Wind, solar fulfill 10% of global electricity demand for first time
In a global first, wind and solar energy combined to generate more than 10 percent of the world's electricity in 2021 – though coal-fired power plant generation and emissions jumped to new highs in the same period, too.
The 2022 Power Transition Trends report by Bloomberg New Energy Fund (BNEF) found that power generation emissions in general leapt up in 2021 as the global economy rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Much of that new power generation came from renewable sources, with wind and solar accounting for three quarters of capacity added in 2021. When accounting for hydro, nuclear, and other zero-carbon power sources, that number rises to 85 percent of 2021's new capacity.
Those gains were spoiled by a resurgence in coal-fired power plants, use of which BNEF said was up by a record 8.5 percent between 2020 and 2021. BNEF cites rapidly rebounding energy demand (which rose 5.6 percent year-on-year in 2021), reduced hydro generation due to droughts, and high natural gas prices in Europe as primary drivers of the coal surge.
"New spikes in coal generation are a troubling sign for the economy, our health, and the fight against climate change. This report should be a rallying cry to leaders around the world that the transition to clean energy requires bigger and bolder actions," said Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and the UN Secretary General's special envoy for climate ambition and solutions.
