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from the The-answer-is-blowin'-in-the-wind dept.
The International Energy Agency [IEA] says that the world's capacity to generate electricity from renewable sources has now overtaken coal.
The IEA says in a new report that last year, renewables accounted for more than half of the increase in power capacity.
The report says half a million solar panels were installed every day last year around the world. In China, it says, there were two wind turbines set up every hour.
Renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar and hydro are seen as a key element in international efforts to combat climate change. At this stage, it is the capacity to generate power that has overtaken coal, rather than the amount of electricity actually produced. Renewables are intermittent - they depend on the sun shining or the wind blowing, for example, unlike coal which can generate electricity 24 hours a day all year round. So renewable technologies inevitably generate a lot less than their capacity.
Even so it is striking development.
The IEA's Executive Director Fatih Birol said "We are witnessing a transformation of global power markets led by renewables".
Link to original BBC story: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37767250
(Score: 5, Informative) by Sarasani on Thursday October 27 2016, @06:37AM
When we're going to mention subsidies, we should also make a mention of the subsidies going towards all forms of "traditional" energy generation.
For instance, the state of Queensland (Australia) intended to subsidise the creation of one of the world's largest coal mines (Carmichael coal mine) by offering to pay for the rail line that was needed to transport the coal. Due to a change of government, this offer is no longer on the table. And who pays for cleaning up all of the abandoned mines that continue to be a risk to the environment? Or should we just completely ignore that aspect of the equation? Externalities and all that.
When people are talking about renewables, they are easily forgetting that those "traditional" energy industries have been (and continue to be) subsidised to the max to get them off the ground initially (and to keep them running afterwards). And the subsidies can come in many forms too. Want oil? Just invade a country or two. That can even be considered an indirect subsidy (after all, there would be no need to invade a country because it has wind, waves or sunshine).
However, smart and progressive governments will provide subsidies to encourage future growth (and sustainable) industries. For me, that's a no-brainer.