by Ata Ufuk Seker
ANKARA
Despite the fact that investments in renewable energy world wide dropped 14 percent last year, the energy generated by renewables has increased, an international report revealed.
This is because the technology has become more efficient and the cost of producing and installing renewables like solar panels has become cheaper, the report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) hints.
In Turkey, companies that are generating their own energy by renewable sources - such as solar or wind power - will be able to use public land free of charge - depending on their levels of investment, according to a new law.
Turkey generates 43 percent of its energy needs from natural gas, 25 percent from coal, 25 percent from hydro and 7 percent from other renewables.
According to the report entitled: “Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2014”, renewable energy raised its share of total power generation globally to 8.5 percent from 7.8 percent.
In 2013, the report says, investments in wind energy world wide fell by 1 percent to US$80 billion, solar by 20 percent to US$114 billion, biofuels by 26 percent to US$5 billion, biomass and waste-to-energy by 28 percent to US$8 billion, and small hydro-electric by 16 percent to US$5 billion while only geothermal rose 38 percent to US$2.5 billion
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