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Alternative thinking 2016
Five game-changers powering the future of renewable energy
In the three years since we last published an edition of Alternative thinking much has occurred in the world of energy—so much, that the landscape itself has visibly changed.
Executive Summary
Look around. At some point in your daily travels, potentially on your very own street, you’ll likely see rooftop solar panels, utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays, wind turbines, and/or electric vehicle charging stations. This doesn’t even include the activity going on behind the scenes, such as biomass-to-electric plants, new energy storage systems, and biofuel blends at the pump.
There are many reasons we are seeing so much progress so fast in the world of alternative energy and why the march forward is likely unstoppable. This report will delve into these game-changers, examine remaining barriers, and challenge the prevailing view of what’s possible by presenting some “what-if” scenarios that could potentially propel the renewable power sector ahead with lightning speed, perhaps far outpacing current projections, should they come to pass.
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The five game-changers are:
- Regulatory reform and public policy support
- Corporate commitment
- Financing innovation
- Energy storage
- Grid integration
Alternative thinking 2013 - Renewable energy under the microscope
The objective of this report is to identify for developers, investors and policy-makers a few of the more important current trends and opportunities in renewable energy, point out where significant barriers to progress lie, and suggest strategies for dealing with them.
Issues covered include:
- bridging the cost disparity gap with fossil fuels;
- enduring the "shale revolution";
- weighing infrastructure investment;
- navigating the subsidy environment; and
- coming to terms with "energy democratization".
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