Speaking Truth To Money: Fossil Fuels Are Dying Industries

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

Let’s all take a moment to give a standing ovation to Amory Lovins, co-founder and chief scientist at the Rocky Mountain Institute. On Sunday, he stood before a group of investors from around the world – who control approximately $8 trillion in assets – and told them it was time to stop investing in fossil fuels because those industries are “on their last legs.”

That’s the news from the Fiduciary Investors Symposium at Stanford University, according to an article on Top1000Funds.com. Lovins not only delivered this hard truth to the investors, but told them they’d be foolish if they didn’t invest in the coming renewable energy revolution. From the article:

The electricity industry is undergoing its biggest transformation in centuries as supply shifts to modern renewables. Renewable energy production hit 1 trillion watts of capacity three years ago, the next trillion watts will be added in just four years, pushing fossil fuels out of the market, Lovins said. He added that fossil fuels were more at risk from competition than regulation.

“In the next 4-5 years, cheaper renewables will offset growth in all fossil fuels, tipping them into decline,” he warned.

[wds id=”3″]

But it wasn’t just generic renewable energy Lovins had love for – he had particularly nice things to say about the solar industry. He said the cheaper solar becomes, the more people are buying it – and he pointed to the proliferation of solar not just in the United States but in China as well. He said the world is rapidly reaching a tipping point from which oil, coal and gas will not recover (he also sees buoying trends in the electric vehicle market and foresees a day when the internal combustion engine will be relegated to the ash heap of history).

It’s not that Lovins is saying anything new or particularly radical, at least not from the standpoint of the solar industry. What is important, however, is that he is speaking to the current and future investors in the solar industry. And he’s telling them it’s time to stop clinging to the investments of the past and exhorting them to charge into the brave new future of renewable energy (and specifically, as it turns out, solar).

Money, after all, talks. And if we can get investors with $8 trillion in assets on board with the Solar Century, then the future of this industry is truly as bright as the sun.

More:

Fossil fuel on last legs: Lovins

You Know Who’s Still Betting Heavily On Solar? Corporations, That’s Who!

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

Corporate renewable energy procurement has hit a new record high in 2018, according to the Business Renewables Center, an arm of the Rocky Mountain Institute.

Procurement levels reached 3.57 GW, beating the previous record of 3.12 GW in 2015 and increasing nearly three quarters of a gigawatt ahead of last year’s number of 2.87 GW.

[wds id=”3″]

Jon Creyts, managing director at Rocky Mountain Institute, said:

The Business Renewables Center applauds the acceleration of corporate renewable energy procurement and the dedication these companies are showing to turn commitment into action. We are bearing witness to unprecedented growth in this market, which is critical to achieving the goal of a clean, prosperous, and secure low-carbon economy.

Unsurprisingly, Facebook led the way, putting corporate procurement into record territory with the deal it announced last month to procure 437 megawatts (MW) of solar energy from Pacific Power for a data center in Oregon.

The announcement also claimed:

[This] highlights the growth of corporate-backed renewable energy transactions, which have totaled 13.52 GW in the U.S. since 2008, according to data collected by RMI’s Business Renewables Center. To date, BRC member companies have been involved in 99% of all U.S.-based non-utility transactions for renewable energy, and the number of corporates contracting directly for clean energy has grown from just four companies in 2013 to nearly 60 companies today.

The year-over-year growth is not unexpected, particularly given the difficult circumstances the solar industry found itself in last year with the tariff discussions. Corporations were waiting to see how the tariff situation would play out before deciding to move forward with solar procurement. What is most interesting, however, is that not only have the circumstances not changed significantly – the 30% tariffs are still in place – but the situation has gotten worse (with new 25% tariffs being imposed on inverters and modules).

And yet corporations are still investing in solar as their future – which is an indication that the Solar Revolution has moved beyond its strictly policy-driven past and into a future driven by pure economics. And that is something we can all agree is best for the solar industry in the long run.

Massachusetts Moves To Make Energy Data More Transparent

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What Happened:The Rocky Mountain Institute reports Massachusetts might be on the verge of starting another American Revolution, at least when it comes to promoting transparency in its citizens’ energy use.

Governor Charlie Baker has proposed An Act Relative to Consumer Access to Residential Energy Information, which would create energy-use certificates that would be used to record energy-use evaluations for the state’s homes.
It would give Massachusetts homeowners information that would allow them to do a serious evaluation of their home’s energy use.
And starting in 2021, people trying to sell their homes would be required to make that information available to potential buyers (great quotation on that later).

Could this home of British sedition lead another American Revolution when it comes to getting more energy usage information about your home (or your future home)? That’s a definite maybe.

SolarWakeup’s View: Could Boston be ground zero for the American Energy Revolution? According to the Rocky Mountain Institute’s Jacob Corvidae, it just might.

In a post on the Institute’s site, Corvidae discusses the potential importance of Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker’s initiative, called An Act Relative to Consumer Access to Residential Energy Information, as a potential model for the rest of the country when it comes to helping citizens become more informed about their energy usage.

First, it will allow homeowners to have a better understanding of what home improvements are the best investment. For example, if you have older windows or poor insulation, making that investment before, say, adding an outdoor pool or grill pit might bring the best ROI for your home. And after 2021, homeowners would be required to disclose their energy-use certificate to potential buyers.

Here I’m going to quote Corvidae because, as I look out my Ohio-based office to watch snowflakes flutter to the ground – on April 9, mind you – his comment struck a particular chord:

For buyers comparing two similar homes—such as different three-bedroom, two-bath, 1,800-square-foot two-story homes—knowing which one is already cozy and inexpensive to heat and which one will take some investment to get there is important information to have. You don’t want to wait until you’re ready to sign the closing documents, or until your first winter in the house, to find out which one you got!

With the rapidly changing energy market in the United States, the information Baker wants homeowners to know and understand about their own dwellings could be the first step in creating an educated energy consumer – and that would be another revolution worth celebrating.

More:

Can Massachusetts Correct a Market Failure by Making Home Energy Use More Transparent?

[wds id=”3″]