Renewable energy to be cheaper than fossil fuels in next 10 years: UN report

In the next decade, renewable energy sources will be cheaper than fossil fuels. That statement, which is a beacon of hope for all, comes from a United Nations-backed report.

At a press conference held at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Christine Lins, the Executive Secretary of Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) – a global renewable energy policy multi-stakeholder network hosted by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), said this cannot be achieved by wishful thinking. “Only by fully understanding the challenges and engaging in informed debate about how to overcome them, can governments adopt the right policies and financial incentives to accelerate the pace of deployment,” she said.

The Renewables Global Futures Report: Great debates towards 100 per cent renewable energy also noted that more than 70 per cent of the experts expressed that a global transition to 100 per cent renewable energy is both feasible and realistic, with European and Australian experts most strongly supporting this view.

Noting some challenges in achieving the 100 per cent transition, the report mentioned that in some regions, most notably Africa, the US and Japan, experts were sceptical about reaching that figure in their own countries or regions by 2050, largely due to the vested interests of the conventional energy industry.

In India, half the experts questioned felt that 100% renewable energy by 2050 was possible, while the other half were sceptical. One of the main explanations for their scepticism was that renewable sources of energy are still believed to be more expensive than conventional energy sources, despite the fact that actual market prices for new build power plants contradicts this perception. Setting up transparent information systems about the actual current costs of renewable energy sources could help overcome this perception.

 However, the experts agreed that there was a lack of consistent and long-term policies and technical know-how with regard to deployment. They identified a clear need for special assistance from developed countries, especially in relation to grid integration of wind and solar electricity, and operation and maintenance of renewable power generation.

Despite the scepticism, India over the past four years has dramatically increased its renewable energy investments In 2015, India ranked among the top five countries with regard to annual investment and/or net capacity additions for hydropower, wind, solar water heating and solar photo-voltaic.

Furthermore, the first solar photo-voltaic market figures for 2016 indicate that India has surpassed China for the first time, with over 17 giga-watts of new installed capacity.