help him. The jobs are VERY interchangeable.

If solar and wind worked, Australia would be 100% renaewable considering its by large the easiest and best place to have them. Solar and wind will always have the consistency issue. Especially solar and winter, short days. The sun sets when everyone comes home and want to put their heaters on. Just ask the Germans how a country with little wind and solar intensity that is 5x less then California is going.

 

[BuckarooBonzaii]

Don't be surprised if oil companies one day jump into renewables as they have the resources and a lot of patents either bought or coerced.

 

[J95qRP7]

If solar and wind worked, Australia would be 100% renaewable considering its by large the easiest and best place to have them. Solar and wind will always have the consistency issue. Especially solar and winter, short days. The sun sets when everyone comes home and want to put their heaters on. Just ask the Germans how a country with little wind and solar intensity that is 5x less then California is going.

You need more than location to be ideal. When your government has wet dreams about coal and bring lumps of it into parliament, renewable energy is getting pushed to the background.

 

[dangh]

If solar and wind worked, Australia would be 100% renaewable considering its by large the easiest and best place to have them. Solar and wind will always have the consistency issue. Especially solar and winter, short days. The sun sets when everyone comes home and want to put their heaters on. Just ask the Germans how a country with little wind and solar intensity that is 5x less then California is going.

But it does work, Australia simply have strong lobby in parliament to ensure investment in those is allowed down. And highest per consumption of anyway in the day as biggest consumers is industry, not home heaters. And homes with own solar panels and batteries are still best option.
Obviously, nuclear still should be used as support. And probably will be until we master energy storage - we already have solid kinetic attempts to do so

 

[axiomatic13]

If solar and wind worked, Australia would be 100% renaewable considering its by large the easiest and best place to have them. Solar and wind will always have the consistency issue. Especially solar and winter, short days. The sun sets when everyone comes home and want to put their heaters on. Just ask the Germans how a country with little wind and solar intensity that is 5x less then California is going.

I think you are somehow confused about what happens when the sun is down. You use a battery. In my house's case, if the power goes out my F-150 Lightning EV runs the house until the sun is up to charge the battery again. This isn't rocket science and it does work.

 

[psycros]

Well of COURSE it will outpace oil. Every company is clamped firmly onto the government nipple these days...they go wherever the subsidies are. They use that money to boost their bottom lines and offset costs of their core business. The politicians know this full well but as long as Big Energy in filling their pockets with campaign dollars they can pretend to be climate saviors and profit handsomely. Meanwhile both the corporate welfare recipients and their government cronies are filling their safes with precious metals and deeds to exploitable land in the third world. They know the collapse of the dollar is coming because their the main cause.

 

[axiomatic13]

Well of COURSE it will outpace oil. Every company is clamped firmly onto the government nipple these days...they go wherever the subsidies are. They use that money to boost their bottom lines and offset costs of their core business. The politicians know this full well but as long as Big Energy in filling their pockets with campaign dollars they can pretend to be climate saviors and profit handsomely. Meanwhile both the corporate welfare recipients and their government cronies are filling their safes with precious metals and deeds to exploitable land in the third world. They know the collapse of the dollar is coming because their the main cause.

*they're. "because they're the main cause."

 

[Puckmanoz]

I think you are somehow confused about what happens when the sun is down. You use a battery. In my house's case, if the power goes out my F-150 Lightning EV runs the house until the sun is up to charge the battery again. This isn't rocket science and it does work.

Scale is the issue, yes you can put a lithium battery onto your house. But, to actually make an impact you need to store it on a huge scale / a lot of batteries. To do that we need a to increase mining colbolt and lithium by 5 times.

I mean Californian has the storage capacity of what 2 minutes of electricity…….

 

[m3tavision]

Wind & Solar are NOT the issue.... (Generation is NOT the issue).


It is storing the energy on the electrical grid/house that is the PROBLEM..

 

[Puckmanoz]

It really depends where you are. Geography has a huge impact with how effective solar or wind is. E.g solar generation in Germany or England will be vastly different to Australian or North Africa. Same with wind generation.

Lower generation means you need a lot more solar pannals that can take up huge amounts of land, there is already little land available in Europe as it is.

 

[axiomatic13]

We need to start building these large batteries. https://www.axpo.com/us/en/about-us...o will develop a 25,to commence in early 2024.

 

[Hodor]

Oh, just one problem, there's no recycling plan for solar panels. Old panels just get dumped to poor countries, where their poisonous ingredients pollute local land and rivers. This is a constant mantra with renewables, whether batteries, electric cars, solar panels, wind turbines or other "green" stuff. They do pollute (especially during production, or when dumped), just not at the place where you use them.

So, not too different from a coal power plant. I use its electricity here, but it pollutes the air 200 km away from me.