It’s becoming a familiar sight across America: coal-fired smokestacks looming over towns and cities that no longer produce any smoke, a testament to the clean energy revolution currently taking place. Coal, long the king of the power sector, has already been dethroned by natural gas, a much cleaner burning fossil fuel. Now, coal is facing intensifying pressure from wind and solar power. In fact, the renewable energy sector is projected to generate more electricity than coal during the month of April, something that has never happened before. The problem with coal is economics. Wind and solar costs have plunged so drastically that 74% of the US coal fleet could be replaced by renewable energy and still save customers money. Plus, America’s coal power plants aren’t getting any younger. The average coal plant is about 40 years old. Coal plants typically last around 40 to 60 years before getting phased out. As they age, these plants require more maintenance and repairs. Rather than build new coal plants, it makes much more sense for utility companies to build renewable infrastructure. With April set to be the first month where renewables outcompete coal power, it looks as if it’s the beginning of the end for coal power in America.
Renewables are set to start outpacing coal power this month
More of Today's Solutions
Scientists build first fully human bone marrow model to revolutionize blood d...
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In a transformative leap for regenerative medicine, scientists have developed the first entirely human-engineered bone marrow system. This ...
Read More7 cold and flu season mistakes doctors want you to quit making
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM You’ve heard the warnings: cold and flu season is no joke. But despite our best intentions (and fully ...
Read MoreThree ways we can repurpose closed department stores
40 percent of US department stores have closed their doors in the past five years, but the question remains: what do we do with ...
Read MoreHubble takes beautiful image of galaxies “dancing”
The Hubble Space Telescope ventured into space over three decades ago in 1990, and has observed around 50,000 celestial bodies to date. During this ...
Read More
