The Impending Need to Make Renewable Energy Mainstream

The COP26 summit held in 2021 served as a standing reminder to the world about the precariousness of our environment and the immediate need to put words to action. The imperative need for carbon accounting was resoundingly clear at the summit,  a topic we examined in our previous blog titled “The Push Towards Global Net-Zero”. Governments also made stronger resolves to adopt renewables and alternative fuels, one of the fundamental pillars for attaining net-zero. In the first of a two-part series, we look at how some of the renewable sources of energy are quickly becoming central to our fight against climate change.

It is amply clear that the world must move away from fossil fuels to secure global net-zero by 2050 and keep the 1.5 degrees target within reach. We need sustainable long-term solutions to create clean energy and address these issues. These issues are rampant across industries and sectors, and there is an imminent need to overhaul the basic operational models of many without delay. For instance, by end use, fossil fuel-based energy generation and transportation remain the two most polluting elements of the carbon value chain. The predicament has historically emphasized the need to develop renewable sources of energy such as solar, hydro, geo-thermal and wind.

A brief look at the growing importance of solar and wind

Renewable energy capacity is expected to account for nearly 95% of the total increase in global power generation capacity by 2026. During 2020-26, renewable global electricity capacity is forecast to reach above 4,800 GW, increasing by over 60%. By comparison, this is equivalent to the current global energy capacity of fossil fuels and nuclear combined. At a regional level, China will lead the pack in renewables, accounting for 43% of the global renewable capacity growth till 2026, followed by Europe, the United States and India – collectively, these four regions are expected to account for almost 80% of global renewable capacity additions.

The world has been trying to tap into these abundant renewable sources of nature for decades now, however, there is still a long way to go before these can become mainstream energy sources for the world. To put things in perspective, in 2021, wind and solar generated more than 10% of electricity globally – a world first – while 50 countries individually crossed the 10% wind and solar landmark during the year. The Global Electricity Review 2022 published by energy thinktank, Ember, points out that this achievement is double the level in 2015, when the COP21 Paris accord was signed. As a dampener, during 2021, power generation from coal also climbed 9%, to a new record high.

The commitment towards global net-zero is increasingly getting manifested in the efforts to build solar and wind capacities and generation. Global offshore wind capacity additions more than tripled in 2021, and addition of 21 GW to reach nearly 56 GW, primarily driven by China (+17 GW). China also accounted for 53 GW of solar capacity additions in 2021, highest in the world, while the global solar generation grew 23% during the year. Technological advancements have seen solar moving from simple photovoltaic cells to solar roads, solar paints, solar electric cars, and solar windowpanes. Washing solar panels and monitoring them manually has been transformed with the use of Internet of Things and remote sensors controlled by a simple smartphone. At the frontiers of research, scientists are also attempting to replace silicon-based panels with synthetic hybrid organic-inorganic compounds. The requirement of huge swathes of land for solar farms has also been solved with the use of ‘floatovoltaics’, solar panels which can float on water. A recent Stanford study indicates the ability of solar cells to utilize thermoelectric generator molecules (TEGs), which can convert temperature differences into electrical energy and consequently can work even during the night.

Ember’s report also reveals that wind power generation grew 14% in 2021 – with China recording a 37% y-o-y increase – driven by capacity additions across the world. Technology and innovation have played a pivotal role in wind power in much the same way as solar. Wind turbines have become much taller, with the average blade length increasing from 30-40 meters till a decade ago, to 80-100 meters today. The consequent production capacity has also increased from 1.5MW to almost 2.6MW per turbine. Given that nearly 80% of Europe’s offshore wind energy potential lies in waters 60 meters and deeper, the UK demonstrated an effective way to tap this vast potential by launching the world’s first floating wind farm off the coast of Scotland in 2017. Testament to Europe’s commitment to renewable energy usage lies in that it plans to install 116 GW of new wind farms between 2022-26, while the global forecast is that of an addition of 339 GW between 2021-25. As of 2021, the top producers of wind energy were China, US, Germany, India, and Spain with a total installed capacity of nearly 550 GW.

Global investment has continued to stream in as well – total worldwide investment in low-carbon energy stood at a record of $755 billion in 2021, up 27% from the previous year. Global Cleantech 100 companies raised $6.9 billion in 2021 to further their efforts towards achieving the net-zero goal. But ironically, the world’s 60 biggest banks provided $742 billion to fossil fuel companies too within the year.

The need for a cautious approach

Although optimism is apparent, there is still much to be concerned about while the implementation of clean energy efforts gets marred by challenges of its own. High R&D and implementation costs (including developing renewable power generation assets, building new T&D lines, buildings, refurbishments, and operations); lack of knowledge among the public as well as business and employment losses of legacy products are some of the major challenges. Power generation from both solar and wind are nature-dependent and vary dramatically basis the geographic region. The 1.5-degree target might ebb even further, given that the fossil fuel industry still receives trillions of dollars in subsidies.

Coming together on a global platform and putting words to paper is way easier than putting words to action. But governments and regimes must realize the fact that we might soon reach a ‘point of no return’ in the race against climate change. What is imperative at this stage, is for world leaders to cast aside their political and ideological differences and come together as one global community to save this planet from an environmental catastrophe.

Author: Prithwijeet Mukherjee

Sr. Consultant, Strategy Consulting

Image courtesy: Nazrin Babashova on Unsplash