Solar and wind infrastructure together accounted for more than 10% of the energy produced worldwide in 2021, according to a study published today by the Ember Research Center.
Last year, 50 countries reached this level, among them, for the first time, China and Japan, according to the third Global Electricity Review, which collects 2021 data for 75 countries, representing 93 % of global demand.
The Netherlands, Australia and Vietnam are experiencing the fastest transformation, with the share of photovoltaic and wind infrastructure growing by ten units in the last two years.
Ten countries provide more than a quarter of their energy mix from these two sources. Denmark (52%), Luxembourg (43%) and Uruguay (47%) are higher.
Overall, 38% of the electricity consumed in 2021 came from non-carbon dioxide sources, including nuclear power plants. Hydroelectric dams remain the main source of renewable energy.
But 36% came from coal. Ember points out that this energy source is recording a significant increase, although it is the most harmful to the environment, due to the explosion of demand for electricity after the pandemic of the new coronavirus went into the background.
Indeed, the production of coal-fired power plants experienced an unprecedented annual increase (+ 9%) in 2021 “at least since 1985”, recording a record production of 10,042 TWh.
If we add to this the increase (+ 1%) of gas, CO2 emissions due to the generation of electricity reached their peak last year, exceeding by 3% the record of 2018. They increased by 7% on an annual basis to 778 million. tons.
In order to reduce the rise of the Earth’s temperature to 1.5 ° Celsius in relation to the pre-industrial era, it is considered that the power generation sector should be expanded to new fields of use (transport, heating, etc.) and completely stop emitting carbon dioxide.
The wind and solar sector grew by 17% in 2021 and is expected to continue to grow at an annual rate of around 20% until 2030, always according to Ember estimates.
Source: AMPE
Source: Capital
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