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COVID ‐19: A Cloud with a Silver Lining for Renewable Energy?
Author(s) -
Khanna Madhu
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
applied economic perspectives and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.4
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 2040-5804
pISSN - 2040-5790
DOI - 10.1002/aepp.13102
Subject(s) - renewable energy , fossil fuel , covid-19 , natural resource economics , boom , coal , futures studies , spell , crash , economics , business , environmental science , engineering , waste management , environmental engineering , medicine , disease , pathology , artificial intelligence , sociology , computer science , anthropology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , electrical engineering , programming language
COVID‐19 has led to an unprecedented reduction in demand for energy for transportation and electricity, a crash in prices and employment in the fossil fuel industries and record‐breaking reductions in global carbon emissions. This paper discusses whether this “demand destruction” could spell the beginning of the end for fossil fuels or a temporary recession and the imperative to recover from the current crisis by “building back better” and not the same as before. There are encouraging signs for the renewable energy industry that could make COVID‐19 a cloud with a silver lining; whether this is the case will depend not only on the technological realities and social response to the crisis but also on political will and foresight.