The growth of solar and wind energy has led to renewables accounting for 30% of global demand for electricity in 2023. But there is a detail here: it is included in this sum made na report from the think tank Ember a nuclear energy (considered clean, but not renewable). The goal of tripling renewable electricity generation capacity by 2030 is within reach, experts say.
Reduce the use of fossil fuels and gas emissions with greenhouse effect in the energy sector is something considered fundamental to achieving global climate goals, that is, limiting the global warming two degrees Celsius above the planet’s average temperature recorded before the Industrial Revolution, or, preferably, just 1.5 degrees. At the Summit of Climate At the United Nations COP28, held in Dubai last year, more than 100 countries agreed to triple renewable energy production capacity by 2030.
A Global Electricity Review from Ember showed that renewable or clean sources supplied 30.3% of the world’s electricity last year, up from 29.4% in 2022, as the growth of projects, particularly solar, increased capacity. For 19 years, solar energy has been the fastest growing generation method, and for the second year in a row, it has surpassed wind energy, becoming the main renewable energy source.
During 2024, a large number of solar parks should begin operating, which suggests that it will be another year of strong growth.”The increase in solar capacity that occurred during 2023 really unlocks the possibility of us being able to reach this level of renewable energy by 2030 and the tripling of capacity that was promised at COP28″, said Dave Jones, director of Ember, speaking to Reuters.
According to the report, more than half of global solar and wind capacity additions were recorded in China last year, with global solar energy production increasing by 23.2% and wind energy by 9.8%.
Drought reduced hydroelectric production
Widespread drought conditions caused hydroelectric production to reach its lowest level in the last five years, which led to an increase in electrical generation in coal plants. This led to a 1% increase in global greenhouse gas emissions from the energy production sector. Four countries, which were hit hard by droughts, represent 95% of this increase in coal generation in 2023: China, India, Vietnam and Mexico, says the report from think tank European specialist in energy and climate.
Sector experts stated that, for the objective to be achieved, it is necessary to resolve issues related to network connections and authorizations for new projects.
The report predicts that continued growth in renewable energy will cause electricity production from fossil fuels to decline by 2% by 2024 and global electrical generation from coal and oil will be less than 60% of the total. It will be the first time that this has happened since at least 2000, the year in which data from Ember began to be collected.
“A permanent decline in the use of fossil fuels in the energy sector worldwide is now inevitable, which will lead to a decrease in emissions from the sector,” the report states.
627 TWh627 TWh was how much global energy demand increased in 2023. This is almost equivalent to adding the entire energy consumption of a country like Canada (607TWh)
Demand for energy also reached a record in 2023: it increased by 627 TWh (TeraWatts hour, which is a unit of energy that uses an order of magnitude represented by a ten followed by 12 zeros). This is almost equivalent to adding the entire energy consumption of a country like Canada (607TWh), says the report.
Solar and wind energy grew by 513 TWh in 2023 and nuclear 46 TWh. With the drop in hydroelectric production in 88 TWhthe rest of the demand had to be met by an increase in the use of fossil fuels.
But we are already at a point of no return, say the report’s authors. “In the next decade the energy transition will enter a new phase. A permanent decline in the use of fossil fuels in electricity generation at a global level is already inevitable, which will lead to a reduction in emissions in the sector”, they conclude.
