European countries need to double the pace of solar PV installations if the continent is to keep pace with its climate commitments, new research from Ember has revealed.
European Union (EU) member states are planning a surge in renewables to replace fossil-fired generation as COVID-19, soaring gas prices and Russia’s war in Ukraine put pressure on countries to move towards cleaner and cheaper sources of power.
Solar and wind power reached a record 10% of global electricity in 2021. That milestone has now been reached by 50 countries across the world including all five of the world’s largest economies, although power sector emissions have reached an all-time high, according to energy thinktank Ember.
Calling for a three-fold increase in renewables investment in the next decade, the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) latest edition of its World Energy Outlook, published today, has been largely welcomed by analysts and industry observers, who are urging world leaders to respond accordingly at the COP26 Climate Change Conference.
Record-breaking power prices across Europe have turned the spotlight on the role fossil fuel plants play in generating electricity and how the transition to renewables-plus-storage could lower consumer bills.
Generating electricity from renewable sources in Europe is now half the price of fossil fuels as polluting power production on the continent fails to recover from the pandemic and renewables grow, according to a new report by the Ember energy thinktank.
Despite dozens of net-zero targets being announced and deployment of renewable energy ramping up globally over the past year, just 10% of countries have shown “steady and consistent” progress in their energy transition plans, according to a new report from the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Despite additional solar and wind contributing to a record reduction in global coal generation last year, new renewable energy projects are still not being built quickly enough to keep pace with rising electricity demand.
The rapid scale-up of solar capacity in the European Union drove the growth of renewable electricity generation, which overtook that of fossil fuels for the first time last year.
