There have been concerns from the public about the Arizona coal plant closing down. Some people raised questions about whether they needed the coal plant or not. Apparently, they don’t.
According to a Nasdaq report, the U.S. spent the least energy in 2016 since the last 60 years. The drop in energy consumption correlated with the coal consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. The Bloomberg New Energy Finance announced that since 1990, carbon dioxide emissions were at their lowest. Additionally, the amount of emissions has decreased by 24% since 2005.
It is true that the decrease in costs of renewable energy is not enough for the public to start using it. Yet, there is a decline in the costs that cannot be directly related to coal’s collapse, but linked to it.
As technology keeps improving, more efficient and cheaper ways to produce energy have been found. Wind, solar, and battery storage will not only decrease the emissions, but will also decrease the costs. Electric vehicles will get more affordable with time, and the fact that renewable energy is only for a certain group of privileged people will be history.
In fact, the U.S. Army has already saved $1 billion by increasing the energy efficiency. The future promises everyone to save money by becoming more aware.
[via treehugger]
