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Renewable energy not expensive anymore: lessons learned from gas crisis

Oil&Gas Materials 24 February 2022 15:01 (UTC +04:00)
Renewable energy not expensive anymore: lessons learned from gas crisis

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.24

By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:

Given today’s high gas prices, significant volumes of biomethane and green hydrogen will also now be economical, Trend reports with reference to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

‘We need to rapidly increase renewable energy production; promote true accounting and awareness of the costs of fossil fuel price volatility and the environmental impacts of its use; reduce gas demand through the electrification of heating and building renovations; and design robust policies to support the use of green gas.

However, all of these goals are undermined by the repeated, systematic failure to adequately factor-in fossil fuel price volatility, which is holding back investment in viable renewable solutions,” IRENA said in a report.

The agency notes that greater investment in renewable power generation earlier in the last decade would have saved European and Asian countries billions.

“Similarly, in industry and buildings, lacklustre progress in deploying renewables and scaling up energy efficiency programmes is now costing businesses and individuals dearly. Contrary to prevailing perceptions, renewable electricity is already competitive with fossil fuels, and, given today’s high gas prices, significant volumes of biomethane and green hydrogen will also now be economical. Indeed, we vastly underestimate the value of green gas. Unlike prices for traditional gas, renewable energy costs are generally known upfront and can be locked in for the entire project lifetime,” reads the report.

IRENA believes that today’s fossil-based energy crisis, which is almost certain to be repeated in the future, should fundamentally change the perception of green gases as “expensive” alternatives.

“Furthermore, the prices attributed to fossil fuels do not reflect costly externalities, such as the health, environmental and climate impacts, all of which should be taken into account in the economics of the energy transition. Governments must take account of the true cost of energy and consider the opportunities that renewable energy offers us to future-proof our economies and insulate them from the volatility and insidious long-term costs of fossil fuels,” says the report.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn

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