ECONOMICS EVEN CHICOMS CAN UNDERSTAND:

Plunging costs of solar and battery technologies could underpin China's pivot away from coal, with new research showing that by 2060 almost half of China's electricity needs could be supplied by super cheap solar power, helping the world's largest emitter achieve its decarbonisation goals.

New research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, estimated that by 2060 more than 43 per cent of China's electricity could be supplied by solar projects.

Critically, the researchers predicted that these solar supplies could be provided at a price below US 2.5 cents per kilowatt-hour - even after energy storage is accounted for - significantly undercutting China's existing supplies of coal power.

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