“Batteries are critical for our clean energy future. Luckily, their cost has dropped so low, we might be much closer to this future than we previously thought,” claims Eric Holthaus in his recent Grist article.
Battery technology is improving at an unprecedented rate thereby speeding up the low-carbon energy transition at a much needed time when greenhouse gas emissions continue to spiral upward.
Clean Electricity
Over the last year, the cost of lithium-ion batteries has fallen by 35 percent, making it much cheaper to store wind and solar power during down times—when the wind is not blowing or the sun is not shining. “This is a major boost to renewables, helping them compete with fossil fuel-generated electrical power, even without subsidies in some places, according to a new Bloomberg New Energy Finance report,” writes Eric Holthaus. The new prices are huge improvements, far surpassing the anticipated breakthrough moment for batteries which was only expected to occur a few years from now, according to Bloomberg NEF.
Around the globe, we are seeing the building of massive coupled solar-plus-storage projects. The Florida project is only one of many being planned around the world. The implications for the residential energy market are enormous. A report by Wood MacKenzie shows that by 2023, over 55 percent of annual energy storage deployments will be in combination with solar power, making this type of hybrid energy system increasingly common. And this trend is expected to accelerate and dominate the residential electricity market within a few years.
Electric Vehicles
Cheap batteries also have staggering implications for electric vehicles. In 2010, average battery pack prices for an EV were $1000/kWh. Average prices are now as low as $209/kWh—a drop of 79%. As a result of both the lower prices and improved performance of batteries, the demand for EVs is soaring.
Governments around the globe are offering EV purchase incentives and some countries have gone as far as announcing a ban on combustion-engine vehicles. Plus automakers such as Daimler, Volvo, Nissan, Mercedes and others are making plans to electrify their fleet of vehicles within the next decade.
Consequently, we are now nearing a breakthrough point where EVs will quickly replace gas vehicles. This will happen in less than 5 years and “not a moment too soon” claims Holthaus. As electric vehicles become cheaper to own and operate than our combustion-driven vehicles, the collapse of the fossil fuel industry is on the horizon.
When Fossils Switch to Renewables
In addition to policy breakthroughs and technological innovations, there are some encouraging signs that even the fossil fuel industry is edging its bets by introducing renewables into its energy mix. Leading the way is Norway’s $1tn oil fund, the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world, which is diverting billions into solar and wind energy. This follows a previous announcement that the wealth fund is divesting its investments in 134 oil and gas exploration companies, a value of nearly $8bn.
An energy transition has begun. And it will continue to roll out at a rapidly accelerating pace during the next decades. Embracing the shift to clean energy will revolutionize the way we live, the way we work and the way we play. It will change humanity.
You don’t know what’s possible until you see it. ~ Amanda LIndhout
Where we are in the Clean Energy Revolution
Clean Tech Leading the Energy Transition
Clean Disruption of Energy and Transportation
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. 
What I am interested in, in terms of cost, is what you list, $/kWh of capacity, but also the average cost of electricity delivered per kilowatt-hour of electricity — I’ll call that kWhe. So, correct me if I am wrong, but to figure the kWhe cost out here, which is $209 for electric vehicles, I need to have the total times that 1 kWh capacity churns out a kWhe. IF that system churns out 1000 kWhe, then $209 ÷ 1000 kWhe = $0.209 or 20.9¢/kWhe. The question is, how many kWhe can a 1kWh system put out over an mean average lifetime?
Hi Russell,
Welcome to Below2°C. The figures quoted in the article are from BloomBerg I believe. These are not my numbers and thus I have not analysed them as you have.
I’d like to know more about the point you make. The numbers show a dramatic decline in the cost to operate an EV but as you point out, how does that translate into energy efficiency and the product life cycle?
Thank you for your comments.
According to Tim Watkins, a British social and economic scientist with a background in public policy research, electric vehicles powered by lithium-ion batteries will not be our salvation. Turns out lithium-ion batteries are a poor substitute for one of nature’s more energy-dense ‘batteries’ — diesel fuel. Only diesel fuel — and not gasoline — can transport heavy loads, large numbers of people, and raw resources.
In Watkins’ words:
“Diesel is the lifeblood of the civilization that we live in and depend upon. … The key question before us, then, is NOT how do we operate diesel-powered trucks (and tractors, trains, ships, cranes and planes) using only batteries and wind turbines? The question that we have to answer is what would be a viable non-carbon emitting alternative to diesel fuel? At present there isn’t one.
And as a result, the only choice before us is to begin the unpleasant task of dismantling the highly exploitative and consumptive civilization that we have built in the years since the industrial revolution. Because if we cannot find an alternative means of powering the heavy lifting that our civilization depends upon, collapse is inevitable anyway.”
Shortlink Source: https://wp.me/pO0No-4E9
I guess Watkins has never seen trains used for long distance transport of freight. What fraction of the diesel is in long distance haulage? He has conceded that short small loads can be handled by electric vehicles. That seems to leave intermediate size and intermediate distances. Some of that can be dealt with by rearranging the locations of warehousing and vehicle selection. How much is left? Not sure – probably well under half.
Interesting points David and Frank.Obviously batteries will not solve all of our diesel-based transportation, the heavy-lifting as you point to Frank.But then we should not underestimate the breakthroughs in battery technology. The next generation of batteries and/or hydrogen-based transportation will undoubtedly result in much more ” viable non-carbon emitting alternative to diesel fuel”.
Thank you for your comments.
Interesting points David and Frank.Obviously batteries will not solve all of our diesel-based transportation, the heavy-lifting as you point to Frank.But then we should not underestimate the breakthroughs in battery technology. The next generation of batteries and/or hydrogen-based transportation will undoubtedly result in much more ” viable non-carbon emitting alternative to diesel fuel”.
Thank you for your comments Dave and Frank.