Where Renewable Energy Is Growing (And Where It Is Stalling)
Renewable energy capacity around the world more than doubled in the 12 years between 2013 and 2024, a report from the International Renewable Energy Agency has found. However, progress has been quite lopsided, with large capacities having been built up in Europe and huge progress especially in the last decade happening in China.
Other regions, namely South and Central America as well as the Middle East and Africa, have neither large capacity already built nor have they experienced above-average growth over the specified time period - creating the danger of being left behind in the global energy transition. International financial aid to developing countries in support of clean energy research, development and production having been cut down in recent years is certainly not helping this issue.
Countries in Asia and Oceania other than China showed above-average growth of renewable energy as their capacity is now 180 percent bigger than it was in 2013. The region overtook North America in megawatts of renewable energy installed in the process, but given the continents' much larger population, it is safe to say that renewable energy progress in Asia has been relatively slower outside of China. The current progress in renewable energy installation means that in 2024, around 40 percent of the world's electricity was created via renewable sources. Considering not just electricity, but all energy sources in the world, renewables' share shrinks to under 15 percent in 2023. This means that renewable energy still has a long way to go, especially in a 2030 net zero emissions scenario, as seen in data by the International Energy Agency.