Renewable Energy Capacity Keeps Growing Worldwide

A new Financial Times study shows that the top 20 economies in the world have nearly doubled their renewable energy capacity, excluding hydropower, in the five years from 2010 to 2015. All together, the 20 economies generate only about 8% of their power from renewables but the differences within those 20 are quite dramatic. The European Union is by far and away the leader with nearly 18% of its electricity coming from renewable energy. Within the EU, Germany is the clear leader, using renewables over one-third of its power, while the UK comes in a distant second at just under 25% renewable with Italy and France not far behind.

This study shows only about 8% renewable energy produced in the US, although a recent study by FERC shows that number to closer to 15% to 18% including hydropower. But expansion of renewables has probably been slower than it should be in the US mainly due to climate-change deniers in the Republican party making things as difficult as possible for the country to move forward with an organized transition to renewables. We have no national plan for phasing out coal-powered facilities, relying on action by the EPA or Presidential executive order to basically regulate them into extinction – hardly an effective plan. Worse, we have done nothing to figure out how to properly allocate costs in a decentralized grid where energy can flow both to and from the utility. Homeowners who adopt solar have no certainty about their rate structure and how much they will be paid, if at all, for power they generate. And utilities are still required to provide energy at peak periods even as renewables make customers more self-sufficient. Solving these admittedly difficult problems would allow renewables to grow even more rapidly than they already are.