U.S. presidents through the years all had very different ideas about the energy industry.
In 1979, President Jimmy Carter spearheaded what would become a renewable revolution, and placed 32 solar panels on the White House roof, amid a national energy crisis caused by the Arab oil embargo.
He was the first president to do so, and the first to take renewable energy seriously as a form of reliable and efficient energy consumption.
In the words of the President, “In the year 2000 this solar water heater behind me, which is being dedicated today, will still be here supplying cheap, efficient energy… A generation from now, this solar heater… can be just a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people.”
However, in 1981, President Reagan, who had very different ideas of how energy should be collected, ordered those solar panels removed. In fact, that was one of the first things he did upon taking office. Apparently, he considered them “a joke.”
Half of the original 32 panels were moved to Unity College in Maine in 1992 to be used to heat water.
And in 2010, President Obama, who was a well-known advocate of renewable energy, ordered solar panels reinstalled at the White House.
Now, as longtime Oil & Energy Investor readers will know, I’m fully on board with expanding the U.S.’s hold on renewable energy.
And these days, at the end of 2018, although a few years past 2000, it’s looking like President Carter’s prediction is on the verge of coming to pass.
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The Fastest Growing Energy Resource
International Energy Agency (IEA) president, Dr. Fatih Birol, stated in 2017 that “what we are witnessing is the birth of a new era in solar photovoltaics [PV]. We expect that solar PV capacity growth will be higher than any other renewable technology up to 2022.”
She’s right, too.
The growth of solar energy is being seen all over the world, and is one of the fastest-growing sectors in energy.
This year, Asia claimed the top spot as the fastest-growing region in solar consumption, claiming nearly 75% of global solar installations.
The United States comes in at a close second.
And there’s one prevailing reason we’re seeing such an increase in solar use.
It all comes down to what runs the world.
Money.