The following figures come from the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration. They were culled from last year’s International Energy Outlook 2010 – Highlights.
- Of the 4.5 trillion kilowatt-hours of increased renewable generation over the projection period, 2.4 trillion kilowatt-hours (54 percent) is attributed to hydroelectric power and 1.2 trillion kilowatt-hours (26 percent) to wind. Except for those two sources, most renewable generation technologies are not economically competitive with fossil fuels over the projection period, outside a limited number of niche markets.
- Although they remain a small part of total renewable generation, renewables other than hydroelectricity and wind—including solar, geothermal, biomass, waste, and tidal/wave/oceanic energy—do increase at a rapid rate over the projection period (Figure 7).
- From 2007 to 2035, world renewable energy use for electricity generation grows by an average of 3.0 percent per year (Figure 6), and the renewable share of world electricity generation increases from 18 percent in 2007 to 23 percent in 2035.
- World energy-related carbon dioxide emissions rise from 29.7 billion metric tons in 2007 to 33.8 billion metric tons in 2020 and 42.4 billion metric tons in 2035—an increase of 43 percent over the projection period.
- In 2007, the industrial sector consumed 13 quadrillion Btu of non-electricity renewables, or about 7 percent of the sector’s total delivered energy use. From 2007 to 2035, renewable energy use in the industrial sector worldwide increases by an average of 1.8 percent per year, and the renewable share of total delivered energy use in the industrial sector increases to 8 percent in 2035. Biomass for heat and power production currently provides the vast majority of renewable energy consumed in the industrial sector (90 percent), and it is expected to remain the largest component of the industrial sector’s renewable energy mix through the projection period.
Image source: Metropolitan Museum of Art
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