Climate Technology

Climate technology — renewable energy, energy storage, electric vehicles, green hydrogen, carbon capture, and energy efficiency — is undergoing the fastest cost reductions in technology history. Solar electricity cost has fallen 99% in 40 years (from $100/watt in 1980 to $0.02/watt in 2024) — making it the cheapest electricity in history in most of the world. Wind power costs have fallen 70% in 10 years. The IEA projects $4 trillion per year in clean energy investment will be needed by 2030 to achieve net-zero by 2050. Current investment is $1.8 trillion/year. Key challenges: intermittency (solar and wind don't produce at night or in calm weather — requiring storage or backup); grid infrastructure (the US grid needs $3 trillion in upgrades to handle distributed renewable energy); green hydrogen (clean alternative to fossil fuels for hard-to-electrify sectors); and carbon capture (removing CO2 from the atmosphere — DAC machines now capture CO2 at $400/tonne, need to reach $100/tonne).