Why 2015 may be remembered as a transformative year for how we get energy

by Chris Mooney, The Washington Post | Link to article

The United States is on track to shut down a record amount of coal-fired power plants in 2015. At the same time, it has installed a record amount of new solar energy capacity.

The past year, in other words, hints at a historic transition for the U.S. energy sector. From dramatic price plunges for oil and natural gas to the significant emergence of industrial batteries for energy storage, 2015 was on a momentous course even before the world came together in Paris to agree on steps to reduce global warming.

While it’s not always a simple story, the overall tenor of these changes is clear — Americans are moving into a world that will get less of its energy from fossil fuels, that will embrace clean or low emission sources of electricity and that will write this into policy.

The change didn’t begin in 2015 — and won’t happen overnight. Nor is it really marked by any single development – but rather, by a whole range of them. Just consider these developments this year…

(Link to article)