Back to Blogs

Study shows that a switch to renewables could save trillions

  • Publish Date: Posted over 1 year ago
  • Author: Steve Walia

​A new study by Oxford university has shown that a switch to renewable energy could help to save up to £10 trillion pounds by 2050 - and ditch fossil fuels for good. The report also said that it was pessimistic and incorrect to perpetuate the idea that switching rapidly to clean energy sources would be expensive.

 

Mounting concerns over escalating energy prices are forcing world governments to look at rapid solutions, and the plummeting cost of renewables means that the drive to go green is stronger than ever.

 

The study's authors said that the main conclusion of the research was that it made economic and environmental sense to rapidly transition to a green energy future. The findings were based on an analysis of historic renewable and fossil fuel price data and then modelling expected changes.

 

Fossil fuel data went back over two centuries and showed that the price hadn't changed significantly in real terms. Renewable energies, on the other hand, have only been around for a few decades so offered less historical data, but the costs of wind and solar were plummeting at around 10% a year as the underlying technologies and manufacturing methods improved and refined.

 

Furthermore, the report concluded that the cost of renewables would continue to drop, because of the huge levels of investment already being made and the benefits offered by economies of scale. Further scaling up of investment would continue to lower green energy costs, and the faster the adoption, the bigger the savings.

 

The report is the latest in a long line of analyses and research studies that show green power offers huge benefits that go beyond even 'just' climate change, putting mounting pressure on politicians and policymakers to finally turn away from fossil fuels indefinitely.