By 2025, renewable energy will overtake coal as the world's largest source of electricity generation, according to the latest annual energy report of the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Based on IEA's Renewables 2022 report, which was published on Tuesday, there will a major shift within the world's electricity mix, as per CNET.
The agency predicts that the renewable power capacity worldwide will grow as much in the next five years as it has in the last two decades. Moreover, according to the report, it will be 30 percent higher than the amount of growth forecasted a year ago.
More Countries are Investing in Renewables
Energy security concerns driven by the war between Russia and Ukraine, along with the global energy crisis, have increased the pace countries around the globe adopt renewables.
According to the report by IEA, in order to reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels, countries are increasingly investing in renewables like solar and wind.
Fatih Birol, executive director of IEA, explained that while renewables were quickly expanding, the global energy crisis has pushed many countries to capitalize on their energy security benefits. With this, comes an extraordinarily new phase of faster growth of renewables.
Birol added that the situation is a clear illustration of how the energy crisis can be a historic turning point for many counties to adopt a cleaner and more secure energy system.
According to the report, the energy industry will see declining shares for coal, natural gas, nuclear, and oil generation.
The report also stated that renewables are the "only electricity generation source whose share is expected to grow."
Moreover, it is anticipated that electricity from wind and solar photovoltaics will grow to more than double in the next five years.
The growth this year is higher than the amount of growth IEA forecasted last year. It's the largest-ever upward revision of the agency's annual forecast.
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There Will be a Surge of Wind and Solar Energy
According to IEA, the agency expects that electricity stemming from wind and solar photovoltaics will supply nearly 20% of the world's power generation by 2027.
However, the agency added that the growth in geothermal, bioenergy, hydropower and concentrated solar power will stay limited, according to CNBC.
This is despite the aforementioned energy sources' critical role in integrating wind and solar photovoltaics into the world's electricity systems.
According to Birol, in the next five years, the world is set to add as much renewable power as it did in the previous 20 years.
Moreover, she added that the continued adoption of renewables in many countries was "critical" in limiting global warming to 1.5 °C.
The 1.5 degrees Celsius target is based on the 2015′s Paris Agreement, which aims to "limit global warming to below 2, or preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius."
When it comes to meeting the 1.5 degrees Celsius target, there is a need to cut human-made carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050.
According to a report by IEA released earlier this year, by 2030, clean energy investment could be on course to exceed $2 trillion per year. This offers an increase of over 50% compared to the present day.
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