Renewable energies are sources of clean, inexhaustible and increasingly competitive energy.
They differ from fossil fuels principally in their diversity, abundance and potential for use anywhere on the planet, but above all in that they produce neither greenhouse gases – which cause climate change – nor polluting emissions.
Their costs are also falling and at a sustainable rate, whereas the general cost trend for fossil fuels is in the opposite direction in spite of their present volatility.
Growth in clean energies is unstoppable, as reflected in statistics produced in 2015 by the International Energy Agency (IEA): they represented nearly half of all new electricity generation capacity installed in 2014, when they constituted the second biggest source of electricity worldwide, behind coal.
Clean energy development is vital for combating climate change and limiting its most devastating effects.
Meanwhile, 17% of the world population do not have access to electricity. Equally, 38% of the population use conventional biomass for cooking, heating and lighting in their homes – at serious risk to their health.
As such, one of the objectives established by the United Nations is to achieve to access to electricity for everyone by 2030, an ambitious target considering that, by then, according to the IEA’s estimates, 800 million people will have no access to an electricity supply if current trends continue.
Here are some of the advantages of renewable energy;
- The indispensable partner in the fight against climate change.
Renewables do not emit greenhouse gases in energy generation processes, making them the cleanest, most viable solution to prevent environmental degradation.
Inexhaustible.
Compared to conventional energy sources such as coal, gas, oil and nuclear – reserves of which are finite – clean energies are just as available as the sun from which they originate and adapt to natural cycles, hence their name “renewables”. This makes them an essential element in a sustainable energy system that allows development today without risking that of future generations.
Reducing energy dependence
The indigenous nature of clean sources gives local economies an advantage and brings meaning to the term “energy independence”. Dependence on fossil fuel imports results in subordination to the economic and political short-term goals of the supplier country, which can compromise the security of energy supply. Everywhere in the world there is a renewable resource – whether that be the wind, sun, water or organic material – available for producing energy sustainably.
Increasingly competitive.
The main renewable technologies – such as wind and solar photovoltaic – are drastically reducing their costs, such that they are fully competitive with conventional sources in a growing number of locations. Economies of scale and innovation are already resulting in renewable energies becoming the most sustainable solution, not only environmentally but also economically, for powering the world.
Benefiting from a favorable political horizon.
The international community has understood its obligation to firm up the transition towards a low-carbon economy in order to guarantee a sustainable future for the planet. International consensus in favor of the “de-carbonization” of the economy constitutes a very favorable framework for the promotion of clean energy technologies.