The Energy Industry Is Near a Big Tipping Point

A major milestone is coming soon for the world’s biggest polluter. In 2021, solar power is going to be cheaper than coal in China—faster than many expect, according to a report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Power generated from solar energy is already as affordable or less expensive than its coal cousin in places like Germany and the U.S. In addition, offshore wind farms are getting more competitive. The report says the cost of turbines at sea will plunge 71 percent by 2040. “These tipping points are all happening earlier, and we just can’t deny that this technology is getting cheaper than we previously thought,” said Seb Henbest, a researcher at BNEF in London and lead author of the report.

U.S. investigators have found evidence that Russia hacked into election-related systems in 39 states, indicating that there was a much broader attempt to disrupt the vote than has previously been known by the public. One case study is Illinois, where hackers got into campaign finance and voter registration databases. Hackers aren’t alleged to have changed votes, but there was evidence in Illinois that they tried to delete or change voter information, Bloomberg’s Michael Riley and Jordan Robertson report.