Science & Technology

22% of energy now from renewable sources

By T.K. Randall
August 31, 2014 ·  16 comments

Wind farms provide an effective source of renewable energy. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 2.0 Paul Anderson The proliferation of green energy production technologies has hit a significant milestone according to a new International Energy Agency report released on Thursday.

While the take-up of renewable energy sources is expected to slacken due to concerns over the cost of subsidies, more than $250 billion was invested in related technologies last year with renewable sources expected to account for up to 26% of the world's electricity production by 2020."Renewables are a necessary part of energy security," said executive director Maria van der Hoeve. "However, just when they are becoming a cost-competitive option in an increasing number of cases, policy and regulatory uncertainty is rising in some key markets."

Some officials, such as European Wind Energy Association deputy chief executive Justin Wilkes, have argued that the targets are not ambitious enough and that more still needs to be done to encourage the widespread uptake of renewable energy sources.

"Europe's heads of state need to agree in October on a binding 30% renewables target if real progress is going to be made to improve Europe's energy security, competitiveness and climate objectives," he said.

Source: The Guardian | Comments (16)

Tags: Renewable, Energy