With the world\u2019s most important fossil fuel supply route at a near-standstill, many advocates for wind and solar say the transition to renewable energy is about to shift to a much higher speed.<\/p>\n
The United Nations climate chief, Simon Stiell, recently described an \u201cimmense irony\u201d in which leaders who have \u201cfought to keep the world hooked<\/a> on fossil fuels are inadvertently supercharging the global renewables boom.\u201d<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t name President Trump, but the United States is aggressively promoting petroleum and natural gas, and its attack on Iran has led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the route for about one-fifth of global oil trade.<\/p>\n It will take time to see how fully Mr. Stiell\u2019s prediction plays out. But a report on Wednesday underlines one reason for the sentiment: At a time when oil and gas supply is faltering, the cost of wind and solar energy keeps declining. And, when paired with battery systems for storage, renewables can often provide steady electricity more cheaply than fossil fuels, even when the sun doesn\u2019t shine or the wind doesn\u2019t blow.<\/p>\n This comes as Chinese solar panel exports broke a record in March<\/a>, double the level of the previous month, with countries like Nigeria, India and Australia importing more than ever before. Analysts caution that some of the surge might have come from rush-buying before a Chinese policy change that would effectively raise prices from April onward.<\/p>\n But there is other evidence of a potential shift, from surging E.V. sales in Europe and Asia as well as a rise in European heat pump sales<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Wednesday report, from the International Renewable Energy Agency, an intergovernmental organization based in Abu Dhabi, shows how a traditional weakness of solar and wind power, the intermittence, is receding amid technological leaps and cheaper batteries. The ability to maintain a predictable energy flow is particularly crucial for projects like data centers, which require a consistent supply.<\/p>\n \u201cRenewables are entering this new territory,\u201d said Francesco La Camera, director general of the renewable energy agency, which promotes clean energy worldwide. \u201cIn this case, storage will make renewables become dominant in the energy system. There is no doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n