MANILA, Philippines — Economies need to step up their targets and plans for a renewable energy (RE) transition as the world may not be able to meet critical climate goals this decade, based on the latest report of think tank REN21.
In a report, RE think tank REN21 said the global shift to RE has not materialized despite the promise of a worldwide green recovery in the wake of the pandemic.
The 2022 report, which is the 17th consecutive edition, showed the overall share of renewables in the world’s final energy consumption has stagnated – rising only minimally from 10.6 percent in 2009 to 11.7 percent in 2019.
In the electricity sector, record additions in renewable power capacity of 314.5 gigawatts (GW), up 17 percent from 2020, and generation with 7,793 terawatt-hours were unable to meet the overall increase in electricity consumption of six percent.
In heating and cooling, the renewable share in final energy consumption increased from 8.9 percent in 2009 to 11.2 percent in 2019.
The transport sector’s renewable share went from 2.4 percent in 2009 to 3.7 percent in 2019, which was particularly worrying as the sector accounts for nearly a third of global energy consumption.
“Although more governments committed to net zero greenhouse gas emissions in 2021, the reality is that, in response to the energy crisis, most countries have gone back to seeking out new sources of fossil fuels and to burning even more coal, oil and natural gas,” REN21 executive director Rana Adib said.
The report said that despite renewed commitments to climate action, governments still opted to provide subsidies for fossil fuel production and use as their first choice to mitigate the effects of the energy crisis.
Between 2018 and 2020, governments spent a whopping $18 trillion, which is seven percent of global economic output in 2020, on fossil fuel subsidies, in some cases while reducing support to renewables.
The report also said last year marked the end of the era of cheap fossil fuels, with the largest spike in energy prices since the 1973 oil crisis.
By end-2021, gas prices reached around 10 times the 2020 levels in Europe and Asia and tripled in the US, leading to a spike in wholesale electricity prices in major markets by the end of the year.
Russian’s invasion of Ukraine deeply aggravated the unfolding energy crisis, causing an unprecedented commodity shockwave that weighed heavily on global economic growth, rattling the more than 136 countries that are reliant on fossil fuel imports.
“Instead of putting renewables on the back burner and relying on fossil fuel subsidies to reduce people’s energy bills, governments should directly finance the installation of renewable energy technologies in vulnerable households. In the end, the renewable energy path will come out cheaper, despite the upfront investment,” Adib said.
REN21 president Arthouros Zervos called for short- and long-term targets and plans to shift to renewable energy, coupled with clear end-dates for fossil fuels.
“The uptake of renewables must be a key performance indicator across all economic sectors,” he said.
On a per region basis, the Asian region continued to lead in renewable energy development.
The report cited that Asia’s biodiesel production has grown rapidly. In the region, Indonesia has become the world’s biodiesel leader, increasing production 11-fold since 2011 to more than eight billion liters in 2021, or 18 percent of the global total.
The region has also continued to be the most active market globally in 2021, based on hydropower capacity additions.
For the ninth consecutive year, Asia has likewise dominated all other regions in new solar photovoltaic (PV) installations, representing 52 percent of the global added capacity in 2021.
The region also hosts the majority of agrivoltaic plants.
The report said large-scale agriculture is a major consumer of electricity and heat as it uses energy for livestock feed, irrigation, greenhouses, fertilization, water pumping, processing and transport, among others.
“Around 30 percent of the world’s energy is consumed within agri-food systems. Several countries have proposed specific policies to support the scale-up of renewables in agriculture, and in 2021 at least five national policies and one sub-national policy of this kind emerged,” it said.
One of the countries introducing renewables in the agriculture sector is the Philippines.
Last year, the Departments of Energy and Agriculture announced a new Renewable Energy Program for the agri-fishery sector.
The program supports the use of renewables to power agricultural and fishery operations such as drying and other heat-based applications, to electrify farm production and processing facilities and machinery, to fuel engines used in irrigation, and to mechanize farm operations.
It also aims to develop new renewable technologies and human resources specializing in renewables; to develop and enforce new standards for renewables; and to provide technical support for suppliers and manufacturers of locally produced renewable energy equipment and components.
In the wind sector, Asia—mostly China—was the largest regional market for the 13th consecutive year, representing around 61.4 percent of added wind power capacity (up from nearly 60 percent in 2020).