Special to InsideLowell by 350 Mass

Two broad strokes define the picture of renewable energy in the coming decades. The first stems from economy and the second from necessity.

American industry has been transitioning from fossil fuels to electricity since the beginning of the 20^th century. Electricity was shown at that time to be a much cleaner and less cumbersome form of energy. In the last decade, renewable electricity has also been shown to be cheaper.  Where oil and gas require continual extraction and transport of materials to burn, solar panels and wind turbines require nothing but the sun and wind once they have been installed – and sunlight and wind are free. Importantly, big strides have also been made in battery and other forms of storage to ensure the reliability of the energy supply as we make this transition.

The transition to these renewable energy sources, however, requires new infrastructure, as any new technology does. This is where the second broad stroke of this transition comes in: we must make the switch very soon in order to avoid the destruction of climate change.

In the normal course of our economy we might rely on the financial markets alone to change us over to less expensive renewable electricity. We might even have the luxury of several decades and the many billions of dollars required for the much-hyped possibility of fusion power.

Unfortunately, as recent financial losses from climate change are making clear, the whole world must act quickly to avoid even greater, life threatening changes to our climate. This is a crisis that is picking up speed every year.

Because of this second broad factor, both State and Federal governments have become involved in regulating and financing the change to renewable energy. This transition needs a lot of planning and bold action. We are in a position that is somewhat similar to a big homework assignment in high school. If we start on it now it won’t be so bad, but the longer we wait, the more we’ll have to do at the last minute.

The 2021 Massachusetts Climate Law, “an act creating a next generation road map for climate policy”  has laid out a timeline of becoming 50% carbon neutral by 2030 and 100% by 2050.

This year, Massachusetts passed follow-up legislation and the Federal Inflation Reduction Act, appropriated a lot of money for clean energy.  These   provide  significant rebates and tax credits for the renewable transition  Substantial help will be available in this coming year for doing things like buying electric cars and installing solar panels and heat pumps.

Nonetheless this is not a simple transition, and these rebates and tax credits need to be applied carefully. The danger will be that low income communities may be left holding the bag, unable to afford to leave their old gas guzzlers for electric vehicles, or to install electric heat pumps or geothermal to heat their houses. These transitions will save substantial money in the long run, but many people may have trouble with the initial costs.

This also applies to the community level, where affluent communities often have both the resources and the know-how to apply for federal and state grants, while low income communities, again, are easily left behind. This is why continual vigilance and ongoing legislation are needed in order to make this a fair and just transition.

The broad picture of the next few decades in Massachusetts is a good one, with a vibrant new economy, thousands of new jobs, decreased energy costs, and less harm to the environment, but we must be vigilant to make sure that we all get there together.