According to Oxford University researchers, ending fossil fuel use by 2050 will save the world at least $12 trillion. They argue we should eliminate the word "cost" from the net zero lexicon. The relevant concept is how much we gain. This turns the 'too expensive' or 'too difficult' argument on its head and shows how both people and planet will benefit.
This emphatically disproves the fallacy that going green is economically difficult, says Professor Doyne Farmer, who led the study. “There is a pervasive misconception that switching to clean, green energy will be painful, costly and mean sacrifices for us all - but that’s just wrong,” he said.
“Renewable costs have been trending down for decades. They are already cheaper than fossil fuels in many situations, and our research shows they will become cheaper than fossil fuels across almost all applications in the years to come.”
By accelerating this transition, the costs will come down more quickly, he added. The good news is that, published this month, the latest data from the International Energy Agency in its latest 5 year rolling forecast predicts massive renewable energy growth.
The Oxford study was based on known technology, so any new discoveries (or current discoveries that have yet to scale up to join the fight to decarbonise the world) will be an added bonus.
With the right rules and policy signals – and seed money to bring the newest technologies to scale – free enterprise will take care of the problem, guided by Adam Smith’s Hidden Hand, they claim.
Crucially, renewables will prevail because fossil fuels cannot compete. They will slide rapidly into obsolescence so long as the market is not obstructed, or so long as the governments stop "standing on the hose."
Cathie Wood from the technology fund Ark Invest likens it to the fate of the whale oil industry in the 1860s, once the fifth-largest sector of the US economy and chief source of lighting fuel. Within a decade whaling had mostly vanished because something better came along: kerosene. Only this time, it's renewables smashing up the old order.
Decarbonising the world is demonstrably good news for people and planet - but throw in savings of at least $12 trillion makes the entire process, particularly if enthusiastically accelerated, is a win win win.
New Report Projects Massive Renewable Energy Growth: A new report shows that analysts are getting much more bullish about renewables. The International Energy Agency just published its largest-ever upward revision of renewable power forecasts. This is really significant as that forecast is nearly a whopping 30 percent higher than last year's edition of the IEA's rolling 5-year projections. Read on...