“Clean energy’s dirty secret”

The rapid rise of renewable energy systems in recent years could signal that “the world is entering an era of clean, unlimited and cheap power,” The Economist writes. But while it was “about time” renewables played a more important role, the “dirty secret” is that they make power from any source cheaper, meaning investments in conventional power sources  are less profitable, despite still being needed during  the transition to a low-carbon economy. “Unless the market is fixed, subsidies to the industry will only grow,” The Economist writes. One solution could be more extensive deployment of new technology, like that of German energy-storage firm Sonnen, to help smooth out intermittent supply during the transition, The Economist writes.

Read the Leaders text in English here and a longer article on how renewables create "a world turned upside down" here.

For background, read the CLEW factsheet When will Germany finally ditch coal?.