Is the World Ready for 100% Renewable Energy?

Imagine a world which lives on only renewable energy. This is not an utopia; it is a fact that the only way to sustain life on our planet is transitioning to renewable energy model. Energy transformation is the only way to reach the target identified in the Paris Convention: Limiting temperature increase on the planet with over 1.5°C of pre-industrial levels. Many more countries and sectors are required to use renewable energy in order to decrease the temperature levels of the world.

So, is our world ready for a 100% renewable energy model?

Can We Supply All the Energy We Need from Renewable Sources?

If we are to answer from a scientific perspective, all energy need of a country can be supplied from renewables, so the answer is yes. However, this depends on which country you are in across the planet. For example, if this question is asked in Spain, the answer would be positive. According to the studies conducted by Spanish researchers Javier Samanes and Julio Pascual, Spain can supply 100% of its electricity consumption by using only solar photovoltaic and wind technologies.

“Renewable energy” studies are rapidly improving in Spain. In July 2020, renewable energy was the energy source with the highest installed capacity in Spain. The growth reached incredible scales with renewables supplying 40% of the demand. The estimation for Spain is to provide 50% of its electricity supply from renewables by 2025.

But the scene may not be as hopeful in other locations in the world since some countries may experience a more challenging energy transition. In addition, electricity generation is only one part of the energy we consume. When it comes to many sectors that depend on transportation, heating and fossil fuels, energy transition seem to be difficult for now.

Opposition to Renewable Energy

Some oil-producing companies such as Mexico, Brazil and Venezuela are reluctant to transition to renewable energy. Thes types of countries are resistant to energy transformation due to the economic benefits they gain from oil production. However, changing the energy model leads to economic growth. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), an investment in renewable energies worth $130 billion can provide a gain of $98 billion in the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This can quadruple the number of jobs in the new sector in the next 30 years, which will reach 42 million and significantly improve general health and welfare indicators.

Countries Supporting Model Change

Of course, there are countries which see the benefits of energy transformation loud and clear.

Example 1: Chile committed to reach its carbon neutral target by 2050 and integrated the advantage of renewable energy to its short-term future program. There are many on-going projects in Chile to benefit from wind and solar energy. Chile transformed its Atacama Desert, one of the most sun-drenched places in the world, into a large project area.

Example 2: Canada provides a good example for how to successfully achieve energy transformation. The basic foundation of the country’s “renewable energy plan” is to gradually increase the taxes on carbon emissions. These taxes, which are $23 per ton today, will be increased to $133 by 2030. The vision of Canada is to make the taxes for carbon emissions higher as well as increasing incentives to pollute less, make energy savings and invest in low-carbon solutions.

Electrifying the Sectors

There are many sectors in the world that do not use electricity and work with fossil fuels. For example, there are more than 2 billion vehicles with combustion engines across the globe in the transportation sector! We know that renewable resources mainly generate electricity. Thus, we need to electrify more items in order to start to supply all our consumption from renewable resources.

How can we increase the number of electric products? The initial step would be transitioning to electric vehicles from fossil fuel vehicles. Fortunately, the sector of electric vehicles becoming increasingly profitable. According to the World Economic Forum, there will be millions of new electric vehicles on the roads in 2030. And fuels such as green hydrogen also promote decarbonization of the sector in heavy transportation by gaining momentum in recent years. For more information about green hydrogen, you can visit our blog post here.

Finding Ways to Store Energy

Materials such as water can be stored in reservoirs, however the energy that lights up the lamp in your house is generated instantaneously. Storing electricity is much more difficult. Therefore, the ones opposing renewable energies argue that these energy resources do not provide continuity during the nights when the sun is out and when the wind does not blow.

However, this argument started to be refuted thanks to solutions such as pumped-storage power plants and storage technologies and measures such as batteries. Hydrogen is also an energy distribution means that enable storage of electricity and utilization of it when needed - it is almost like a huge energy container.

Each country and each sector advances with a different speed towards changing the model, depending on their own political conditions and resources. A collective mindset change is being experienced, and constructive and compelling international commitments come into play in order for the politicians to promote utilization of renewables instead of fossil fuels.

Ever-Growing Renewables

Even when the economies of the countries hit rock bottom due to COVID-19 pandemic, renewable energy resources such as wind energy and solar photovoltaic grew faster compared to the previous decades. And sales of electric vehicles reached record breaking levels in recent years.

According to the last report of International Energy Agency (IEA), renewable energy resources are indicated to become the main electricity resources in the world in 2025. The same study also shows that fossil fuels are about the get down from their leadership seat in the last half century.

Benefits of Renewables

The development and installation rate of renewables is the best news in the efforts to limit global warming and thus to stop climate change. However, the benefits of renewables go beyond that:

1- Benefits for the climate: Clean energy resources such as renewables are effectively contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gases, particularly CO2.

2- Economic benefits: Renewables reduce dependency on other energy resources which are required to be imported (such as oil). Whether from the sun, or water or wind, each country can supply all its energy requirements from renewables. Renewables provide a strong support for local economies.

The Value of Renewables at the Local Scale

We know that the key to fighting against climate change is renewables, but what is the situation on the local scale?

Beyond being clean, inexhaustible, and increasingly competitive energy resources, renewables provide numerous benefits at the local scale for the communities:

I. Using renewable energy means creating employment for local communities.
II. Renewables provide improvement in the lives of rural population, enable the residents to settle in these areas and contribute to social cohesion and regional balance. Wind power plants, for example, are in harmony with the agriculture and husbandry methods which currently exist.
III. Another local benefit of renewables is to be free from energy resources which are far away. Thus, energy transmission losses are reduced.
IV. Installation of renewable power plants contributes to developing local research, development, and innovation potential via promoting special projects that have been adapted to the energy needs on the field.
V. Renewables support sustainable management of forests and thus prevent forest fires.

Transitioning to Renewable Energy is not a Dream

In conclusion, transitioning to 100% renewable energy is not only a dream, but an inevitable requirement for the future of our planet. Many countries advance on this transformation journey with success while others still experience significant challenges. However, increasing support for international communities and rapid developments in renewable energy technologies increasingly show that this transition is possible with every passing day. Energy transformation offers a promising future for the entire world, not only with its environmental benefits, but also with its economic and social benefits. Transitioning to renewable energies plays a critical role in the fight against global warming and improves the quality of life for local communities. Therefore, accelerating this transformation is one of the steps required to be taken by every country in themselves and in the international field.