Damian Carrington - Drop in renewable energy costs leads to record global boost
Renewable energy capacity
around the world was boosted by a record amount in 2016 and delivered at a
markedly lower cost, according to new global data – although the total
financial investment in renewables actually fell. The greater
“bang-for-buck” resulted from plummeting prices for solar and wind power and
led to new power deals in countries including Denmark, Egypt, India, Mexico and
the United Arab Emirates all being priced well below fossil fuel or nuclear
options.
Analysts warned that
the US’s withdrawal from the Paris climate change agreement, announced
last week by Donald Trump, risked the US being left behind in the
fast-moving transition to a low-carbon economy. But they also warned that the
green transition was still not happening fast enough to avoid the worst impacts
of global warming, especially in the transport and heating sectors.
The new renewable
energy capacity installed worldwide in 2016 was 161GW, a 10% rise on 2015 and a
new record, according
to REN21, a network of public and private sector groups covering 155
nations and 96% of the world’s population. The new record
capacity cost $242bn, a 23% reduction in investment compared to 2015, and
renewables investment remained larger than for all fossil fuels. Subsidies for
green energy, however, are still much lower than those for coal, oil and gas.
New solar power
provided the biggest boost – half of all new capacity – followed by wind power
at a third and hydropower at 15%. It is the first year that the new solar
capacity added has been greater than any other electricity-producing
technology. “A global energy
transition [is] well under way, with record new additions of installed
renewable energy capacity, rapidly falling costs and the decoupling of economic
growth and energy-related carbon dioxide emissions for the third year running,”
said Arthouros Zervos, chair of REN21… read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/06/spectacular-drop-in-renewable-energy-costs-leads-to-record-global-boost
