David Wallace-Wells in an op-ed for the New York Times: What Will We Do With Our Free Power?

In 2023, the world installed 444 gigawatts of new solar photovoltaic capacity, according to Bloomberg. While that figure can be hard for normie brains to process, it represents a staggering step forward: nearly an 80 percent year-on-year jump and more than was cumulatively installed between the invention of the solar cell in 1954 and 2017.

And:

Even more remarkable than the scale is the cost. By one measure, the cost of solar power is less than one-thousandth of what it was when hippies and environmentalists first made a point of installing panels on their roofs in the 1960s. A decade ago, it was considered a moonshot goal to reduce the price of a solar module to a dollar per watt; now they are being manufactured for one-tenth as much. The price fell by nearly half in 2023 alone.

I’m 1,000% in favor of a cleaner energy future for the world. I think reducing fossil fuel usage is critical, but I think it’s more likely we do that by replacing the need for it rather than getting the entire world (and its growing population) to use less.

The linked op-ed asks the question what we would do if energy was basically free and unlimited and had negligible climate costs. I find that to be an incredibly inspiring way to think about our future. And when you look at the prices and efficiencies of so many renewable energy sources over the past few decades, it’s hard to ignore that future could arrive in our lifetimes if we set up incentives to make it happen.