The world will be getting nearly half its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) latest findings.
As early as next year, the world is set to get more electricity from renewable sources than it does from coal specifically, the report predicts.
The key to this dramatic change is — in a word — solar. Ranging from a few watts installed on rooftops to gigawatt-sized, utility-scale farms, solar energy has emerged as the cheapest form of renewable energy, owing to sharp price declines, shorter permitting times and widespread social acceptance, said IEA.
Cheap solar power is projected to outpace all other forms of renewable electricity generation in the coming years, with China still manufacturing and deploying most of this clean resource. Between now and 2030, IEA forecasts new solar capacity will account for 80% of the growth in global renewable power.
China, which in July met its wind and solar goals six years early, has “cemented” its position as the global renewables leader, said IEA. The agency projects China will be “home to every other megawatt of all renewable energy capacity installed worldwide in 2030.”
Even though the world’s renewable energy consumption is expected to increase 60% by the end of the decade, it still won’t be enough to achieve net-zero emissions by mid-century. To reach that goal, IEA said governments around the world will need to further speed up permitting for new projects, add more transmission lines and find new ways to integrate additional wind and solar into electric grids.
Source: This article was originally published on cipher. Read the original article.
Photo by Kelly : https://www.pexels.com/photo/aerial-view-of-solar-panels-array-on-green-grass-2800845/
