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Modern renewables continued to expand in new markets despite the economic downturn in 2011. The world saw heightened investments and the inclusion of a renewable energy in mainstream markets, said the latest edition of the REN21 Renewables Global Status Report.
This year's special focus highlights the attractiveness of rural energy markets for investors, and record-breaking global investments in renewable energy capacity over the past two years.
Renewable technologies continued to grow strongly in 2011. China ended the year with more total investment than any other nation for the third year running. The number of countries with renewable targets and support policies also more than doubled between 2005 and 2012. This drove a record US$257 billion in global new investment in 2011, up from US$39 billion in 2004.
However, global economic problems continue to be a threat to sustainability. The 2011 sovereign debt crisis affected the supply of credit for renewable energy projects in Europe, as banks responded with sharp increases in funding costs and risk assessment upgrades. Support policies introduced renewable energy technologies to new markets, but the lack of predictable, transparent and stable conditions remains a challenge.
In the United States and Europe, governments struggle to lend continued support in light of changing fiscal situations, though the number of renewable energy policies being put in place continued to increase in 2011. India introduced new policy targets and emerged as the fastest-growing renewables market in the world with a 62 percent growth.
The report highlighted that rural energy markets provide a win-win for consumers and investors. Most developing countries have started to identify and implement policies to further drive prices down.
"The increased renewable energy activity in developing countries highlighted in this year's report is very encouraging, since most of the future growth in energy demand is expected to occur in developing countries," said Mr Mohamed El-Ashry, Chairman of REN21's Steering Committee.
Sustainable alternatives are increasingly attractive to potential investors, while deployment creates clean and affordable renewable energy for individuals.households, businesses, etc. With more than 1.3 billion people, China has made extraordinary investments to meet its growing energy needs and remains the global leader in renewable energy capacity. It has emerged as the dominant player in Asia in solar photovoltaics (PV), which saw another year of groundbreaking growth in 2011.
The economy can also look forward to more jobs. Technologies such as off-grid solar, biogas and small-scale hydro account for more than 190,000 of India's renewables jobs, and new developments in Bangladesh are expected to create 60,000 jobs.
While impressive growth points to an optimistic future, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that annual investment in the rural energy sector needs to increase more than five-fold by 2030 to provide universal access to modern energy, especially in Asia where there are significant development gaps among countries.
The REN21 Renewables Global Status Report (GSR) was published on 11 June 2012 by the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century. The policy network provides a forum for international leadership in renewable energy policy, in order to share knowledge and facilitate the rapid growth of renewable energy technologies in developing countries and industrialised economies. The full report can be downloaded here.
BY : REN21