Nick Visser - The World Just Made A Major Shift Toward Renewable Energy
The world installed
more new renewable energy last year than coal, as countries attempt to shift
away from fossil fuels and take advantage of massive cost reductions in wind
and solar technology.
More than half of all energy generation capacity added
in 2015 came from renewable sources, as the world installed more than half a
million solar panels a day and two wind turbines every hour, the International
Energy Agency announced Tuesday.
“We are witnessing a
transformation of global power markets led by renewables and, as is the case
with other fields, the center of gravity for renewable growth is moving to
emerging markets,” IEA executive director Fatih Birol said in a statement. Those statistics only
reflect the total amount now able to be produced, not the energy that was
actually generated.
The agency said
renewables would be the fastest-growing source of electricity production over
the next five years and would “rapidly close the gap with coal.” More than 65
percent of this capacity will come from development in China, the U.S., the
European Union and India ― also the world’s four biggest polluters.
The cost of renewable
energy has fallen dramatically in recent years as funding for new
technology has skyrocketed. Investment in clean energy capacity beat that of
fossil fuels 2 to 1 between 2008 and 2015, according to the United
Nations Environment Program. Leaders in the
environmental community praised the statistics. Michael Brune, executive director
of the Sierra Club, hailed the move as a “historic milestone,” but he called on
leaders to “maintain our focus to keep up the momentum” behind the clean energy
transition.
“The international
community has reached a turning point as we hit the accelerator on the
transition to a clean energy economy,” Brune said in a statement. “This news
doesn’t just mean the world installed more renewable energy than dirty coal ―
it means cleaner air, new jobs, and a more stable climate.” While the IEA did
raise its estimate for the amount of renewable energy produced by 2021, the
agency also warned of barriers to entry in developing countries and renewed
calls for “stronger policy efforts” in the heat and transportation sectors.
