Zane SelvansJul 4, 2024

Thinking about "The Price is Wrong" and the profitability gap between renewables and fossil fuels, I'm reminded of Daniel Yergin's book "The Prize" and how historically, the oil industry has only been profitable when a cartel is in power.

First it was Standard Oil, then the Texas Railroad Commission, and for my entire life: OPEC. But there *is* no renewables cartel so it's race to the bottom. Which is how capitalism is *supposed* to work.

https://www.volts.wtf/p/are-markets-the-right-tool-for-decarbonizing

Are markets the right tool for decarbonizing electricity?

In his book The Price Is Wrong, Brett Christophers argues that, contrary to recent economic triumphalism among renewables advocates, wind and solar are not profitable enough to attract the private capital necessary to scale as fast as they need to scale. He and I dig deep (extremely deep) into the details.

Volts
Show threadZane SelvansJul 11, 2024

Just started reading #ThePriceIsWrong and it strikes me that the core argument that the desire for renewable energy to be cheap through competition is fundamentally in tension with the need to attract investment by offering a profit margin rhymes with this classic post by @danielkayhertz on why housing can't be both affordable and a good investment.

#books #EnergyTransition #ClimateChange #Economics #Housing

Show threadChris Nelder 🤘Jul 12, 2024
@ZaneSelvans I haven't fully read it myself but that's my surmise as well. It seems like a largely rhetorical argument when ~$380 billion/year is going into solar projects. How much of that does he think is wrong, exactly?
Show threadChris Adams

@chrisnelder @ZaneSelvans I’m currently reading through it too.

A key thing for me has been him talking about the how the mechanism used to make projects bankable matters massively for speedy rollout , comparing the tax credit system, feed in tariff approaches, and auctions.

i.e. is China’s use of tariffs specifically here a key factor?

The recent IEA renewables report also seems to explore this too - there’s a chart linked in this blogpost worth a gander.

https://rtl.chrisadams.me.uk/2024/05/if-you-want-greener-energy-whats-the-best-way-to-get-it/

If you want greener energy, what’s the best way to get it? – Reads, Takes and Links

Jul 12, 2024 at 6:00amIvory for iOS