The Biggest Challenges Facing the Planet Today

The Future of Renewable Energy
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Abstract
The beginning of the 21st century has been characterized by concerns about climate change, which have fueled support and investments in renewable energy sources. Governments and several organizations around the planet are supporting the generation of clean energy through policies and funds. With this support, renewable energy is bound to experience exponential growth, particularly in wind and solar power generation. Government policies, reduced production costs, and climate change activism among young people will support the acceleration of wind and solar energy generation. The next decade is also going to be characterized by a revolution in the automotive sector as companies will slowly phase out diesel and petrol cars and replace them with EVs. This will be driven by customer demand and government investment in EVs infrastructure. Unfortunately, fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, and coal will still be part of the energy consumption in the next decade due to an increased demand for energy.
Keywords: Renewable Energy, Climate Change, Wind and Solar Energy
The Future of Renewable Energy
One of the biggest challenges facing the planet today is climate change, which is characterized by a rise in temperatures and a disruption of the normal nature balance. The major cause of this challenge is the burning of fossil fuels for energy to support manufacturing and transportation activities, which are vital parts of the economy. A major trend that seeks to address climate change is renewable energy. With the burning of fossil fuels threatening the sustainability of the planet, the recent past has seen a major shift in terms of policies and investments that support renewable energy. In this sense, it is arguable that in the next decade, the renewable energy sector will experience exponential growth, there will be a significant rise in solar and wind energy production and use, and we are likely to experience an electric vehicle revolution. While renewable energy production is bound to increase exponentially, it is unlikely to make fossil fuel obsolete as there will be energy addition as opposed to transition.
Exponential Growth in Renewable Energy
The renewable energy sector will experience exponential growth in the next decade primarily due to the growth in its market share. According to Jaeger (2021), between 2015 and 2020, the markets share of wind and solar grew at a compound average annual rate of 15%. The author notes that a continuation of the exponential growth at that rate would result in wind and solar reaching 45% of global electricity production by 2030. Therefore, there is a potential for exponential growth in the renewable energy sector, and the world is likely to see increased generation and use of energy from wind and solar. According to an article by Holbrook (2020), it is expected that $3.4 trillion will be invested in the global renewable energy sector by 2030. Out of this figure, $2.72 trillion will be investments in solar and wind. Therefore, the renewable energy sector is bound to attract huge investments going into the future. The key factors that are likely to drive the exponential growth of renewable energy are reduced costs, policies, and climate change activism among young people.
Reduced Costs
The biggest contributing factor to the growth of renewable energy is falling costs. According to Jaeger (2021), from 2010, the cost of solar photovoltaic electricity has reduced by 85%, with the costs of wind electricity halving. As a result of the reduction of production cost, wind and solar can compete effectively with electricity from fossil fuels. A key contributor to the falling costs is the increased deployment of technologies supporting renewable energy, allowing economies of scale (Jaeger, 2021). Therefore, going into the future, it is arguable that renewable energy technologies will advance, which may further contribute to the reduction of costs. With reduced costs of production, the sector will attract more investments, further supporting its exponential growth.
Support by Policies
Policies by different governments and organizations will contribute to a great extent to the growth of the renewable energy sector. As noted by Jaeger (2021), policy measures such as subsidies, feed-in tariffs, tax credits, and competitive actions have been implemented by governments to support renewable energy. With 165 countries having in place targets to support renewable energy, there is a high chance that the sector will accelerate in growth significantly. In the United States, President Biden has set greenhouse reduction targets as he aims to tackle climate change. One of the major goals of the initiative by President Biden is to attain 100% carbon pollution-free energy by 2035 (The Whitehouse, 2021). With the support of governments around the world, the renewable energy sector will grow to significant heights in the next decade.
Climate Change Activism among Young People
Young people will be integral in supporting policies and businesses related to renewable energy. According to a survey by the Pew Research Center, young Americans, particularly millennials and people in Generation Z, are highly engaged in climate change issues as they talk more than other generations about the need for action to address the challenge. These young people engage in actions like attending protests and rallies and volunteering (Tyson et al., 2021). Young people are concerned about the future, and the more they talk about it, the more organizations and governments are likely to put measures to promote renewable energy. With such conversations, products that are made using renewable energy will be more likely to be purchased by these generations as they grow up.
Significant Rise in Solar and Wind Energy Generation
The last couple of years have seen tremendous growth in wind and solar generation, and I believe these two renewab...