In my following blog posts, I intend to go into the detail of renewable technologies themselves. But I felt it was necessary to first gain a better understanding of the current global use of renewable energy in order to see how this compares to the consumption of fossil fuels.
Renewable energy still sits within the shadow of fossil fuels, as shown in the figure below. Of these carbon rich sources, oil is dominant with coal consumption increasing substantially.
Energy requirements are rising, which is predominately being met by fossil fuels. However, a study by Marques et al. (2010), suggests that this growing energy demand actually promotes sustainable energy production because many nations want to become more self-sufficient, leading to increased renewable technology rollout. And global renewable energy use is certainly increasing, from 8.5% o global electricity in 2013, to 9.1% in 2014. The five out commonly used clean resources are: Hydropower Wind Energy, Solar Power, Biomass Fuel and Geothermal Energy. Hydropower accounts for 65% of renewable energy production followed by Wind then Solar Power. Biofuel is the fourth most commonly used, with Geothermal Energy being the least utilised resource.
There has also been a greater investment in renewable energy, with the Office for National Statistics announcing earlier this year that the UK is on track to meet its 2020 EU sustainable energy targets after supplying 15% of its energy in 2013 with renewable resources. In 2014, Denmark revealed its target to become 100% reliant on renewable energy by 2050 and they are well on their way, producing 39.1% of their current energy from clean sources. Leading the way in the US is the state of California, with an ambitious target of providing 33% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.
It is apparent that significant progress is being made, however, many are recognising that more still needs to be done. This is demonstrated in a recent study by Remboredo (2015), who suggests that the current disjointed approach to renewables should cease and be replaced by a greater international collaboration. Therefore a combination of international cooperation and legally binding targets are required in order to see more countries adopt objectives similar to Denmark's.
We could potentially witness this in a few weeks' time at COP-21... Here's hoping.
Really looking forward to learning more about renewable technologies on here Anna, the blog looks great!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it interesting that the reason many nations are encouraging renewable energy isn't a conciousness for the environment, but a wish to not depend on other nations. But then there is that idea that cooperation of nations is needed for progress in renewable energy... Definitely given me some food for thought here!
I completely agree- Marques's study was really insightful. Politics certainly seem to be a key driver in deployment of clean energy because he found that environmental concerns had little influence on renewable energy rollout and lobbying of fossil fuels actually had a negative impact
Deletegood stuff in renewal energy; RE like solar has helped rural area in developing country like nepal to serve poor household!
ReplyDeletedescription on" how energy demand leads to sustainable energy production" would be intereasting to know
Thanks Bishal, that's a really interesting point.
DeleteMarques finds that it's nations wanting to become more self-sufficient that leads to higher sustainable energy production and there's a really interesting study by Rosenberg et al., 2013, that focuses on future projections of energy demand in Norway and also concludes that increased demand results in higher renewable energy production. It's a great piece of research demonstrating the complexities of the issue if you wanted to take a look in more detail.
I hope this helps!