The United Nations has revealed that energy from increasingly competitive renewable sources such as wind and solar has quadrupled globally in just a decade, but insatiable demand saw power sector emissions rise 10 per cent.
Worldwide investment in renewable energy since 2009 was on course to hit US$2.6 trillion by the end of the year, largely driven by “spectacular” falls in the price of solar panels, the UN’s annual assessment of green energy trends, Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2019, said.
The world’s renewable capacity, power generated from solar, wind, geothermal and biomass, rose from 414 gigawatts (GW) in 2009 to 1650GW this year, and renewable energy now accounts for 12.9 per cent of all electricity generated on Earth.
Solar accounted for the largest single share of the more than 2300GW of additional power capacity installed globally in the past decade, outpacing fossil fuels such as coal and gas.
Despite the surge in carbon-free solar and wind, emissions from power generation have continued to rise, with the world belching out more human made greenhouse gases in 2018 than any year on record.
The French newsagency AFP reports Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environment Program (UNEP), hailed what she termed a “decade of incredible growth in renewable energy”.
“This shows that the transition of the energy sector is on its way,” Francoise d’Estais, head of the UNEP finance unit’s Energy and Climate Branch, told AFP.
“It’s still not rapid enough for the world to meet both climate and development goals.”
Authors of the report, compiled in conjunction with the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management and BloombergNEF (BNEF), said the switch to renewable energy was largely driven by cost competitiveness.
The price of energy generated by solar photovoltaics has fallen 81 per cent since 2009, while onshore wind energy is now 46 per cent cheaper than a decade ago.
“If you time travel back we would be astounded by what has happened since then,” said Angus McCrone, chief editor of BNEF.
“The image of renewable energy was that they were fairly expensive, dependant on subsidies, and a bit of a rich economy luxury in a sense.
“Certainly that was the argument from the fossil fuel side.”
Last year renewable energy saved the equivalent of two billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, the report said.
Yet overall emissions from energy continued to rise, imperilling the temperature goals laid out in the UN sponsored Paris Agreement climate deal as global demand showed no sign of abating.
“Counting for renewable energy growth is only half the story,” Professor Ulf Moslener, head of research at the Frankfurt School, told AFP.
“When I’m on a diet I can’t just count the salads I’m eating but also the chocolate cakes.
“So it’s a case of trying to substitute fossil fuels out of the market and I see that as quite a challenge.”
The report highlights 30 nations that have invested at least US$1 billion in renewable energy in the past decade, many of whom are also significant producers and users of fossil fuels.
For example China, which produces around 29 per cent of human made CO2, is far and away the biggest investor in renewable energy, ploughing in US$760 billion since 2010.
Without naming China specifically, Mr McCrone said some nations had something of a “split personality” when it came to energy.
“They want to retain the market for the fossil fuels that they derive income from,” he said.
“On the other hand they don’t want to be left behind in the technological race and do nothing on renewable energy.”
Solar power has attracted the most investment this decade at US$1.3 trillion.
By the end of this year, there will be more solar capacity installed this decade, 638GW, than any other power generation technology.
“While this demonstrates huge and lasting progress, the pace must increase.
“Renewable energy is now firmly embedded in the power generation sector but only represents 26.3 per cent of total electricity produced, 12.9 per cent if we exclude large hydro,” the report said.
“Fossil fuel subsidies, which run into the hundreds of billions of dollars each year, are slowing progress,” it added.
Around 529GW of new coal plants have been added this decade, 487GW of new wind capacity and 438GW of new gas-fired power generation.
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