Good environmental news has been in short supply for some time now, frequently leaving us trying to squeeze the tiniest remnants of positive out of the negative. So it makes for a welcome change of pace that I can lead with an unambiguously positive environmental story this morning: not only was solar power the fastest-growing source of global energy in 2016, but renewable energy accounted for two-thirds of new energy coming online – a total of nearly 165 gigawatts (GW).
The research undertaken by the International Energy Agency (IEA) showed that solar was leading the way, growing by 50% and passing the 74GW mark. With strong support from China, which accounted for nearly half of this total, solar photovoltaic growth was faster than any fuel worldwide – passing net growth in coal as the graph below shows.
Why the rapid change? The IEA credits the growth chiefly to low costs (auction prices were as low as three cents per kilowatt-hour, the report says) alongside government policy nudging people away from coal and towards renewables.
The report suggests we’re entering a new era of renewables, and forecasts strong growth through to 2022, with capacity predicted to expand by a whopping 920GW over the next five years. That’s a 12% uptick on last year’s forecast, thanks to impressive growth in China and India. Indeed the latter is predicted to double by 2022, overtaking the combined might of the EU.
“We see renewables growing by about 1,000 GW by 2022, which equals about half of the current global capacity in coal power, which took 80 years to build,” explained Dr Fatih Birol, the executive director of the IEA. “What we are witnessing is the birth of a new era in solar PV. We expect that solar PV capacity growth will be higher than any other renewable technology through 2022.”
This is all very positive and makes the theoretically possible goal of 100% renewable energy by 2050 seem a tiny bit more likely. But there could be trouble ahead – and as you might expect, much of it has to do with President Trump’s environmentally hostile administration in the White House. While the US is currently the second largest growth market for renewables, that could all change with Trump’s pledges to reopen coal mines. As the report diplomatically puts it: “the current uncertainty over proposed federal tax reforms, international trade, and energy policies could have implications for the relative economics of renewables and alter their expansion over the forecast period.”
Still, as a whole, the planet is moving in one direction, and if solar power becomes more affordable, it’s hard to imagine even the most dogmatic administrations standing in its way. Money talks, and right now it largely has positive things to say about solar power.
For videos click here
The research undertaken by the International Energy Agency (IEA) showed that solar was leading the way, growing by 50% and passing the 74GW mark. With strong support from China, which accounted for nearly half of this total, solar photovoltaic growth was faster than any fuel worldwide – passing net growth in coal as the graph below shows.
Why the rapid change? The IEA credits the growth chiefly to low costs (auction prices were as low as three cents per kilowatt-hour, the report says) alongside government policy nudging people away from coal and towards renewables.
The report suggests we’re entering a new era of renewables, and forecasts strong growth through to 2022, with capacity predicted to expand by a whopping 920GW over the next five years. That’s a 12% uptick on last year’s forecast, thanks to impressive growth in China and India. Indeed the latter is predicted to double by 2022, overtaking the combined might of the EU.
“We see renewables growing by about 1,000 GW by 2022, which equals about half of the current global capacity in coal power, which took 80 years to build,” explained Dr Fatih Birol, the executive director of the IEA. “What we are witnessing is the birth of a new era in solar PV. We expect that solar PV capacity growth will be higher than any other renewable technology through 2022.”
This is all very positive and makes the theoretically possible goal of 100% renewable energy by 2050 seem a tiny bit more likely. But there could be trouble ahead – and as you might expect, much of it has to do with President Trump’s environmentally hostile administration in the White House. While the US is currently the second largest growth market for renewables, that could all change with Trump’s pledges to reopen coal mines. As the report diplomatically puts it: “the current uncertainty over proposed federal tax reforms, international trade, and energy policies could have implications for the relative economics of renewables and alter their expansion over the forecast period.”
Still, as a whole, the planet is moving in one direction, and if solar power becomes more affordable, it’s hard to imagine even the most dogmatic administrations standing in its way. Money talks, and right now it largely has positive things to say about solar power.
For videos click here