Sustainable solar energy in competition with Oil? Not yet Uhuru!

Solar power has many uses. A cursory look at the gadgets that are powered by solar energy, as one can see on this site, can only make you wonder if and when solar energy will take its rightful place as a competitor with oil.

It’s true, in the market for energy, contrary to what many like you and I believe, solar energy is not in competition with oil.

Solar energy and oil are not substitutes. That means if the price of oil falls, the demand for solar energy does not fall at the expense of a rise in the demand for oil. Solar power is a substitute with natural gas, especially in countries that are at the forefront of renewable energy research like China, United States and the Eurozone.

In the recent past, the price of oil has taken a steep downward dive while the market is glutted with oil. Saudi Arabia, one of the highest producing countries in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, will not budge about cutting production costs even though Nigeria, Venezuela and Iran desperately want it to.

Solar Impulse 2: A sustainable future for green energy!

Photo Credit: Charles Barilleaux on Flickr

Concern for the environment, principally climate change and the demand for green energy, will make a push for renewable energies, like solar power, take a prominent position in the energy needs of corporations and the largest consumers of global energy, the military. The success of the first solar powered plane on its epic bid to fly around the world, the Solar Impulse 2, will open doors to a sustainable future for green energy. One foresees a jump in the demand for solar energy as the driver of heavy military gears.

The input cost of producing solar energy is relatively cheap, both economically and environmentally. In countries like India and Africa, where the sun is high and plentiful, the equipment costs that small businesses will have to overcome starts with a solar panel.

It will not be long, if solar energy keeps making these giant strides, before it comes out of its shadow role as an alternative source of energy to become a direct competitor with oil.