It’s a first. In 2023, the world will have crossed the threshold of 30% electricity production from renewable sources, according to the Ember energy research center. Globally, renewable energies have increased from a share of 19% of global electricity production in 2000 to more than 30% in 2023, driven by the growth in particular of solar but also wind power.
This rate could have been even higher if hydroelectric production had not been at its lowest in five years, due to droughts in China in particular. In detail, photovoltaic solar and wind generated 13.4% of global electricity last year (the rest of the renewable sources coming mainly from hydroelectricity), compared to around 2% in 2010.
Triple renewable energy by 2030
According to Ember, this growth could allow the world, “perhaps this year”, to see a decline in fossil-based electricity production. “The decline in emissions from the electricity sector is now inevitable,” underlines Dave Jones, Ember expert, for whom “2023 was probably the pivot point, a turning point in the history of energy”.
“However, the pace of emissions reductions will depend on the speed with which the renewables revolution continues,” he added. States committed at the UN climate conference at the end of 2023 (COP28) to act to triple global renewable energy capacities by 2030. This would allow the world to reach 60% of electricity from renewable sources, Ember points out.