On Price, New Energy Wins, Coal Loses

Trump’s coal revival plan won’t work; clean energy tech is already cheaper; The cost of solar power systems has dropped 30% this year alone

Lucas Mearian, November 15, 2016 (ComputerWorld)

"While President-elect Donald Trump hopes to revive the coal industry by slashing CO2-reducing regulations, industry analysts say clean energy has become so cheap it will continue to increase its domination of the energy industry…[T]he number of coal-fired generators is still expected to be reduced by about one-third through 2030, or by about 60 gigawatts of capacity…And wind and solar are by far the fastest growing energy sectors…Last year, new installations of solar power capacity surpassed both wind and coal for the second year in a row, accounting for 32% of all new electrical capacity…The average number of employees at U.S. coal mines decreased 12% to 65,971 employees, the lowest on record…Last year alone, the solar industry added 31,000 new jobs…[T]hat was 20 times the national average for job creation…Using the EIA's LCOE figures, [“clean” coal-fired power plants have an average cost of $65 to $139 per megawatt hour (MWh) of electricity produced, natural gas-fired plants are $58.1 per MWh of electricity, nuclear power is $102.8, onshore wind is $64.5, solar is $84.7 and hydroelectric is $67.8]…” click here for more

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