The world is implementing 2 alternative sources of “green” energy the fastest — sunny and windy. Their growth is far ahead of the development of hydropower, which in practice is the largest supplier of “clean” energy.
The world has passed an important stage in the development of clean energy, as the boom in wind and solar energy has led to 30% of the world's electricity was produced by renewable sources.
How “green” energy developed in 2023-24
According to the Global Electricity Review, published by think tank Ember, the world has made significant progress in clean energy. This is reported by CNN. Experts predict that global fossil fuel production will decline slightly in 2024 and experience a significant decline in the following years.
This is a significant step towards the global goal — to reach 60% renewable electricity by 2030, said Dave Jones, director of global research at Ember.
“The future of renewables is already here,” — Jones said. “In particular, solar energy is developing faster than anyone could have imagined.”
Report data shows how strongly the global energy sector is changing. In 2000, renewable sources accounted for less than 19% of the global energy balance. Now they make up more than 30%. Taking nuclear power into account, last year the world produced almost 40% of its electricity from low-carbon sources.
While global levels of warming pollution hit a record high in 2023, the renewables boom pushed the carbon intensity of the electricity sector to a record low in 2023 2007, which is 12% less than the peak in 2007.
The development of “clean” energy is slowing the growth of fossil fuel energy by almost two-thirds over the last decade, according to the report. Already, more than 50% of countries have overcome the peak in electricity production using fossil fuels for 5 years.
Solar energy — the fastest growing source of electricity
The world is implementing 2 alternative sources of “green” energy the fastest — sunny and windy. Their growth is far ahead of the development of hydropower, which in practice is the largest supplier of “clean” energy.
Although coal and gas still make up the bulk of global electricity generation, their growth rates last year were much lower than in “wind” and “sun”.
Renewable energy growth would have been even higher if not for a significant drop in hydropower due to drought in countries such as China and India. They filled the deficit at the expense of coal. And yet, China is the largest producer of solar electricity in the world. This country has huge capacities — 36% of global solar electricity production and will produce 2 times more solar electricity than the US in 2023 and 2024. But the share of solar energy in the domestic electricity balance of both countries is equally low — about 6%.
According to the report, solar energy accounts for more than 10% of annual electricity generation in 33 countries, including Chile (30%), Australia (17%) and the Netherlands (17%), with California the fifth largest world economy, produces 28% of its electricity from solar energy.
The share of fossil fuels in the total volume of electricity fell from 64.7% in 2000 to 60.6% in 2023. Ember predicts that this number will drop significantly in 2024 to 57.6% due to the rapid growth of solar energy.
According to the report, solar energy was the fastest growing source of electricity in 2023 — 19th year in a row. It accounted for almost twice as much new electricity generation as coal last year.
The largest number of solar plants were installed at the end of 2023, so the full effect has yet to be felt, Jones said. “I think that 2024 will please us with new data,” — he emphasized.
Demand for “clean” electricity will increase sharply
Global electricity demand is set to rise to a record high in 2023, equivalent to Canada's total electricity demand, but the pace of growth has slowed compared to the average over the past decade — up to 2.5%. China was the main driver of demand, while the US and Europe saw sharp declines amid milder weather and — especially in the EU.
Analysts expect demand growth to accelerate dramatically over the next few years, driven by technologies such as electric vehicles, heat pumps, air conditioners and electrolysis — a process used to produce “green” hydrogen. Experts believe that “clean” electrification will be more efficient than fossil fuels.
Overall, the Ember report is “promising”, — said Nancy Hegel, a science consultant at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
“It shows that the world can generate significant amounts of electricity with 'green' energy,” — she said.
The question is whether the pace of transition will be fast enough.
“The choice over the next 10 years is critical,” — stressed the consultant.