Renewable energy

Concentrated solar power parabolic troughs in the distance arranged in rectangles shining on a flat plain with snowy mountains in the background
Wind turbines beside a red dirt road
The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in China
Biomass plant in Scotland.
Examples of renewable energy options. Clockwise from top left: concentrated solar power with molten salt heat storage in Spain; wind energy in South Africa; Biomass plant in Scotland; The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in China

Renewable energy, green energy, or low-carbon energy is energy from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. Renewable resources include sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Although most renewable energy sources are sustainable, some are not. For example, some biomass sources are considered unsustainable at current rates of exploitation.[8][9] Renewable energy is often used for electricity generation, heating and cooling. Renewable energy projects are typically large-scale, but they are also suited to rural and remote areas and developing countries, where energy is often crucial in human development.[10][11]

Renewable energy is often deployed together with further electrification, which has several benefits: electricity can move heat or objects efficiently, and is clean at the point of consumption.[12][13] From 2011 to 2021, renewable energy grew from 20% to 28% of global electricity supply. Use of fossil energy shrank from 68% to 62%, and nuclear from 12% to 10%. The share of hydropower decreased from 16% to 15% while power from sun and wind increased from 2% to 10%. Biomass and geothermal energy grew from 2% to 3%. There are 3,146 gigawatts installed in 135 countries, while 156 countries have laws regulating the renewable energy sector.[14][15] In 2021, China accounted for almost half of the global increase in renewable electricity.[16]

Globally there are over 10 million jobs associated with the renewable energy industries, with solar photovoltaics being the largest renewable employer.[17] Renewable energy systems are rapidly becoming more efficient and cheaper and their share of total energy consumption is increasing,[18] with a large majority of worldwide newly installed electricity capacity being renewable.[19] In most countries, photovoltaic solar or onshore wind are the cheapest new-build electricity.[20]

Many nations around the world already have renewable energy contributing more than 20% of their total energy supply, with some generating over half their electricity from renewables.[21] A few countries generate all their electricity using renewable energy.[22] National renewable energy markets are projected to continue to grow strongly in the 2020s and beyond.[23] According to the IEA, to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, 90% of global electricity generation will need to be produced from renewable sources.[24] Some studies say that a global transition to 100% renewable energy across all sectors – power, heat, transport and industry – is feasible and economically viable.[25][26][27]

Renewable energy resources exist over wide geographical areas, in contrast to fossil fuels, which are concentrated in a limited number of countries. Deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies is resulting in significant energy security, climate change mitigation, and economic benefits.[28] However renewables are being hindered by hundreds of billions of dollars of fossil fuel subsidies.[29] In international public opinion surveys there is strong support for renewables such as solar power and wind power.[30][31] In 2022 the International Energy Agency asked countries to solve policy, regulatory, permitting and financing obstacles to adding more renewables, to have a better chance of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050.[32]

  1. ^ Owusu, Phebe Asantewaa; Asumadu-Sarkodie, Samuel (2016). "A review of renewable energy sources, sustainability issues and climate change mitigation". Cogent Engineering. 3 (1): 1167990. doi:10.1080/23311916.2016.1167990.
  2. ^ Ellabban, Omar; Abu-Rub, Haitham; Blaabjerg, Frede (2014). "Renewable energy resources: Current status, future prospects and their enabling technology". Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 39: 748–764 [749]. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2014.07.113.
  3. ^ Ang, Tze-Zhang; Salem, Mohamed; Kamarol, Mohamad; Das, Himadry Shekhar; Nazari, Mohammad Alhuyi; Prabaharan, Natarajan (2022). "A comprehensive study of renewable energy sources: Classifications, challenges and suggestions". Energy Strategy Reviews. 43: 100939. doi:10.1016/j.esr.2022.100939.
  4. ^ Osman, Ahmed I.; Chen, Lin; Yang, Mingyu; Msigwa, Goodluck; Farghali, Mohamed; Fawzy, Samer; Rooney, David W.; Yap, Pow-Seng (2023). "Cost, environmental impact, and resilience of renewable energy under a changing climate: a review". Environmental Chemistry Letters. 21 (2): 741–764. doi:10.1007/s10311-022-01532-8.
  5. ^ Qazi, Atika; Hussain, Fayaz; Rahim, Nasrudin ABD.; Hardaker, Glenn; Alghazzawi, Daniyal; Shaban, Khaled; Haruna, Khalid (2019). "Towards Sustainable Energy: A Systematic Review of Renewable Energy Sources, Technologies, and Public Opinions". IEEE Access. 7: 63837–63851. doi:10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2906402.
  6. ^ Joon, Rambeer (2021). "Renewable Energy Sources: A Review". Journal of Physics: Conference Series. 1979 (1): 012023. doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1979/1/012023.
  7. ^ Deshmukh, Md Kashif Gohar; Sameeroddin, Mohd; Abdul, Daud; Abdul Sattar, Mohammed (2023). "Renewable energy in the 21st century: A review". Materials Today: Proceedings. 80: 1756–1759. doi:10.1016/j.matpr.2021.05.501.
  8. ^ Timperly, Jocelyn (23 February 2017). "Biomass subsidies 'not fit for purpose', says Chatham House". Carbon Brief Ltd © 2020 - Company No. 07222041. Archived from the original on 6 November 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  9. ^ Harvey, Chelsea; Heikkinen, Niina (23 March 2018). "Congress Says Biomass Is Carbon Neutral but Scientists Disagree - Using wood as fuel source could actually increase CO2 emissions". Scientific American. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  10. ^ Alazraque-Cherni, Judith (1 April 2008). "Renewable Energy for Rural Sustainability in Developing Countries". Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society. 28 (2): 105–114. doi:10.1177/0270467607313956. S2CID 67817602. Archived from the original on 19 March 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  11. ^ World Energy Assessment (2001). Renewable energy technologies Archived 9 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine, p. 221.
  12. ^ Armaroli, Nicola; Balzani, Vincenzo (2011). "Towards an electricity-powered world". Energy and Environmental Science. 4 (9): 3193–3222. doi:10.1039/c1ee01249e.
  13. ^ Armaroli, Nicola; Balzani, Vincenzo (2016). "Solar Electricity and Solar Fuels: Status and Perspectives in the Context of the Energy Transition". Chemistry – A European Journal. 22 (1): 32–57. doi:10.1002/chem.201503580. PMID 26584653.
  14. ^ "Renewables 2022". Global Status Report (renewable energies): 44. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  15. ^ REN21 Renewables Global Status Report 2021.
  16. ^ "Renewables – Global Energy Review 2021 – Analysis". IEA. Archived from the original on 23 November 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  17. ^ "Renewable Energy and Jobs – Annual Review 2020". irena.org. 29 September 2020. Archived from the original on 6 December 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  18. ^ "Global renewable energy trends". Deloitte Insights. Archived from the original on 29 January 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  19. ^ "Renewable Energy Now Accounts for a Third of Global Power Capacity". irena.org. 2 April 2019. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  20. ^ IEA (2020). Renewables 2020 Analysis and forecast to 2025 (Report). p. 12. Archived from the original on 26 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  21. ^ Ritchie, Hannah; Roser, Max; Rosado, Pablo (28 November 2020). "Energy". Our World in Data.
  22. ^ Sensiba, Jennifer (28 October 2021). "Some Good News: 10 Countries Generate Almost 100% Renewable Electricity". CleanTechnica. Archived from the original on 17 November 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  23. ^ REN21 Renewables Global Futures Report 2017.
  24. ^ "Net Zero by 2050 – Analysis". IEA. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  25. ^ Bogdanov, Dmitrii; Gulagi, Ashish; Fasihi, Mahdi; Breyer, Christian (1 February 2021). "Full energy sector transition towards 100% renewable energy supply: Integrating power, heat, transport and industry sectors including desalination". Applied Energy. 283: 116273. Bibcode:2021ApEn..28316273B. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.116273. ISSN 0306-2619.
  26. ^ Teske, Sven, ed. (2019). Achieving the Paris Climate Agreement Goals. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-05843-2. ISBN 978-3-030-05842-5. S2CID 198078901.
  27. ^ Jacobson, Mark Z.; von Krauland, Anna-Katharina; Coughlin, Stephen J.; Dukas, Emily; Nelson, Alexander J. H.; Palmer, Frances C.; Rasmussen, Kylie R. (2022). "Low-cost solutions to global warming, air pollution, and energy insecurity for 145 countries". Energy & Environmental Science. 15 (8): 3343–3359. doi:10.1039/D2EE00722C. ISSN 1754-5692. S2CID 250126767.
  28. ^ International Energy Agency (2012). "Energy Technology Perspectives 2012". Archived from the original on 28 May 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  29. ^ Timperley, Jocelyn (20 October 2021). "Why fossil fuel subsidies are so hard to kill". Nature. 598 (7881): 403–405. Bibcode:2021Natur.598..403T. doi:10.1038/d41586-021-02847-2. PMID 34671143. S2CID 239052649.
  30. ^ "Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment 2007: Analysis of Trends and Issues in the Financing of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in OECD and Developing Countries" (PDF). unep.org. United Nations Environment Programme. 2007. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  31. ^ Sütterlin, B.; Siegrist, Michael (2017). "Public acceptance of renewable energy technologies from an abstract versus concrete perspective and the positive imagery of solar power". Energy Policy. 106: 356–366. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2017.03.061.
  32. ^ "Executive summary – Renewables 2022 – Analysis". IEA. Retrieved 13 March 2023. Our accelerated case shows global renewable capacity can expand by an additional 25% compared with the main forecast if countries address policy, regulatory, permitting and financing challenges. …… This faster increase would significantly narrow the gap on the amount of renewable electricity growth that is needed in a pathway to net zero emissions by 2050.

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