The Renewable Energy Source Thats About to Boom Again
Workers next to solar panels in an integrated power station in Yancheng, Prc, in October. An unprecedented amount of renewable ability came online in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency. China alone added more than 92 gigawatts of chapters, more triple the amount it added in the fourth quarter of 2019. Hector Retamal / AFP hibernate caption
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Hector Retamal / AFP
Workers side by side to solar panels in an integrated power station in Yancheng, Prc, in October. An unprecedented amount of renewable power came online in the quaternary quarter of 2020, co-ordinate to a new report from the International Energy Agency. China alone added more than 92 gigawatts of chapters, more than triple the amount it added in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Hector Retamal / AFP
Despite the pandemic, the growth rate in the earth's renewable energy chapters jumped 45% in 2020, part of "an unprecedented smash" in wind and solar energy, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency. It'southward the largest annual charge per unit of increase since 1999.
"An exceptional 90% rise in global wind capacity additions led the expansion," the report states. It besides cites a 23% expansion in new solar power installations.
In 2020, renewable power was "the only energy source for which need increased ... while consumption of all other fuels declined," says the IEA, whose mission is to brand the world's energy supply more reliable, affordable and sustainable.
The IEA predicts large chapters gains in renewable free energy volition go the "new normal" in 2022 and 2022, with increases like to 2020's record total.
An unprecedented amount of renewable ability came online in the fourth quarter of 2020, the report states. China alone added more than 92 gigawatts of capacity – more than triple the amount it added in the fourth quarter of 2019. The U.South. added 19 gigawatts, a abrupt gain over the 13.7 it added in the same quarter of the previous year.
Despite the gains in renewable energy, experts warn that a "substantial gap" persists betwixt emissions from continued fossil fuel use and the lower levels needed to see temperature limits in the Paris Agreement on climate change past the end of the decade.
"A massive expansion of clean electricity is crucial to enable the earth to achieve its net cipher goals," IEA head Fatih Birol said on Tuesday, calling on governments to build on the momentum of the past year to invest more in solar, wind and other renewables, along with bolstering their electrical grid infrastructures.
Global coal consumption of coal, a key source of greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global climate change, fell by iv% in 2022 – the biggest drop since Globe War Two, the IEA said earlier this yr. Only demand has been building anew since tardily last year, driven by Asia's economies that were among the starting time to start bouncing back from the COVID-xix pandemic.
Some other factor: even as Mainland china invests in "green" energy, the country has also continued to build new coal power plants. Communist china is responsible for about a third of the earth's annual coal consumption – and it'south expected to hit a new record high in 2021, the IEA said in April.
The U.S. relies on coal-fired power plants for near 20% of its electricity generating capacity, according to the federal Energy Information Assistants, citing figures from the end of 2020. The largest share of the land's power comes from natural gas-fired plants, which account for 43% of U.Southward. capacity, the bureau says.
The IEA says it revised its U.Due south. renewable energy forecast afterward Congress extended federal tax credits for solar and wind projects, as role of the spending bill lawmakers approved in late 2020.
The sector could rise further if Congress passes legislation that is based on President Biden'due south infrastructure plan, the Paris-based agency says.
The U.S. approved a big offshore wind project on Tuesday, advancing a plan to build a turbine installation some 12 nautical miles offshore from Martha'southward Vineyard, Mass. This photo shows the first offshore air current project in America: the Block Island Wind Farm, off the shores of Cake Island, R.I., as seen in 2016. Don Emmert/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
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Don Emmert/AFP via Getty Images
The U.Southward. approved a large offshore wind projection on Tuesday, advancing a program to build a turbine installation some 12 nautical miles offshore from Martha'due south Vineyard, Mass. The 800-megawatt projection would produce enough electricity to ability 400,000 homes and businesses, the Biden administration says.
The IEA'south Renewable Energy Market place Update identifies several countries as driving the astounding growth in renewable energy last year, including People's republic of china, the U.S. and Vietnam. All three countries were facing policy deadlines that spurred renewable energy projects to completion.
For the kickoff time, Communist china accounted for fifty% of the world's growth in renewable energy capacity, the study says. The country is expected to add slightly less renewable power capacity in 2021, as it phases out some subsidies for wind and solar projects.
Despite those changes, solar energy development "will go along to break records," the IEA says, predicting that annual capacity additions will hit 162 gigawatts by the end of next year – almost 50% higher than the solar capacity gains in the pre-pandemic era of 2019.
Renewable energy sources "are expected to account for 90% of total global power capacity increases" this year and next, according to the agency, citing support from government policies and investments.
The Paris-based IEA was founded during the energy crunch of the early on 1970s. It has 30 members, including the U.S., forth with eight "clan countries," such as China and Bharat.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2021/05/11/995849954/renewable-energy-capacity-jumped-45-worldwide-in-2020-iea-sees-new-normal
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