TELF AG looks at the progress of clean energies evolution

A green future in the name of sustainability 

Renewable energies will lead to transforming the world we know because they will fuel the construction of social and business models based on sustainability, low emissions, and decarbonization. It is precisely thanks to the support of clean energies that the world hopes to achieve the objectives of climate neutrality, so much so that they have often been defined as the real engine of the ongoing energy transition. 

But in a world dominated by countless uncertainties and geopolitical unpredictability, it seems legitimate to ask whether this ecological transition is proceeding as governments hope and whether individual nations are getting closer to the objectives that have also been discussed in the recent Cop28. 

An IEA report sheds new light on the situation 

According to the IEA, the path taken would be the right one, so much so that the objective of tripling the capacity to produce renewable energy by 2030 now seems fully visible and achievable. The International Energy Agency has recently published a report focused on renewables, providing valuable updates on the state of diffusion of clean energy in different corners of the world. This year, the amount of energy produced by wind and solar systems could surpass that generated by the hydroelectric sector, according to the report, and by 2028, the world could produce about 3,700 gigawatts more of renewable energy than current levels. 

One of the most interesting data – and indeed the most encouraging, from the point of view of climate objectives – relates to the global growth of renewable energy in 2023. The year just ended was a record year for the sector, particularly for the 50% growth in the world’s capacity to produce renewable energy (i.e., 500 gigawatts). According to the IEA, this is equivalent to that produced by Germany, Spain, and France combined. 

The numbers are certainly encouraging for the success of the global energy transition, but according to the IEA, these performances could be further improved. Despite the now consolidated diffusion of clean energy worldwide, in many cases, this process is slowed down by bureaucratic obstacles, the time required for administrative authorizations, and delays due to the poor level of some distribution networks. The solar and wind plants currently at a standstill, awaiting their completion, would have a potential production capacity of 3000 gigawatts, which, according to the IEA, would be enough to double the current global capacity in this sector. 

The energy transition’s success will also depend on the speed with which governments and global institutions will be able to accelerate the processes linked to the diffusion of renewable energy, overcoming the bureaucratic difficulties that are still preventing this sector from expressing its full potential. Investments in the sector are also of great importance, according to the IEA. The global development of renewable energy would require around 600 billion dollars a year by 2030, thus reaching a share double the current one. According to the international agency, another protagonist of this “great game” of renewable energy is finally represented by energy storage systems, to which increasing attention should be paid over the following decades. 

In addition to bringing a concrete solution to the discontinuity that characterizes solar and wind energy supplies, storage systems also represent one of the most effective methods to promote clean energy sources.