A recent report indicates that demand for electric vehicles (EVs) and solar power will reach a peak by the year 2020. Just take a look at this recent article by Forbes here. Robert Rapier states “The 70% year-over-year increase in monthly sales continued the strong momentum from 2016”. The electric car has seen tremendous growth over the past decade. Growing from a half a dozen models to over 35 models. This reflects the growth in the renewable energy industry as a whole.
With the recent election, energy has been a hot topic for debate. Some think the renewable energy industry is being threatened by new incentives to maintain and grow the fossil fuel industry. However, a recent poll taken by Gallup shows 73% of American still prioritize alternative sources of energy over oil and gas.
GROWTH OF ALTERNATIVE FUEL INDUSTRY
In a report titled “Expect the Unexpected: The Disruptive Power of Low-Carbon Technology” claims that well-known organizations in the energy sector are overlooking the high speed with which the technologies related to low-carbon emissions are advancing. The report further feels that it is high time for these companies to change their modus operandi.
The demand for electric vehicles continues to reach highs. Therefore, the country will see a reduced the demand for crude oil by about two million barrels every day by 2025. As far as statistics goes, the market for the electric vehicles is growing by about 60 percent year-on-year. Just last years over 540 thousand EVs were solar in the United States.
AFFORDABLE ELECTRIC VEHICLES
According to Carbon Tracker, the prices of Electric Vehicles will be less than traditional internal combustion engines. By 2030, the sector may have one-fifth of the total road transport. Leader EV companies like Tesla are releasing new electrical vehicles at more reasonable price points. Like the Model 3, scheduled to deliver in 2018. And if you include the sale of the electric/petrol hybrids and hydrogen cars along with conventional ICEs, the combined figure will be less than 50 percent of the market. It is also expected that the Electric Vehicles could occupy about 69 percent of the transport market by 2050. On the other hand, ICEs may have just a share of 12 percent.
Vehicle driving
Tesla Model 3 – Set to deliver in 2018
There could be a displacement of 25 million bps of oil as compared to the continuous increase in the demand for oil expected by the industry. Carbon Tracker has also claimed that in 2040, the supply of solar PV will contribute to about 23 percent of power generation globally. The figure may become 29 percent by 2050. This indicates that the demand for coal could be entirely phased out and natural gas may have a market share of just 1 percent.
WHY DEMAND FOR SOLAR PV HAS GONE UP?
What has worked in favor of solar PV is that its cost has come down by 85 percent in 7 years. One study indicates that solar PV will be much cheaper as compared to fossil fuel on a global scale. A senior researcher of Carbon Tracker, Luke Sussams has added that both solar power and electric vehicles are real game changers.
The authors of the report mentioned that the speed at which technological changes’ occur indicates that Electric Vehicles and PV could snatch 10 percent of the market share within just a decade. Though it may not seem to be a big figure now, it marks the beginning of the down fall in demand for fossil fuel.