Last year saw the biggest worldwide boom in renewable energy yet…
It's estimated by the International Energy Agency that in 2013, renewable power capacity increased at its fastest pace to date.
Their latest report shows wind, solar and other clean energy sources now make almost 22 percent of the global energy mix, compared with 21 percent in 2012, and 18 percent in 2007.
Investing in clean energy has become more compelling, as wind and solar are starting to become cost-competitive with fossil fuels. Last year there was $250 billion invested into clean energy, and the amount of power the sector generated came to equal natural gas. Natural gas, the IEA notes, remained relatively stable in 2013.
This is great news, with countries like China, the United States, Japan, Germany and the rest of the European Union making some of the largest clean energy investments.
We mustn't forget however, that some of these countries consume much more energy too. For example, the clean energy investments of the U.S. and China are nowhere near enough to meet their energy needs.
Norway actually produces enough electricity from renewables to meet its demand for electricity. Even the huge country of Brazil makes a substantial impact, with electricity from renewables covering 96 percent of its needs.
The one downside to the IEA's report, is that they've downgraded the forecast for renewables through to 2020, because of many governments dropping their support for incentives (hmmm, sounds like a familiar story in Australia?).
If we want to prevent dangerous levels of climate change, we need to transition to a clean energy system even faster than we did last year, not slow efforts down.
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