In the last two decades the renewable energy industry has grown at an increasingly rapid pace. Between 2001 and 2003 just 71 gigawatts’ worth of renewable electricity capacity was added to world stocks. From 2010 to 2015 that number was 732 gigawatts.
Now the International Energy Agency has forecast that total additions to renewable energy capacity over the next five years (2022 to 2027) will match the amount added over the last 20 years.
This is significantly more than was expected a year ago. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has encouraged unprecedented investment in renewables to reduce reliance on Russian gas. While the United States and the countries of the European Union are key drivers of this increase, it is China that leads the race. Renewable capacity expansion has been revised upwards there by 36 per cent, compared with 35 per cent for the EU and 26 per cent for the US.
[See also: How Johnson, Truss and the Tory rebels learned to love onshore wind]
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