Clean energy sources are far outstripping coal

2015 is the year marked a major turning point for the clean energy industry when for the first time in history, renewable energy has surpassed coal to become the world's largest power supply.

Clean energy not only surpasses but also is far ahead of coal. The growth rate of renewable energy sources is growing faster than ever. Renewable energy growth has far surpassed all other forms of energy supply in 2015 and it contributes to creating more than 50% of new electricity worldwide.

According to a recent report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the rate of renewable energy growth for the period 2015-2021 will be 13% larger than the previous forecast. The report shows that renewable energy will be responsible for 28% of total electricity production in 2021, up 5% from the forecast. Thus, renewable energy will encroach on about 1% of the electricity market every year.

Although in the next 5 years, renewable energy only accounts for about a quarter of the world's total electricity. But this is equivalent to about 7,600 terawatt hours of electricity, which is roughly the current combined output of the United States and the European Union (EU).

Worldwide, up to 500,000 new solar panels are installed every day.(Image source: sciencealert).

"We are witnessing a huge shift in the global energy market due to the contribution of renewable energy. Like many other areas, the focus for renewable energy development is moving to emerging markets , " said IEA executive director Fatih Birol.

In emerging markets, the rate of renewable energy development increases rapidly to an incredible level. In China, in 2015, two new wind turbines will be installed every hour. This means that China has built nearly 20,000 new turbines later this year.

Investors said China accounted for 50% of the total electricity output from new wind energy sources and contributed to 40% of global renewable energy capacity.

Wind energy is leading the way in renewable energy growth, accounting for 66 gigawatts (GW) of capacity in 2015. Next is solar power, which contributes 49 GW. This 49 GW of solar energy is supplied from 500,000 new solar panels installed every day around the world last year.

China, India and Mexico are competing with each other in the race for electricity from renewable energy thanks to the development of technology and open markets. However, researchers also said that we need to be really sure to sustain the momentum of renewable energy sources.

The rate of renewable energy development increases rapidly to an incredible level.

Many countries in the world still do not have policies to develop renewable energy strong enough. Even in China, the rapid increase in clean energy is not enough to meet their ever-increasing power demand.

Meanwhile in the US, EU and Japan, renewable energy capacity is expected to fully meet power demand in the next 5 years.

Even with the huge strides we have made, researchers warn that this is still not enough to realize the ambitious commitments of the UN climate agreement signed in Paris. 2015. This agreement aims to keep the global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius until the end of the century.