The science is settled. Human activities that emit greenhouse gasses (GHGs) are warming the planet and causing devastating climate change. Current GHG emissions must be halved by 2030 and net-zero GHG emissions must be reached by 2050 to contain global warming at a sub-catastrophic level. As fossil-fuel-based energy production is a leading cause of GHG emissions, clean energy technologies play a vital role in a sustainable future for the planet.

The cost of solar and wind energy has fallen considerably over the past decade and no longer yields a significant cost disadvantage compared with fossil fuels. Next-gen renewable technologies such as waste-to-energy, sustainable fuels, fusion energy, geothermal, wave, and tidal, etc. are still at a nascent stage but can be expected to follow similar declining cost principles as they scale. Next-gen advancements in energy storage are also vital in matching the intermittent supply of renewable energy with inflexible demand.