Renewables

Data analysis

25 Jun 2017

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Renewable energy has huge potential to close energy access gap

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Quick facts

To meet the SEforALL objective to double the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix requires the share of renewables to rise from 18.3 percent of Total Final Energy Consumption (TFEC) in 2014 to 36 percent by 2030.

Almost half of the current share of renewable energy in TFEC or 8.4 percent is linked to the traditional use of biomass. Discrepancies in data collection suggest that traditional biomass use may be up to 50 percent lower than what was reported in the Global Tracking Framework 2017.

Over 2012-14, 13 out of 20 high impact countries improved their share of renewable energy in TFEC, primarily by accelerating modern renewables. Italy and the United Kingdom added over 1 percent to their renewable energy share annually.

The share of renewable energy in TFEC exceeded 30 percent in four of the 20 high impact countries - Nigeria, Brazil, Indonesia and India. With the exception of Brazil, this is largely linked to traditional uses of biomass.

Meeting the SEforALL objective by 2030 will require the widespread adoption of more ambitious policies, such as a large-scale shift toward the electrification of transport.

Context

Despite rapid growth in renewable energy consumption, the overall share of renewable energy has been moving more slowly due to continued rapid growth in TFEC.

Recent growth in the share of renewables in TFEC globally has been concentrated in the power sector. It has proved harder to increase the share of renewables for heat and transport applications that represent 50 percent and 30 percent of TFEC respectively.

Policy developments that address the heating and transport sectors continue to be slow and have been primarily focused on solar thermal heating systems and further support to biofuels. Policy measures have not yet caught up with rapid deployment of electric vehicles and their possible role as an enabler for better integration of variable renewable energy sources.

NOTES: 1. The dotted line represents approximately the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir by India and Pakistan. The final status of Jammu and Kashmir has not yet been agreed upon by the parties.
2. This map was produced by SEforALL. It is based on the UN Map of the World, which can be found here: http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/world.pdf. The boundaries, colors, denominations and any other information shown on this map do not imply, on the part of SEforALL, any judgment on the legal status of any territory or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.

SOURCES: International Energy Agency (IEA) and the World Bank. 2017. “Progress Towards Sustainable Energy: Global Tracking Framework 2017” (April), World Bank, Washington, DC. Data extracted from http://gtf.esmap.org/ on 06/20/2017.DC.