Renewable Energy Status Report
Renewable Energy Status Report
By Nikola Pelnena
Solving the energy crisis is one of the most difficult hurdles that the 21st century governments must tackle in order to guarantee a viable path for future generations. However, this comes as no easy task. Not only are long-term solutions hard to come by, so are finding more sustainable sources of energy. On top of that, governments around different parts of the world have differing opinions and objectives, thus finding accord and setting collaborative measures is an impeding issue.
Most often the words “sustainable” and “renewable” energy are used interchangeably. This causes some confusion, as mostly but not always sustainable sources are renewable. Thus, a clear definition for the two words must be taken into account in order to open room for discussion.
Sustainable energy is described as energy coming from sources that attain the current energy requirements without compromising the future generations.
On the other hand, renewable energy is defined as energy coming from sources that naturally renew themselves at a pace that allows countries to meet their energy objectives on time. These types of sources include hydropower, solar, wind, biomass and geothermal energy. However, not all renewable sources are sustainable. Governments around the world have been putting more resources on sourcing renewable energy that could also tackle the clearly evident environmental issues that the world is facing day-to-day.
In this report, the main focus is going to be on renewable energy, as finding and locating existing resources that naturally replenish themselves over time is a detrimental goal for our future.
According to research, not only are renewable resources more cost-efficient than fossil fuels, but their impact on the planet is much less acute. If the work on finding these resources continues to accelerate in the coming years, renewable power sources could supply our energy demands indefinitely.
The reasons for the growing interest in renewable energy can be traced to climate change risks and the demand for cleaner energy sources from many industries around the world. As reported by the International Energy Agency, renewable energy installations broke new records in the year of 2021. Moreover, installations of renewable energy are expected to rise by 8%, despite the rising costs of raw materials spurred by global supply chain issues post-pandemic and Russia’s invasion in Ukraine.
Another key driver of renewable energy can also be linked to the 2022 Energy Crisis when European countries were no longer being supplied fossil fuels by Russia, thus expediting the search for new energy sources. Data by the European Commission highlights that the European Union (EU) produces only 42% of its own energy which imminently grew concerns about the EU’s dependability on Russian gas, thus increasing the demand for energy autonomy.
The unforeseen turbulence in energy markets, price volatility and uncertainty for what’s next to come has burdened EU politicians throughout 2022, growing concerns for the upcoming winters and unpredictable weather conditions. According to many reports, Russia’s invasion in Ukraine is spawning the transition to more sustainable and secure energy systems all over the European Union, as well as a greener future. Not only are natural gas, coal and electricity markets under immense pressure and turmoil, energy markets are becoming more vulnerable and have shown governments the fragility that non-renewable sources of energy pose in the midst of a crisis. Although the first concern is to heat the homes of people all over Europe and use everything countries have, such as aging coal-fired power plants as their last resort in case more renewable sources of energy cannot provide enough power for the winter of 2022.
Even if the high prices for energy continue to burden countries, renewable energy sources such as solar energy will highlight its cost advantage in the next few years. According to a report conducted by Deloitte, renewable energy growth is poised to expedite from 2022 onwards. In the long term, the Ukraine crisis will bring an acceleration to the energy transition in order to overpower the detrimental effects of fossil fuels.
Nevertheless, the 2022 State of the Energy Union report points out that the EU generated a record number of 12% of its electricity from solar energy in the span from May to August 2022, whilst 13% from wind which is a remarkable number to meet due to growing electricity demand in many industries across the world. Moreover, for the first half of 2022, the global electricity demand was met purely by renewable energy. The rise in renewable energy also prevented a 4% increase in fossil generation and avoided close to $40 billion in the cost of fuels. During the period, renewable energy generation increased by 416 terawatt hours, meaning that renewable energy sources met 107% of demand which is a record-breaking number. In addition, 77% of the increase in demand was reached by wind and solar and the rest by hydropower. Another striking number is the fact that renewable sources such as wind and solar energy fulfilled 92% of electricity demand in China and 81% in the United States.
Furthermore, reports suggest that 2022 will set records for the European solar photovoltaic market, with growth reported to increase between 17-26% in the largest EU countries. Particularly in Europe, solar energy accounted for the most growth, particularly in Spain, Poland and Germany. Another positive metric is the fact that solar energy is expected to account for 60% of the increase of renewable energy capacity in 2022, with the largest policies introduced in the European Union and China. The findings also call attention to the fact that the share of renewables in the electricity mix is expected to increase from 37% in 2021 to 69% by 2030. Another target that has been set by the EU is to invest €21 billion in the coming years for hydrogen - another renewable energy source. Manufacturers have also committed to increase the capacity of electrolysers, which is a carbon-free energy source. Their goal is to increase the capacity of electrolysers tenfold by 2025. In addition, the EU surpassed its targets on emissions reduction (32%), energy efficiency (5% to 6%) and renewables (22%) in 2020. Although the figures stagnated in 2021, they still remained below the levels before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Taking into account the aforementioned arguments, it is important to stress the benefits that renewable energy brings to society all over the world. Although more renewable energy sources are generated than ever before, the power sector emissions are still pushing all-time highs. With fossil fuels pushing the world into a climate crisis, cutting down emissions is one of the most important tasks of modern day society.
22-11-2022
Sources:
“Energy Crisis Will Speed up Green Transition, Says Renewables Chief.” Euronews, 27 Sept. 2022, www.euronews.com/green/2022/09/27/energy-crisis-will-speed-up-transition-to-green-fuels-says-head-of-renewables-agency. Accessed 6 Nov. 2022.
Motyka, Marlene. “2019 Renewable Energy Industry Outlook.” Deloitte United States, 14 Feb. 2019,www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/energy-and-resources/articles/renewable-energy-outlook.html.
“These 4 Charts Show the State of Renewable Energy in 2022.” World Economic Forum, 17 June 2022, www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/06/state-of-renewable-energy-2022/.
“Wind and Solar Are Proving Themselves”: Renewables Met Rise in Electricity Demand during First Half of 2022.” World Economic Forum, 17 Oct. 2022, www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/10/wind-and-solar-proving-themselves-renewables-rise-in-electricity-demand-2022/. Accessed 6 Nov. 2022.
“World Energy Outlook 2022 Shows the Global Energy Crisis Can Be a Historic Turning Point towards a Cleaner and More Secure Future - News.” IEA, 27 Oct. 2022, www.iea.org/news/world-energy-outlook-2022-shows-the-global-energy-crisis-can-be-a-historic-turning-point-towards-a-cleaner-and-more-secure-future.
“2022 State of the Energy Union Report Highlights Challenges.” European Commission - European Commission, 18 Oct. 2022, ec.europa.eu/info/news/seventh-state-energy-union-report-highlights-challenges-2022-oct-18_en. Accessed 22 Oct. 2022.