One barrier to the renewable energy is cost. I came across an interesting article on the ost of renewable energy on Clean Technica. It argues that renewable electricity, while currently costing more now, will be cheaper than fossil fuel facilities.

 With the rate of introduction of renewables continuous till 2030, and the goals being met, the average price of electricity generated from a mix of renewable energy sources will be at an average of 7.6 cents per kWh by 2030. The trend at that time will continue to be downward. At the same time, the price of “conventional” fossil-fuel-powered electricity generation will already be at approximately 9.0 cents per kWh. That means that renewable electricity supply will be cheaper by 2030 or earlier

Source: Clean Technica (http://s.tt/1961e)

In Germany, and also in British Columbia, most generation facilities are also old.  Electricity in the future, regardless of the source will cost more than today, renewable or conventional.  This means a narrower cost difference or even cost equivalence for renewable energy.  Similar conclusions have been found by Jacobson as well as researchers examining the Danish City of Aalborg.

Renewable Electricity Supply to be Cheaper by 2030 (via Clean Technica)

  Macro-Economic Benefits An increasing number of countries have formulated policies to introduce renewable energy sources into their electricity supply in order to combat global warming or to decrease their dependency on imported fossil fuels. A positive side effect of this development has been the…

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