Renewables now make up 30% of global electricity generation
Renewable energy, sourced from replenishable natural resources like sunlight, wind, and geothermal heat, is pivotal in electricity generation, heating, cooling, and transportation. It offers off-grid solutions for remote areas, produces minimal greenhouse gases, and enhances energy security due to its wide geographical distribution. As global efforts to mitigate climate change intensify, the shift to low-carbon energy, led by renewables, is accelerating. Technologies such as solar PV and wind are becoming cost-competitive with fossil fuels. Increasing the renewable share in energy systems involves electrifying heating and transport sectors, using biofuels, and deploying solar water heating, biomass burners, and geothermal heating. Achieving climate goals requires rapid renewable energy deployment across all sectors, supported by favourable policies and market conditions.
You can find further information below about the technologies, costs and current developments within each of the seven major types of renewables:
Learn more about renewables by reading our Energy Insights.
For the latest news and articles on renewable energy read New Energy World.
View our dedicated Collections on Hydrogen and Offshore Wind.
0.0 GW
of solar energy capacity was added in 2023 worldwide (Statistical Review of World Energy)
0million
jobs in the renewable energy sector in 2023 (IRENA)
0%
share of total primary energy consumption worldwide was from renewables in 2023 (Statistical Review of World Energy)
0million
households in the UK (or equivalent) were powered by wind energy in 2023 (RenewableUK)
What's new?
Highest annual growth of renewables jobs in 2023, reaching 16.2 million
09/10/2024
According to IRENA and ILO, the 18% year-on-year leap in renewable energy jobs worldwide reflects the strong growth of renewables generating capacitie...
Data centres turn to low-carbon energy sources
09/10/2024
A new report from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) explores how data centres are working with the civil nuclear power industry to secure...
Solar set to deliver environmental and economic benefits while driving Europe’s energy transition
09/10/2024
RWE launches UK Solar Developers Charter RWE has launched a new UK Solar Developers Charter that ‘formalises’ the company’s pledge t...
Construction starts on Scotland-England subsea connector
09/10/2024
Construction has started on the Eastern Green Link 2 (EGL2) project, a subsea electricity transmission cable connecting Peterhead in Scotland to Drax ...
US solar development focuses on Texas
09/10/2024
TotalEnergies begins operations at two Texas solar farms TotalEnergies has started commercial operations of Danish Fields and Cot...
Events and training
UK Energy Policy Debate: Overcoming skills and supply chain challenges in decarbonising
17/10/2024
This UK Energy Policy Debate will be exploring hard-to-fill areas in the current energy sector. Expert speakers will explore solutions on how skills m...
Clean Power 2030
23/10/2024
The UK is moving to a decarbonised grid, shifting from a carbon-intensive to a renewable-dominated generation mix by 2030.
Maintenance Strategy Fundamentals - November 2024
01/11/2024 - 08/11/2024
In this 2 half-day training course, you will gain the fundamental knowledge and understanding to develop an efficient and effective maintenance plan t...
Energy Sustainability Conference 2024
14/11/2024 - 15/11/2024
The Energy Institute (EI) Nigeria branch is proud to host another edition of the Energy Sustainability Conference (ESC). The Energy Sustainability Con...
Lessons learned from energy transitions covering technical, legal and the planning system
27/11/2024
This unique project brings to life the challenge of energy transition converting a gas network from one type of fuel gas to another and the planning t...
Technical guidance publications
Guidance on green and low carbon hydrogen production: plant design, construction, operation and maintenance, co-location and other considerations
002024
‘Hydrogen economy’ is an umbrella term used to describe the role that hydrogen plays in the broader economy, including as a fuel, as an en...
Lifesaving rules for the offshore wind industry — Implementation guide
002024
The G+ Lifesaving rules are aimed at providing frontline workers in the offshore wind industry with simple actions they can take to protect themselves...
Human factors standards for facility design: Early design quick reference guide
002024
Human factors considerations (ergonomics, anthropometry, etc.) are key to good facility design; however, too often human factors is not considered ear...
Safe systems of work principles for the power generation sector
002024
This is a free download to registered users. Register and/or log in to download.A safe system of work (SSoW) is a set of procedures to ensu...
Research report: Global activities in hydrogen development
002024
This report covers various developmental activities across the hydrogen value chain, encompassing production, transportation/distribution, storage, an...