Renewal Energy Companies Failures

​There are many companies offering renewable energy technologies. These are technologies that create energy that does not depend on the use of carbonaceous materials (coal, oil or gas) that are currently in the ground. Examples of renewable technologies that have developed at scale include systems to make electricity from wind or the sun and fuels made from transforming agricultural products or waste into renewable diesel or gas. Initially the cost of renewable energy was higher than fossil energy and therefore the deployment of these technologies was determined by the government’s willingness to provide subsidies. Everyone assumed that once renewable energy costs dip below fossil energy costs, everyone will shift to renewables, however, this is not what happened. Today, overall, only a small percentage of the energy comes from renewables (provide latest IEA data) as existing plants, even if more costly, have not been mothballed. The reason is that writing off assets in the short term to earn money over the long term is difficult to do for a private company. The second issue is that a massive shift in energy infrastructure suitable for renewables takes time due to government and industry inertia. This shows that it is not enough for renewable energy companies to provide economically attractive solutions for green house gas reductions, we must also find a way to overcome inertia given that we do not have the luxury of waiting 50 years that is typically needed for major infrastructure changes in energy.