Solar eclipses fossil fuels in 2017

Solar energy is growing rapidly. Globally, a record 98 GW of solar power capacity was installed last year with China contributing more than half, according to official sources. The new renewable energy generating capacity, including wind, biofuels and geothermal energy, dwarfed the 70 GW of net new capacity from fossil fuels in 2017. “We are at a turning point ... from fossil fuels to the renewable world,” Erik Solheim, head of U.N. Environment, told Reuters. “The markets are there and renewables can take on coal, they can take on oil and gas.”

Fossil fuels still dominate

Despite the rapid growth of solar power, fossil fuels still dominate the existing capacity. Solar, wind, biomass and other renewables generated 12.1 percent of world electricity in 2017, up from 5.2 percent a decade earlier, it said. Climate scientists have advised governments that renewables should be the world’s dominant source of energy by mid-century if they want to achieve the toughest goals set under the 2015 Paris climate agreement to combat global warming.

Renewable energy investment

Global investment in renewable energy rose by two percent to $279.8 billion in 2017 from a year earlier. China invested the most in renewables at $126.6 billion - its largest amount ever and 45 percent of the global total. “Much lower costs ... are the driver of solar investment worldwide,” said Angus McCrone, chief editor of Bloomberg New Energy Finance and lead author of the report, told Reuters. Solar power in China benefited from government policies to help industry, reduce air pollution and slow climate change, he said.

Donald Trump’s decision to slap tariffs on imported solar panels could dent U.S. solar power in the short term, McCrone said. But there was no sign the U.S. Congress would scrap tax credits for renewables that are a bigger driver of long-term investment, he said. Europe’s investment in renewable energy plunged by 36 percent to $40.9 billion due to factors including the end of subsidies in some countries for solar and wind and lower technology costs. 

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