According to a report published on Wednesday, the global status report, India was third in renewable energy installations for 2021 after China and Russia. According to a report titled Renewable Energy 2022 – Global Status Report, published by REN21 (Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century), India had installed 15.4 gigawatts of renewable energy projects in 2021.
REN21’s Renewables 2022 Global Status Report (2022 GSR) warns that the global clean-energy transition is not taking place, and that it is unlikely that the world can meet its critical climate goals in this decade.
The beginning of the greatest energy crisis in modern times was witnessed in the second half 2021. This was exacerbated by Russia’s invasion in Ukraine in early 2022, and a global commodity shock that was unprecedented.
Rana Adib (REN21 Executive Director) stated that while there were more countries committed to net zero greenhouse gases emissions by 2021, it is a fact that most countries have resorted to using fossil fuels to find new sources and burning more coal, oil, and natural gas.
The report states that India has added 843 MW to its hydropower capacity by 2021, bringing the total capacity up to 45.3 GW.
India was Asia’s second largest market for solar PV capacity, and third worldwide (13 GW additions in 2021). It ranked fourth in total installations (60.4 GW) and surpassed Germany (59.2 GW), for the first-time.
India was third in the world for total installed wind power capacity (40.1 GW), just behind the US, China and Germany.
The GSR annually takes stock of renewable energy deployment worldwide.
The 2022 report, released on Wednesday, is the 17th consecutive edition and provides proof of what experts have been warning about: the overall share of renewables in the world’s final energy consumption has stagnated — rising only minimally from 10.6 per cent in 2009 to 11.7 per cent in 2019 — and the global shift of the energy system to renewables is not happening.
In the electricity sector, record additions in renewable power capacity (314.5 gigawatts, up 17 per cent from 2020) and generation (7,793 terawatt-hours) were unable to meet the overall increase in electricity consumption of 6 per cent.
In heating and cooling, the renewable share in final energy consumption increased from 8.9 per cent in 2009 to 11.2 per cent in 2019.
In the transport sector, where the renewable share went from 2.4 per cent in 2009 to 3.7 per cent in 2019, the lack of progress is particularly worrying, as the sector accounts for nearly a third of global energy consumption.
For the first time, the GSR 2022 provides a world map of renewable energy shares by country and highlights progress in some of the leading countries.
Despite many new commitments to net zero, political momentum has not translated into action.
In the lead-up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November 2021, a record 135 countries pledged to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
However, only 84 of these countries had economy-wide targets for renewable energy, and only 36 had targets for 100 per cent renewables.
For the first time in the history of UN climate summits, the COP26 declaration mentioned the need to reduce coal use, but it failed to call for targeted reductions in either coal or fossil fuels.
The GSR 2022 makes clear that meeting countries’ net zero pledges will require massive efforts, and that the momentum associated with Covid-19 has passed untapped.
Despite important green recovery measures in many countries, the strong economic rebound in 2021 — with global real gross domestic product (GDP) growing 5.9 per cent — contributed to a four per cent rise in final energy consumption, offsetting the growth of renewables.
China’s final energy consumption increased by 36% between 2009-2019. The largest increase in global energy consumption in 2021 was accounted for by fossil fuels. This resulted in the highest rise in carbon dioxide emissions, more than 2 million tonnes worldwide.
Global economic collapse is possible due to the collapse of the old energy system.
2021 was also the end of cheap fossil fuels. It saw the greatest rise in energy prices since 1973’s oil crisis.
