Renewable energy sources such as wind and sun are proving to be much cheaper than fossil fuels. And, the trend looks to get stronger.
Success in stock trading and investing often comes from an awareness of the deep potential of certain industries and their underlying currents. In the energy sector, there’s a clear trend.
Renewable energy is on an upward trajectory and analysts predict it will go all the way to the point when it will overtake fossil fuels. They point out that in most of the United States, wind energy and solar energy have managed to be the cheapest energy options, according to Lazard’s Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis—Version 11.0 report by the Lazard investment bank. Wind and solar energy ended up being cheaper than nuclear energy, coal, diesel and even natural gas in most cases. As this continues and takes effect, fossil fuels could soon be trampled over. So should you be looking at renewable energy stocks for some long-term investment with your eye on the future?
Hard Facts Suggest Wind and Solar Energy Are Cheaper
Based on this report, Motley Fool analyst Travis Houim believes regulators won’t be able to justify using non-renewable energy sources. Utilities requiring building or replacing power generation facilities would be thinking of renewable energy since it’s proving to be cheaper.
Unpredictable Pricing for Fossil Fuels
Apart from the fact that diesel is the most expensive fuel source, you’d have seen from the table that fossil fuels have a much wider cost range. That can be explained by the differing construction costs of new plants in various states as well as the varying fuel prices and the plant’s usage cycle. With renewable energy though, you get to use almost 100% of the electricity it produces. That makes electricity pricing a lot more predictable.
Coming back to the point made earlier, coal, diesel and even nuclear energy are all more expensive per kWh than solar and wind energy, and the table prepared by Lazard’s clearly shows that. So even if you may not be too much of an environmentalist, thinking in terms of pure economic advantage also brings renewable energy sources such as the wind and the sun to the forefront. Since wind and solar energy derive their energy from sources that are freely available in nature, at no additional cost, they are basically zero-cost sources fuel. The non-renewable energy sources are, however, extracted fuels, meaning they are generated through elaborate processes and machinery. Due to so many of these factors involved, the cost of extracted fuels could further rise from the existing levels.
So with the underlying trend identified thanks to some in-depth market analysis by experienced analysts, making the right investing or trading decisions becomes easier. By investing in solar technology and various initiatives, you can help the renewable energy field and companies such as ClearWorld gain momentum towards investment-friendly, forward-thinking initiatives.
Article Source