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Renewable Energy Surpasses 30% of Global Electricity Supply for First Time Ever

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10 May, 2024

This post was originally published on Eco Watch

According to the new Global Electricity Review 2024 from thinktank Ember, renewable energy now exceeds more than 30 percent of the world’s electricity supply, following a fast rise in solar and wind power.

According to Ember’s executive summary of the report, record solar and wind construction in 2023 means “a new era of falling fossil generation is imminent.”

“The renewables future has arrived,” said Dave Jones, Ember’s global insights director. “Solar, in particular, is accelerating faster than anyone thought possible.”

The report pointed out that, while electricity demand worldwide has continued to rise, renewables have helped slow fossil fuel growth by nearly two-thirds in the past decade, The Guardian reported.

The report found that green energy had increased from 19 percent of the power supply in 2000. The main contributor to the growth was solar, which added more than twice the generation of new electricity as coal last year. Solar’s surge was the fastest for the 19th year in a row and the biggest new electricity source again after surpassing wind power last year.

“The decline of power sector emissions is now inevitable. 2023 was likely the pivot point — peak emissions in the power sector — a major turning point in the history of energy. But the pace of emissions falls depends on how fast the renewables revolution continues,” Jones said, according to Ember.

The report looked at power data from 215 countries. The analysis included the latest data from 2023 for 80 countries that represented 92 percent of electricity demand around the globe. It also examined data for 13 economic and geographic groupings like the European Union, Asia, Africa and the Group of Seven largest developed economies in the world.

At the United Nations COP28 climate change conference at the end of 2023, world leaders set a target of reaching 60 percent of global electricity being supplied by clean energy by 2030. The goal would mean countries would have to triple their current renewables capacity in the coming six years, reported The Guardian.

“The good news is we already know the key enablers that help countries unleash the full potential of solar and wind. There’s an unprecedented opportunity for countries that choose to be at the forefront of the clean energy future. Expanding clean electricity not only helps to decarbonise the power sector. It also provides the step up in supply needed to electrify the whole economy; and that’s the real game-changer for the climate,” Jones said in Ember’s summary of the report.

Ember added that global power generation’s carbon dioxide intensity fell to 12 percent below its peak in 2007 — a new record low.

“The speed of solar and wind expansion is remarkable and a sign that society can bring about rapid change,” said Niklas Höhne, a climate scientist with the NewClimate Institute, who did not contribute to Ember’s research, as CNN reported.

Drought conditions caused a record fall in the generation of hydropower to a five year low, Ember said. The shortfall was met by a rise in coal power generation. Nearly all — 95 percent — of the increase in coal generation last year was in four drought-stricken countries: India, China, Vietnam and Mexico.

Ember’s forecast was for fossil fuel generation to “fall slightly” this year, but for the decrease to grow in subsequent years.

Ember said electricity demand growth was expected to be higher this year, but that the increase in green energy generation was predicted to be even greater, resulting in a reduction in global fossil fuel production of two percent.

“The decade ahead will see the energy transition enter a new phase,” Ember said. “Clean electricity additions – led by solar and wind – are already forecast to outpace demand growth in the coming decade, securing moderate reductions in fossil fuel use and hence emissions, even as demand accelerates to meet the growing needs of electrification and other booming technologies.”

Ember said green power was key to the decarbonization of heating, transportation and much of industry.

“An accelerating transition to a clean electrified economy powered by wind, solar and other forms of clean energy will also unlock benefits in areas such as economic growth, jobs, air quality and energy sovereignty,” Ember said.

Nancy Haegel, a National Renewable Energy Laboratory research advisor, told CNN that, while the report “does provide hope,” the question was whether the transition to renewables would happen quickly enough.

“Choices in the next 10 years are critical,” Haegel said.

The post Renewable Energy Surpasses 30% of Global Electricity Supply for First Time Ever appeared first on EcoWatch.

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ABB receives EPD status for gearless mill drive ring motor

ABB receives EPD status for gearless mill drive ring motor

ABB has gained Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) status for its Gearless Mill Drive (GMD) ring motor — technology used to drive large grinding mills in the mining industry.

An EPD is a standardised document that provides detailed information about the environmental impact of a product throughout its life cycle. Based on a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study, the EPD highlights ABB’s commitment to transparency, environmental responsibility and supporting customers in making informed decisions on sustainability in their supply chains.

ABB analysed the environmental impact of a ring motor across its entire life cycle from supply chain and production to usage and end-of-life disposal. The study was conducted for a ring motor of a semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill with an installed power of 24 MW and was based on a reference service life of 25 years.

“Sustainability is at the core of our purpose at ABB, influencing how we operate and innovate for customers,” said Andrea Quinta, Sustainability Specialist at ABB. “By earning the Environmental Product Declaration for our ring motor, we emphasise our environmental stewardship and industry leadership for this technology. We adhered to the highest standards throughout this process, as we do in the ABB Ring Motor factory every day. This recognition highlights to the mining industry what they are bringing into their own operations when they work with ABB.”

The comprehensive LCA was conducted at ABB’s factory in Bilbao, Spain, and was externally verified and published in accordance with international standards ISO 14025 and ISO 14040/14044. It will remain valid for five years.

The ring motor, a key component of the GMD, is a drive system without any gears where the transmission of the torque between the motor and the mill is done through the magnetic field in the air gap between the motor stator and the motor rotor. It optimises grinding applications in the minerals and mining industries by enabling variable-speed operation, leading to energy and cost savings.

The full EPD for the ABB GMD Ring Motor can be viewed on EPD International.

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