Lately, energy has also become the protagonists of its own revolution

The energy transition

Definitions vary, but it can be considered as the shift from a fossil fuels dominated energy mix, to a sustainable, low carbon one

Yet, its features are many, the direction the phenomenon is taking not unique

Renewables dominate the energy transition

Solar and wind costs are now competing with coal

AVERAGE COST OF ENERGY GENERATION (LEVELISED COST OF ENERGY, LCOE) FOR SELECTED SOURCES, 2018

Source: Lazard 2018

In only a few years, renewables changed from being an alternative source, to a potentially dominating component of the global energy mix

Which has been one of the causes of the beginning of the decline of coal

CAPACITY OF COAL POWER PROJECTS ANNOUNCED AND PERMITTED GLOBALLY (IN MW).

Source: Global Energy Monitor, Greenpeace, Sierra Club

In 2016, global coal production decreased by 6.2%

and the solar industry employed for the first time more people than coal in the US

Percentage of employees in the electric generation sector

Source: Forbes 2016

Meanwhile, another resource was on the rise

Natural gas

The US shale revolution, discoveries in Eastern Mediterranean and in Sub Saharan Africa boosted global reserves from 174.2 bcm in 2005 to 202.2 in 2017

Gas plants require a shorter time to start up than coal or nuclear, and are thus a good match with intermittent renewables

In this sense, gas is a transition fuel, which can support renewables also thanks to a lower CO2 intensity

Continue to - The challenges of the transition

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