RenewableS 2013 GlObal STaTUS RePORT - REN21

01 GLOBAL MARKET AND INDUSTRY
OVERVIEW
Global demand for renewable energy continued to rise during
2011 and 2012, despite the international economic crisis,
ongoing trade disputes, and policy uncertainty and declining
support in some key markets. Renewable energy supplied an
estimated 19% of global final energy consumption by the end
of 2011, the latest year for which data are available. 1i Of this
total, approximately 9.3% came from traditional biomass ii ,
which is used primarily for cooking and heating in rural areas of
developing countries. Useful heat energy from modern renewable
sources accounted for an estimated 4.1% of total final
energy use; hydropower made up about 3.7%; and an estimated
1.9% was provided by power from wind, solar, geothermal, and
biomass, and by biofuels. 2 (See Figure 1.) Renewables are a
vital part of the global energy mix. 3
Modern renewable energy can substitute for fossil and nuclear
fuels in four distinct markets: power generation, heating and
cooling, transport fuels, and rural/off-grid energy services.
This section provides an overview of recent market and
industry developments in the first three sectors, while the
Rural Renewable Energy section covers rural/off-grid energy
in developing countries. The section that follows provides
technology-specific coverage of market and industry developments
and trends.
During the five-year period 2008–2012, installed capacity iii
of many renewable energy technologies grew very rapidly,
with the fastest growth in the power sector. Total capacity of
solar photovoltaics (PV) grew at rates averaging 60% annually. 4
Concentrating solar thermal power (CSP) capacity increased
more than 40% per year on average, growing from a small base,
and wind power increased 25% annually over this period. 5
Hydropower and geothermal power are more mature technologies
and their growth rates have been more modest, in the
range of 3–4% per year. 6 (See Figure 2.) Bio-power is also
mature but with steady growth in solid and gaseous biomass
capacity, increasing at an average 8% annually. 7
Demand has also increased rapidly in the heating/cooling
sector, particularly for solar thermal systems, geothermal
ground-source heat pumps, and some bioenergy fuels and
systems. Capacity of glazed solar water heaters has increased
by an average exceeding 15% over the past five years, while
ground-source heat pumps continue to grow by an average
20% annually, and bio-heat capacity is growing steadily. 8 Wood
pellet consumption (for both heat and power) is rising by about
20% per year. 9
Figure 1. Estimated Renewable Energy Share of Global Final Energy Consumption, 2011
Biomass/solar/
geothermal heat
and hot water 4.1%
GLOBAL ENERGY
RENEWABLES
210
Modern
Renewables 9.7%
Traditional
Biomass 9.3%
19%
Hydropower 3.7%
Wind/solar/
biomass/
geothermal
power generation 1.1%
Biofuels 0.8%
Source: See
Endnote 2
for this section.
Nuclear power 2.8%
01
Fossil fuels 78.2%
i Endnotes are numbered by section and begin on page 134 (see full version online: www.ren21.net/gsr).
ii Traditional biomass refers to solid biomass that is combusted in inefficient, and usually polluting, open fires, stoves, or furnaces to provide heat energy for
cooking, comfort, and small-scale agricultural and industrial processing, typically in rural areas of developing countries. Traditional biomass currently plays a
critical role in meeting rural energy demand in much of the developing world. Modern bioenergy is defined in this report as energy derived efficiently from solid,
liquid, and gaseous biomass fuels for modern applications. (See Glossary for definitions of terms used in this report.) There is debate about the sustainability
of traditional biomass, and whether it should be considered renewable, or renewable only if it comes from a sustainable source. For information about the
environmental and health impacts of traditional biomass, see H. Chum et al., “Bioenergy,” in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Special Report
on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2011), and John P. Holdren et al., “Energy, the
Environment, and Health,” in World Energy Assessment: Energy and the Challenge of Sustainability (New York: United Nations Development Programme, 2000).
iii The following sections include energy data where possible but focus mainly on capacity data. See Methodological Notes, page 126.
Renewables 2013 Global Status Report 19