...AND CHEAPER...:

A silent revolution is under way. In November, Dubai announced the construction of a solar energy park that will produce electricity for less than $0.06 per kilowatt-hour - undercutting the cost of the alternative investment option, a gas or coal-fired power plant.

The plant - which is expected to be operational in 2017 - is yet another harbinger of a future in which renewable energy crowds out conventional fossil fuels. Indeed, hardly a week seems to pass without news of a major deal to construct a solar power plant. In February alone, there were announcements of new solar power projects in Nigeria (1,000 megawatts), Australia (2,000 MW), and India (10,000 MW).

There can be no doubting that these developments are good for the fight against climate change. But the major consideration driving them is profit, not the environment, as increased efficiency in energy distribution and, where necessary, storage, reduces the cost of producing renewable energy.

As efforts to improve the management of electricity from fluctuating sources yield further advances, the cost of solar power will continue to fall. Within ten years, it will be produced in many regions around the globe for 4-6 cents per kilowatt-hour, according to a recent study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (commissioned by the think tank Agora Energiewende). By 2050, production costs will fall to 2-4 cents per kilowatt-hour.

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