The existence of a “carbon bubble” – assets in fossil fuels that are currently overvalued because, in the medium and long-term, the world will have to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions – has long been proposed by academics, activists and investors. The new study, published on Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change, shows that a sharp slump in the value of fossil fuels would cause this bubble to burst, and posits that such a slump is likely before 2035 based on current patterns of energy use.
Crucially, the findings suggest that a rapid decline in fossil fuel demand is no longer dependent on stronger policies and actions from governments around the world. Instead, the authors’ detailed simulations found the demand drop would take place even if major nations undertake no new climate policies, or reverse some previous commitments.
That is because advances in technologies for energy efficiency and renewable power, and the accompanying drop in their price, have made low-carbon energy much more economically and technically attractive.
Setting aside concerns about financial crisis, this sure seems like a compelling reason to divest from oil-based energy stocks. But it also seems to me that it doesn't actually argue in favor of investing in clean energy tech because prices are dropping so quickly and solar/wind has gotten totally commodified.
Submitted June 04, 2018 at 03:45PM by unfixablesteve https://ift.tt/2HnedRu
