October 19, 2020
PERMIAN V PERMANENT:
Texas has a big lesson for Australia: renewables are where the money is flowing (Bruce Robertson, 19 October 2020, Renew Economy)
In Texas, on the other hand, renewables are winning. Private investors are pouring money into wind and solar projects and increasingly turning away from fossil fuel investments.In Texas, falling oil and gas prices have hit the economy particularly hard. But while 118 oil and gas companies filed for bankruptcy in the state between 2015 and 2020, wind developers are on track to nearly double capacity.Against a backdrop of a massive fracking boom and bust, Texas has become the top wind-power generator in the U.S. and also grown its utility-scale solar power market.Solar and wind generation now make up more than one-fifth of Texas' total power output, pushing coal out of the generation mix. Remarkably, considering the state's massive growth in fossil gas output, the share of gas-fired power only rose from 51% in 2002 to 54% in mid-2020.
Posted by Orrin Judd at October 19, 2020 12:00 AM