Wind and solar energy have generated 9.8% of the world’s electricity during the first half of the year, a new analysis by UK think tank Ember showed on Thursday.
Electricity generated by the two renewables sources increased 14% year-on-year in the period to 1,129 terrawatt hours (TWh), compared with 992 TWh in 2019, Kallanish Energy reports.
The EU and UK have led in wind and solar production, with the sources accounting for 21% and 33% of their energy mix, respectively. In Germany, 42% of the power is produced from wind and solar farms.
In contrast, in Russia, only 0.2% of the electricity comes from these sources. Yet, many key countries are now generating around a tenth of their electricity from wind and solar, Ember said. These include China, the US, India, Japan, Brazil and Turkey.
“Countries across the world are now on the same path – building wind turbines and solar panels to replace electricity from coal and gas-fired power plants. But to keep a chance of limiting climate change to 1.5 degrees, coal generation needs to fall by 13% every year this decade,” warned senior electricity analyst Dave Jones.
“The fact that, during a global pandemic, coal generation has still only fallen by 8% shows just how far off-track we still are. We have the solution, it’s working, it’s just not happening fast enough,” he commented.
The reduction in global coal generation in the first-half marks a new record, from the 3% fall registered last year – which at the time was the biggest fall since at least 1990.
Ember estimates that 70% of the decline in coal share in the energy mix is attributable to lower electricity demand due to Covid-19, and 30% because of the increase in wind and solar generation.
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