Per the International Energy Agency, an independent analysis organization made up of 29 member nations, a quarter of the world’s electricity will be generated by solar, wind, hydro, and thermal powers come 2020.
Cheaper manufacturing costs and better financing will make renewables the world’s largest source of new energy in the next five years.
“Renewables are poised to seize the crucial top spot in global power supply growth, but this is hardly time for complacency,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a statement. “Governments must remove the question marks over renewables if these technologies are to achieve their full potential, and put our energy system on a more secure, sustainable path.”
In fact, renewable energy’s share of the global market is expected to surpass 26% by 2020 — that’s greater than China, India, and Brazil’s current energy demand combined, and it’s up from 22% in 2013. Solar and wind alone make up close half of this total growth.
As of today, coal is still turning out 29% of the world’s energy in 2014, second only to oil. But as renewable prices continue to fall, and countries like China and India begin to implement plans to clean their air by choosing clean energy over coal, the dominance of coal and oil is likely to dissipate in the coming years (in 2014, renewables generation in the US increased as the use of coal fell).
“Affordable renewables are set to dominate the emerging power systems of the world,” Birol said. “With excellent hydro, solar and wind resources, improving cost-effectiveness and policy momentum, renewables can play a critical role in supporting economic growth and energy access in Sub-Saharan Africa, meeting almost two-thirds of the region’s new demand needs over the next five years.”
The official report follows a first-ever meeting between energy ministers from the Group of 20 major economies (G20), during which all attendees reaffirmed their nation’s shared commitment to expanding renewable energy. It’s a timely release, as in two months there’s a potentially historic UN climate summit set to take place in Paris, where leaders are hoping to achieve some sort of accord aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and slowing down climate change as a whole.
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