Month: January 2024

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Renewable Energy Capacity Grew Quickly in 2023

Report by Jillian Ambrose in The Guardian

Report by Kate Abnett in Reuters

Report by Caroline O’Doherty in the Irish Independent

Short Account by Bill Wade from Bloomberg Green

A new investment record
By Will Wade
Global spending on the clean-energy transition hit record highs as the world moves to rein in climate change, but it’s still not enough to get on track to net-zero emissions. Total spending surged 17% last year to $1.8 trillion, according to a report Tuesday from BloombergNEF. These include investments to install renewable energy, buy electric vehicles, build hydrogen production systems and deploy other technologies. Add in the investments in building out clean-energy supply chains, as well as $900 billion in financing, and the total funding in 2023 reached about $2.8 trillion.The record spending reflects the growing urgency of international efforts to combat climate change on the heels of the hottest year on record — and even more heat expected this year. However, the world needs to be investing more than twice as much in clean technology in order to reach net-zero emissions by mid-century, according to BNEF.China remains the biggest market by far with $676 billion spent last year. That’s an increase of only 6% compared to 2022, though. Investments in the US, the UK and Europe grew by at least 22%, in comparison, to a combined total of $718 billion. That was driven in part by incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act, the flagship US climate law, which is starting to have a significant impact. Strong sales of electric vehicles in the UK as well as booming demand for renewables across Europe also helped drive up the total. Read the full story here.