Renewable Energy Now Accounts for 25% of Global Energy Capacity
The newly released REN21 Renewables 2011 Global Status Report shows that renewable energy hit a major milestone in 2010 by making up 25 percent of global energy capacity by the end of that year. Renewable sources supplied 20 percent of the energy consumed in 2010.
So far in 2011, renewable energy sources (solar, wind, water, biomass, biofuels, geothermal) have supplied 11.73 percent of energy consumed in the U.S., which is 5.65 percent more than nuclear power and not far away from the energy supplied from domestic crude oil.
The report states that 50 percent of renewable energy capacity is now in developing countries. The top five countries (in order) for non-hydro renewable energy capacity are the U.S., China, Germany, Spain and India. China ended 2010 with renewables accounting for 26 percent of installed energy capacity and 18 percent of the energy consumed.
In other encouraging news, the EU exceeded all of its targets for wind, solar PV, solar thermal and heating/heat pumps. In 2010, renewables made up 41 percent of new electricity capacity in the EU.
For more on the state of renewable energy in the world, including more country rankings by sector, you can check out the full report here (PDF).