Environment & Energy

Utility scale solar has low capital startup costs and low regulatory burden. A big capital cost is land but compared to other systems it is still low, and the payback in reduced costs and reduced carbon emissions is driving this growth. There will be a long transition, of course, but if the newer systems that generate hydrogen gain traction, fossil fuels can be eliminated entirely. Renewables are approaching a threshold beyond which there will be little to challenge them.

Offshore Wind is more capital intensive and must contend with some environmental objections and collision with fisheries, but the payback in energy capacity and carbon reduction is huge. If a full hydrogen economy can be developed then there could be many hydrogen exporting countries where offshore wind is chiefly used to generate hydrogen.