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REthinking Energy. Reflect on renewable energy
A whole series of circumstances combined between the economy, demographic movements, climate change and technology has set in motion a generalized transformation of the global energy system.
The Demand for energy services is undoubtedly increasing considerably, the population increases with a tendency to concentrate in cities and with new demands that require a greater demand for energy. At the same time, there is a growing consensus on the dangers posed by climate change that has led governments around the world to seek ways to generate that energy while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts.
Increasingly, renewable energies are seen as the best solution for a world population demanding affordable access to electricity while reducing the need for toxic fossil fuels that are causing unsustainable levels of greenhouse gas emissions.
That is the underlying message that we can find in the new report -Reflections on Energy: Towards a New Power System - published this week by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) that reveals more than one interesting point about a sector that is totally on the rise.
Why is the cost of renewable energy cheaper?
Large-scale hydroelectric, geothermal and biomass have been competitive, but for many years wind and solar have struggled to compete with coal, oil or natural gas without obtaining clear results in terms of the cost of energy. However, during the last decade and in particular during the last five years, the image has changed dramatically determined by several factors:
- The technologies used in renewable energy are much more efficient, increasingly capable of generating energy even in less optimal conditions, with little wind, low speeds or under solar irradiation.
- The energy storage technologies are improving quickly.
- Policies from Europe or the United States, or new industrial powers like China have caused energy prices to plummet. Solar-photovoltaic energy have fallen in price by 80% since 2008, with a downward trend in the coming years.
- The cost of turbines has fallen almost 30% since 2008 causing - among other factors - the cost of wind electricity to fall by 18% since 2009.
- More consumer markets. More than 100 Countries - with needs, opportunities for innovation, research and economic investments that attract new companies and competitors.
In short, renewable energy capacity around the world has grown by 85% in the last 10 years, reaching 1,700 GW in 2013, and renewable energies today constitute 30% of all installed power.
The challenge has passed from…. If renewable energy can fuel a modern lifestyle - which we now know it can - the best way to finance and accelerate its deployment.
What are the biggest benefits of renewable energy?
There is growing evidence that renewable energy has a positive domino effect on the whole of society, while advancing economically, socially and environmentally.
- The renewable energies are good for a country's economy. A recent Japanese study found that the benefits were 2-3 times greater than the costs - including savings on fossil fuel imports, CO2 emissions and their economic repercussions.
- Even if it looks like a lie, renewables in Spain avoided the import of 2.8 Billion in fossil fuel in 2010.
- Renewable energy can also bring electrical power to people who are currently off the grid, promoting
- They do not deplete natural resources.
- Avoid unnecessary risks of ecological disasters
- Employment creation. 6.5 million direct and indirect jobs worldwide, as we can see in the image.
- They offer a route to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, one of the main causes of global warming.
“We know that currently not only renewable energy can meet growing global demand, but we recognize that it can do so more cheaply, while helping to limit global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius - the much-cited tipping point. due to climate change - taking into account that the generation of energy by the year 2030 will increase by 70%, the report adds "
"There is a growing concern about the health impacts of burning fossil fuels, according to the report, adding that the Environmental Protection Agencyfrom the United States recently has found that health problems caused for fuels norsiles nationwide cost between $ 362 billion and $ 887 billion annually. "
According to the General Director of IREMA (Adnan Z. Amin) In the presentation of the report… “The convergence of social, economic and environmental forces are transforming the global energy system as we know it, but if we continue on the current path, feeding our economies with an antiquated way of thinking and acting, we will not be able to avoid the most serious impacts of climate change. »
Undoubtedly, the 90-something-page report is not just a short introduction.
