Alpen Steel | Renewable Energy

Renewable Energy Rises Globally

In 2011, global investment in renewable energy hit a record high of $257 billion. Concurrently, the use of alternative energy greatly increased worldwide, and now accounts for 16.7 percent of total global energy consumption.

This is both an exciting and challenging time for renewable energy. As the industry grows, the energy becomes cheaper and more competitive with fossil fuels. However, the industry will also experience “growing pains,” says Michael Liebreich, Chief Executive of Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

For example, both solar and wind energy have dropped in price, and are nearing grid parity with fossil fuels. It’s predicted that by 2016, the average onshore wind project worldwide will be fully competitive with combined-cycle gas turbine generation. In addition, the cost of generating power for domestic use from rooftop PV panels is already competitive with the retail daytime electricity price in several countries and the state of Hawaii.

According to Liebreich, the challenge is for policy-makers to “reduce support mechanisms at just the right pace – too fast and the long-term future of the industry will be harmed. Too slow and you do the world’s taxpayers and energy consumers a great disservice.”

Overall, the surge of investments and the increasing use of renewable energy points to a bright future for the alternative energy market.

Read more about the rise of renewable energy at Red Orbit.

Top image: Courtesy Flickr user the noggin_nogged.

(http://www.ecomagination.com/short-reads)