The thirst for energy will continue to grow over the coming years. At the same time, the world has set the target of dramatically reducing CO2 emissions. This puts electricity generated from renewables front and centre in the fight against climate change. in fact, thanks to new developments and maturing technologies throughout the entire energy chain, the energy sector might be the first to achieve net zero emissions.
Energy generated from solar and wind power in 2021
Together, these three regions account for almost three quarters of the world’s energy derived from solar and wind power.
USA = 550 terawatt hours
European Union = 580 terawatt hours
China = 990 terawatt hours
(Source: IEA – Global Energy Review 2021)
Costs are decreasing
Over the past ten years, the cost of electricity generated from renewables has decreased significantly, which can be attributed to optimised technologies, economies of scale, increasingly competitive supply chains, and growing experience in project development.
Costs in the year 2010 = 100 %
Costs in the year 2019…
…Offshore wind energy = 71 %
…Onshore wind energy = 61 %
…Solar-thermal power plants = 53 %
…Photovoltaic = 18 %
(Source: IRENA)
North America leads the way in green start-ups
Start-ups whose business models focus on decarbonising the economy attracted a total of 60 billion US dollars from investors between 2013 and 2019. Just 11.7 per cent of this sum went to climate technology start-ups in Europe, while companies in North America received around half of the total.
USA and Canada = 49,3 %
China = 32,9 %
Europe = 11,7 %
Asia (without China) = 3,1 %
Middle East and North Africa = 1,5 %
Latin America = 1,1 %
Australasia = 0,2 %
(Source: PWC)
Facts of renewables
91 % is the share of solar and wind energy in the new electricity capacity from -renewable energies added worldwide in 2020.
(Source: IRENA International Renewable Energy Agency)
99,99 % of global power storage capacity today is covered by pumped-storage plants.
(Source: dena)
Electromobility
1.000 terawatt hours is the anticipated demand for power from electric vehicles worldwide in 2030. This represents an elevenfold increase over 2019 levels.
(Source: IEA, Annahme Szenario nachhaltige Entwicklung)