Global renewable energy capacity doubles in four years

The extent to which renewables are now part of the energy sector mainstream was underlined last week with the release of a new report revealing clean technologies now account for almost four per cent of global power generation.

The Renewables 2007 Global Status Report from think tanks Renewable Energy Network and the Worldwatch Institute found that renewable electricity generation capacity last year reached 240GW worldwide, double that of 2004.

The study also underlined the renewable sector's growing economic clout, revealing that when manufacturing, operations and maintenance were included it employed 2.4m people last year, over one million of which in the biofuels sector.

Mohamed El-Ashry, chair of the Renewable Energy Network, said that the sector had grown so fast that the perception among some politicians and energy sector analysts that it remained a niche area now "lag[s] far behind the reality of where the renewables industry is today".

UN under-secretary general and director of the UN Environment Programme Achim Steiner said that the rapid growth of renewable energy capacity was underpinning an emerging green economy, driven "by the existing climate change agreements and the prospect of even deeper and more decisive emissions reductions post 2012".

The report found that wind continued to dominate the renewables industry, with installed capacity growing by a quarter last year to about 95GW. However, grid-connected solar photovoltaics represented the fastest growing capacity as cell efficiency continues to improve and installation and manufacturing costs fall.