It may feel like governments are slow to adopt green power solutions to meet their respective carbon-zero goals, but a recent study published in the journal Nature Communications predicts that solar power will become the dominant form of power generation within the next three decades.
Based on the study, energy experts claim that solar power solutions have reached the tipping point, meaning that the adoption of relevant technologies is expected to become more widespread in the foreseeable future.
Femke Nijsse, lead author of the Nature Communications study and presently a lecturer at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, pointed out that solar dominance of the power sector will occur, regardless of whether or not governments implement new policies related to the use of alternative energy sources to replace a fossil fuel-dominated sector.
A New Dominant Player
The study involved information gleaned from 70 regions across the globe, all of which were plugged into an energy-simulation model with the goal of seeing what power-generation technologies are the most likely to be in use come 2060.
In nearly three-quarters of the simulations conducted, experts noted that solar energy solutions would be the dominant generation technology by 2050, accounting for up to 56% of all electricity generated worldwide.
Consequently, the share of fossil fuels in the power generation field will plunge from a high of 62% in 2020, to just 21% in another thirty years.
Why Solar?
The key reason why solar power use will be more widespread lies not only in the clean manner by which it is produced but also in the rapidly decreasing cost of generation. Indeed, solar power now costs around $42 to $48 per megawatt – a seriously lower cost compared to the $74 per megawatt charged for coal.
Experts point out that the cost will continue to drop as related solutions are adopted on a wider basis throughout the world.
