THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Sharp rise in renewable energy generation

Sharp rise in renewable energy generation

RENEWABLE energy, excluding large-sized hydropower projects, accounted for 134 gigawatts of the 253GW of additional electricity capacity generated globally in 2015 - one of several important firsts for green energy announced in a new UN-backed report.

That compares with 106GW in 2014 and 87GW in 2013.
The report “Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2016” showed that coal and gas-fired electricity generation last year drew less than half the record investment made in solar, wind and other renewables (including biofuels, geothermal, marine and small hydro) capacity.
The 10th edition of the UN Environment Programme’s annual publication also showed that the annual global investment in new renewables capacity, at US$266 billion (Bt9.3 trillion), was more than double the estimated $130 billion invested in coal and gas power stations in 2015.
All investments in renewables, including early-stage technology and research and development as well as spending on new capacity, totalled $286 billion in 2015, some 3 per cent higher than the previous record in 2011.
Since 2004, the world has invested $2.3 trillion in renewable energy (unadjusted for inflation).
Developing world investments in renewables topped those of developed nations for the first time in 2015, led by China and India. Investments by the developing world totalled $156 billion, against $130 billion by developed countries.
Were it not for renewables, excluding large hydro, annual global CO2 emissions would have been an estimated 1.5 gigatonnes higher in 2015.
Despite increasing investment, renewables still accounted for only 16.2 per cent of the world’s total installed power capacity last year, against 15.2 per cent in 2014.
“Despite the ambitious signals from COP21 in Paris and the growing capacity of new installed renewable energy, there is still a long way to go,” said Prof Udo Steffens, president of the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, which co-produced the report.
“Coal-fired power stations and other conventional power plants have long lifetimes. Without further policy interventions, climate-altering emissions of carbon dioxide will increase for at least another decade.”
The recent big fall in coal, oil and gas prices makes conventional electricity generation more attractive, Steffens added. “However, the commitments made by all nations at the Paris climate summit in December, echoing statements from last year’s G7 summit, require a very low- or no-carbon electricity system.”

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