Modern bioenergy will have the biggest growth in renewable resources between 2018 and 2023, according to the International Energy Agency's (IEA) Renewables 2018 market analysis and forecast report press release on Monday.
Renewables will continue their expansion in the next five years, covering 40 percent of global energy consumption growth, the IEA forecast, while their use will continue to increase most rapidly in the electricity sector.
The agency estimates that renewables will account for almost a third of total world electricity generation in 2023. However, because of weaker policy support and additional barriers to deployment, renewables use will expand far more slowly in the transport and heating sectors, the agency said.
The IEA also noted that while the growth in solar PV and wind is set to continue in the electricity sector, bioenergy remains the largest source of renewable energy because of its widespread use in heat and transport, sectors in which other renewables currently play a much smaller role.
“Modern bioenergy is the overlooked giant of the renewable energy field. Its share in the world’s total renewables consumption is about 50 percent today, in other words as much as hydro, wind, solar and all other renewables combined,' Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, was quoted as saying in the statement.
“We expect modern bioenergy will continue to lead the field, and has huge prospects for further growth. But the right policies and rigorous sustainability regulations will be essential to meet its full potential,” he warned.
- China leads in solar energy, the U.S. follows
The IEA said that China leads global growth in renewable energy as a result of policies to decarbonize all sectors and reduce harmful local air pollution, and will become the largest consumer of renewable energy, surpassing the European Union by 2023.
Of the world’s largest energy consumers, Brazil has the highest share of renewables by far, according to the IEA, which is almost 45 percent of total final energy consumption in 2023, driven by significant contribution of bioenergy and hydropower.
The IEA said that solar PV dominated renewable electricity capacity expansion. Renewable capacity additions of 178 gigawatts (GW) in 2017 broke another record, accounting for more than two-thirds of global net electricity capacity growth for the first time.
'Solar PV capacity expanded the most (97 GW), over half of which was in China. Meanwhile, onshore wind additions globally declined for the second year in a row, and hydropower growth continued to decelerate,' the report said.
Solar PV capacity is forecast to expand by almost 600 GW – more than all other renewable power technologies combined, or twice as much as Japan’s total capacity, reaching 1 terawatt (TW) by the end of the forecast period, according to IEA.
'Despite recent policy changes, China remains the absolute solar PV leader by far, holding almost 40 percent of global installed PV capacity in 2023. The U.S. remains the second-largest growth market for solar PV, followed by India, whose capacity quadruples,' the IEA noted.
- Offshore wind triples
The IEA underlined that wind remains the second-largest contributor to renewable capacity growth, while hydropower remains the largest renewable electricity source by 2023.
The agency estimates that wind capacity will expand by 60 percent, while spurred by technological progress and significant cost reductions. It also foresees offshore wind capacity tripling, with growth moving beyond Europe to Asia and North America.
By Ebru Sengul
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr