Green Energy has passed the “positive tilting point” and the cost will drop, says the UN
The global transition to renewable energies has passed a “positive tilting point” where solar and wind energy will become even cheaper and more widespread, according to two United Nations published Tuesday reports which describe a light point in the midst of otherwise dark progress to curb climate change.
Last year, 74% of the growth of electricity generated worldwide came from wind, solar energy and other green sources, according to the multi-agencies of the UN, called to seize the time of opportunity.
He found that 92.5% of all the new electricity capacities added to the network in the world in this period came from renewable energies. Meanwhile, sales of electric vehicles increased from 500,000 in 2015 to more than 17 million in 2024.
The three cheapest sources of electricity worldwide last year were wind to earth, solar panels and new hydroelectricity, according to an energy cost ratio of the Renewable Energy Agency (Irena).
Solar energy is now 41% cheaper and wind energy is 53% cheaper worldwide than the cheapest fossil fuel, according to reports. Fossil fuels, which are the main cause of climate change, include coal, oil and natural gas.
“The age of fossil fuels rushes and fails,” said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres during a Tuesday morning speech that unveiled the reports. “We are at the dawn of a new energy era. A time when inexpensive, clean and abundant energy is fueling a world rich in economic opportunities.
“Simply follow the money,” said Guterres, quoting reports that showed that last year there were 2 billions of dollars in green energy, about $ 800 billion more than in fossil fuels.
Renewable energies develop despite high subsidies to fossil fuels
However, UN officials said that the transition to renewable energies, although remarkable compared to 10 years ago, did not occur quickly enough.
Global growth in renewable energies is found mainly in developed countries such as China – where the on -10th of the economy is linked to green energy – as well as countries like India and Brazil.
However, Africa represented less than 2% of the new green energy capacity installed last year despite major electrification needs, according to reports. UN officials blamed the high cost of capital for the world South.
“The world South must be empowered to generate its own electricity without adding to an already unbearable level of debt,” said the Bahamian climateist Adelle Thomas of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Thomas, who did not work on reports, added that they demystize the myth that clean energy cannot compete with fossil fuels, instead of showing a clean energy future is not only possible but probably inevitable.
UN reports are “on money,” said Jonathan Overpeck, Dean of the Environment and Sustainability of the University of Michigan. Overpeck, who was not part of the studies either, said that the economic tilting point leads to a cycle that continues to reduce renewable costs and makes the power of fossil fuel less and less desirable.
Renewable energies are booming despite the fossil fuels which obtain almost nine times the government consumption subsidies as they do, according to Guterres and the reports. In 2023, global subsidies on fossil fuels amounted to US $ 620 billion, compared to $ 70 billion in the United States for renewable energies, said the UN.
But just as renewable energies are booming, the production of fossil fuels in the world is still increasing, instead of going in response. UN officials said it was due to the fact that electricity demand increases overall, stimulated by developing countries, artificial intelligence data centers and the need to cool in an ever more recent world.
“A typical AI data center eats as much electricity as 100,000 houses,” said Guterres, calling the main technological companies in the world to fully feed data centers with renewable energies by 2030. “By 2030, data centers could consume as much electricity as all of Japan today.”
Solar and wind energy programs are cut in us
In the United States, solar and wind energy had increased at a rate of 12.3% per year from 2018 to 2023, according to the Irena report. But since President Donald Trump took office in January, his administration withdrew the nation from the historic agreement on climate change and has reduced many federal renewable energies programs, with a renewed accent on fossil fuels.
Guterres warned the nations which cling to the fossil fuels which they were heading down a dangerous path which would make them poorer, not richer, without naming the United States specifically.
“Countries that cling to fossil fuels do not protect their savings, they sabotage them. Make costs. Miss competitiveness. Lock blocked assets,” he said.
Renewable energies are the intelligent means for energy safety, said Guterres. With renewable energies, “there are no price peaks for sunlight. No embargo on the wind.”
In British Columbia, nine new wind farms promise to stimulate the province’s electricity network by 8%, the province undertaken to accelerate the authorization process for renewable energy projects. Camille Vernet of Radio-Canada takes us to a wind farm to explain the challenges and opportunities that people see.
