Advanced Energy Perspectives

We were promised flying cars. Those Jetsons-mobiles careening through the air sure seemed like the way of the future… until we actually considered traffic logistics in a three-dimensional airspace. The future of transportation is closer at hand than ever before, though, and it just might be Rosie the Robot at the wheel rather than George Jetson. Driverless vehicles are fast becoming a reality, and companies are preparing for a new automotive frontier – and potential blowback.

After the Supreme Court’s decision to stay the Clean Power Plan (CPP), all eyes have been on June 2, the date the D.C. Circuit Court was scheduled to hear oral arguments on the merits of the rule. That goal post just got pushed back—but the delay is likely to speed up the final Supreme Court decision.

This post is one in a series featuring the complete slate of advanced energy technologies outlined in the report This Is Advanced Energy. Image courtesy of NuScale Power.   

Sometimes, it’s not so bad to be proved wrong. Late last month, David Keith, a Harvard professor of applied physics and public policy, published a piece in Greentech Media, revisiting his 2008-2011 projections on the cost of solar modules, in which he was skeptical about predictions of falling prices. But solar has gotten much cheaper much faster than he thought. In 2008 he predicted only even odds of lowering the price of a solar power system to $0.30 per watt in 2030. In reality, the prices have already lowered to $0.50 per watt, and for large installations in the best locations, the cost of electricity from solar PV, without subsidy, is now under $40 per MW-hour, and could be at $20 by 2020. “Compared to other new sources of supply, this would be the cheapest electricity on the planet,” wrote Keith. 

We here at Advanced Energy Perspectives are no strangers to being wrong, but we’ve also long known that the rapid innovation in technologies and business models is driving down the cost of advanced energy, and renewables in particular, making it more desirable for customers of all kinds. This week we saw several examples of this trend.