Falling Solar Power And Storage Prices Make Global Climate Transition Cheaper Than Expected | Ulrich von Lampe

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Ulrich von Lampe -- Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change

Sept. 22, 2023

In just the past 10 years, the cost of electricity from solar has fallen by 87 percent, and the cost of battery storage by 85 percent. Wind power, heat pumps and other fossil-free technologies are also experiencing a sharp drop in prices.

A study now compares the corresponding findings from innovation reports with the standard model-based scenarios on climate transition. It shows that, although the fight against global heating remains an enormous political challenge, new, cheaper pathways are opening up.

The study was led by the Berlin-based climate research institute MCC (Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change) and published in Energy Research & Social Science. The research team concludes that a good quality of life can be achieved with significantly less energy input.

"Some calculations even suggest that the world's entire energy consumption in 2050 could be completely and cost-effectively covered by solar technology and other renewables," reports Felix Creutzig, head of the MCC working group Land Use, Infrastructure and Transport, and lead author of the study.

"This is an extremely optimistic scenario -- but it illustrates that the future is open. Climate science, which provides policymakers with guidance in its scenario models, must reflect technical progress as closely as possible. Our study is intended to provide input for this."

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