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Rapid growth of renewable energy finally recognised by International Energy Agency

Renewable energy is now the fastest growing sector of the energy mix and accounts for almost one-fifth of all electricity produced worldwide.

International Energy Agency (Finally) Acknowledges Ascent of Renewable Energy Market Forbes, Erica Giles 29 Feb 2012, The International Energy Agency (IEA) announced last week that it will begin publishing an annual market forecast of renewable energy, starting in July. The IEA was founded after the 1973 oil shock and has been criticized in
the past for its lack of attention to renewables, so this announcement
marks a coming of age of the renewable energy sector. The IEA’s new
report on renewables will join its existing annual medium-term reports
on oil, gas and coal.

Still, the “arrival” of the renewable energy market is certainly not
news to the industry itself or to venture capitalists or to many
governments. Given that the IEA’s original objectives were oil
focused, and it has been dogged for years with claims of oil industry
bias in its projections, it’s not surprising that it would be late to
the party. Still, way back in 1979, it revised its objectives to
reduce dependence on oil, and its current objectives include energy
security, environmental protection, and economic growth.

But regardless of actual or perceived bias, the IEA is nevertheless a
key source of international energy information, so its figures matter
to policy makers – and ultimately to industry.

On renewable energy, the IEA found that deployment has been expanding
rapidly, in line with the rates required in IEA projections to attain
a sustainable energy future. Renewable energy is now the fastest
growing sector of the energy mix and accounts for almost one-fifth of
all electricity produced worldwide.

It found that the main drivers for countries to deploy renewable
energy are to improve energy security, encourage economic development,
and to protect the climate and the environment from the impacts of
fossil fuel use.

The annual medium-term report will include five-year projections for
global renewable energy electricity capacity and generation. It will
look at the current extent of renewable energy deployment, the main
drivers and barriers to further deployment by country, and projections
through 2017. It will also examine global renewable energy finance.

The new report will include information from industry as well as
government departments…….
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericagies/2012/02/28/iea-finally-acknowledges-ascent-of-renewable-energy-market/

February 29, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable