The future of energy…is definitely green 🌱 and not that far off according to The Economist! In Germany, for example, the share of cheap renewable energy in the grid just reached another all-time high of 58% during the first half of the year. This positive development means that households will be benefiting from more and more hours of negative energy prices. The next step to accelerate the green energy transition is to shift demand, i.e household usage, to the cheapest hours. While tado° customers can already do so, there is still a long way to go. Check out Christian Deilmann’s summary for more insights on how “solar power will change the world”. #energyTransition #HomeEnergyManagement
Last week I decided to subscribe to #TheEconomist and enjoyed reading the cover article on energy. I was excited to see that very conservative and economically thinking journalists recognise that the energy future will clearly be sustainable. Here are my highlights from two recent Economist articles: 👉 “It is 70 years since at&t Bell Labs unveiled solar cells..” 👉 “Solar cells will in all likelihood be the single biggest source of electrical power on the planet by the mid 2030s.” 👉 “On current trends, the all-in cost of electricity solar cells produce promises to be less than half as expensive as the cheapest available today.” 👉 “People who could never afford to will start lighting their houses, driving a car or enjoying air conditioning.” At the same time, it means the world’s energy systems need to adapt: 👉 “As solar farms and wind parks take over Europe…”, “electricity wholesale prices in Germany were negative in 301 of the 8760 hours last year.” 👉 “The next option for policy makers is to shift demand.” 👉 “The idea is to move flexible sources of demand, such as electric-vehicle charging and heating buffers into hours of abundant energy.” Key recommendations to policy makers and regulation by the economist: 👍 Faster progress on the Smart Meter roll out in some countries is needed. 👍 Network charges (grid fees and taxes) should no longer be fixed rates regardless of when energy is taken from the grid, but such charges should further incentivize the consumption of energy in times of high energy availability. Check out some related infographics from other sources below. Links to the original articles in the comments. On another note: I always loved reading a variety of magazines and newspaper articles. In the digital age it became more difficult as multiple subscriptions are necessary. Am I the only person having this challenge?