Renewables Provided 30 Percent of Global Electricity for the First Time

I used to work in the energy efficiency and clean energy sector, and I haven't been able to shake the desire to constantly check in on that world.

Well, some really great news from the land of renewables: solar and wind (and some other things like hydro) supplied 30 percent of the world's electricity last year (2023).

The news came via a synthesis from the consulting group Ember.

"In 2023, growth in solar and wind pushed the world past 30% renewable electricity for the first time," Ember's report's executive summary noted.

"Renewables have expanded from 19 percent of global electricity in 2000, driven by an increase in solar and wind from 0.2 percent in 2000 to a record 13.4 percent in 2023. China was the main contributor in 2023, accounting for 51 percent of the additional global solar generation and 60 percent of new global wind generation. Combined with nuclear, the world generated almost 40 percent of its electricity from low-carbon sources in 2023. As a result, the CO ₂ intensity of global power generation reached a new record low, 12 percent lower than its peak in 2007."

Although this is great news, in 2022, electricity accounted for only about 20 percent of total energy use. So, there's still work to do.

According to Ember's report, "Solar was the main supplier of electricity growth in 2023. Solar is leading the energy revolution. It was the fastest-growing source of electricity generation for the 19th year in a row, and surpassed wind to become the largest source of new electricity for the second year running. Indeed, solar added more than twice as much new electricity as coal in 2023. The record surge in installations at the very end of 2023 means that 2024 is set for an even larger increase in solar generation."

One thing I remember from the clean energy sector was a 2009 German report looking at solar panels' lifecycle. The gist was that a great percentage of them have proven to last twice, or longer, than they  were designed for—bringing the cost of clean electricity down even more.

Late last year, the Guardian (London) had a headline proclaiming the end of fossil fuels .

This is good news if you care about the environment and worry about climate.

"The decade ahead will see the energy transition enter a new phase," the report adds.

"A permanent decline in fossil fuel use in the power sector at a global level is now inevitable, leading to falling sector emissions. Clean electricity additions—led by solar and wind—are already forecast to outpace demand growth in the coming decade, securing moderate reductions in fossil fuel use and hence emissions, even as demand accelerates to meet the growing needs of electrification and other booming technologies."

Ember's full report can be found here .