Renewable sources a key to lower energy costs

The world could provide energy at a lower cost by doubling the share that comes from renewable sources such as wind and solar power, according to the international agency for supporting those technologies. The Abu Dhabi-based International Renewable Energy Agency, which is backed by 170 governments, will present an analysis to the UN in New York on Thursday showing the share provided by renewable energy could double by 2030 if governments put in place policies to promote it.

That implies a greater potential for rapid growth in renewables than most other estimates have suggested. Irena said its assessment was the most detailed such study ever conducted, and showed that the share of global energy derived from renewables could rise from about 18 per cent today to 36 per cent in 2030. It added that the increase could be achieved using today’s technology, and globally would have a lower cost than using fossil fuels, because of benefits to health and the environment from cutting pollution. The calculated savings depend on assigning a value to cuts in carbon dioxide emissions, because of their contribution to global warming, but Irena calculates that the shift would save money even at a price of $20 per tonne of those emissions, a lower figure than is used in many long-term projections. The cost of the transition to a greater share for renewables would also be held down by expected declines in the prices of technologies such as solar panels and advanced biofuels.Adnan Amin, Irena’s director-general, said the world was at a “transformational moment” in energy, as the falling costs of renewables shook up the global industry. “Now it’s a question of political will, and how ambitiously governments want to move on this,” he added. Other forecasters have taken more cautious views. The International Energy Agency, the watchdog backed by rich countries’ governments, said last year that even given global policies designed to meet international commitments to curb global warming, renewables might be only 23 per cent of global energy in 2035. The scale of the change suggested by Irena would be even more dramatic than the doubled share suggests, because about half today’s “renewable” energy comes from what is known as “traditional biomass”, including firewood and animal dung, which causes severe health problems.

read more