Recently, Ember, an independent think tank of energy and environment, released the report "Global Electricity Review", saying that as the fastest growing power sources, in 2021, the proportion of wind power and photovoltaic power generation in the total global power generation will exceed 1/10 for the first time, reaching 10.3%, a record high. At the same time, the share of non-fossil energy generation in the world's total electricity generation has also surpassed coal power, reaching 38%.
It is understood that Ember's report analyzed the electricity data of 209 countries and regions from 2000 to 2020, including the latest data in 2021 for 75 countries that account for 93% of global electricity demand.
The report shows that since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, the share of global wind and photovoltaic power generation in total power generation has doubled. In 2021, more than 10% of the world's electricity supply will come from wind and photovoltaics in 50 countries. Among them, the report specifically mentioned that in 2021, China's wind and photovoltaic power generation will not only account for more than 10% of the total power generation, reaching 11.2%, but its annual growth rate will also reach 32% and 27%, respectively, leading the world status.
In addition, according to Ember's statistics, the countries with the fastest transition to wind power and photovoltaics in the world are the Netherlands, Australia and Vietnam. In these countries, in the past two years, about 1/10 of the electricity demand has been converted from fossil fuels to wind and solar energy. "Equal replacement". At the same time, in 2021, wind and photovoltaic power generation in 10 countries will account for more than a quarter. Among them, Denmark's "wind and solar" power generation accounted for 52%.
However, Ember also pointed out that the record growth of global wind and photovoltaic power generation in 2021 is mainly supported by a strong rebound in electricity demand, while carbon dioxide emissions and coal power growth also hit record highs during this period.
The report data shows that despite the record growth of global wind and photovoltaic power generation in 2021, it will only meet 29% of the growth in global electricity demand, and the rest will still be met by fossil fuel power generation, which will lead to a 9% increase in coal power generation. Fastest annual growth rate since 1985. Growth in electricity generation from fossil fuels has pushed carbon dioxide emissions from the global power sector to an all-time high, around 3% above the 2018 record. According to the International Energy Agency's net-zero roadmap, in order to achieve the 1.5-degree temperature control target, wind and solar power generation needs to reach 40% of global power generation by 2030, while coal power needs to drop from 36% to 8% .
Dave Jones, global head of Ember, said: “Even with record-high carbon emissions from coal and the power sector, the global power transition is clear. Wind and solar power generation is growing, and this trend is not just happening. In a few countries. The addition of wind and solar energy has the potential not only to replace fossil fuels, but also to improve energy security.”
