Renewables help boost global power

RECORD amounts of new renewables were added to energy systems worldwide last year at a lower cost as clean technology prices fell, a report shows.

Wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, small-scale hydropower, marine energy and waste-to-energy schemes added 138.5 gigawatts (GW) to global power capacity, equivalent to the total installed capacity of Canada.

The figure, which excludes large hydroelectric dams, is up 8% from 127.5GW in 2015.

Despite the increase, global investment in new renewables was down almost a quarter (23%) to $241.6bn (£194bn) as the costs of renewables such as solar and wind fell.

The spending per unit of power capacity from solar and wind dropped by more than a tenth in 2016, the report by UN Environment, the Frankfurt SchoolUNEP Collaborating Centre and Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) found.

Investment in new renewables was roughly double the amount going into fossil fuel plants and the clean technologies accounted for 55% of capacity added worldwide in 2016.

Electricity coming from renewables, excluding large hydroelectric dams, rose from 10.3% of total generation in 2015 to 11.3% in 2016, preventing an estimated 1.7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

The Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2017 report comes after analysis by the International Energy Agency (IEA) showing carbon emissions from the energy sector flatlined over the last three years despite a growing global economy.

The IEA said this was due to growth in renewables as well as a switch from coal to natural gas and better energy efficiency.