2015 was a big year for renewable energy and energy storage, according to a new report. The report issued annually has shown that "renewable energy investments" went up by 5 percent in 2015. The new number indicates that the amount of money invested in renewable energy in 2015 would amount to $286 billion. This excludes any hydroelectric programs currently in the world. The report in question is UNEP's 10th Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment Report 2016. The report is a collaboration between the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance and Bloomberg's New Energy Finance (BNEF) centre.
In UNEP's video report, the Executive Director of UNEP and the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Achim Steiner said: "Not only has for the first time the percentage of total gigawatts installed in the world now exceeded - in terms of renewable energy installations- that of all other energy technologies put together." He also says the developing world has contributed almost half to the $286 billion, indicating that the global South is in need of renewable energy. About this he said, "What is remarkable renewable energy technologies is that they have also migrated from being perceived as a technology of the rich and a luxury for those who could afford it, to actually becoming a shortcut to access to energy."
The number that UNEP estimates renewable energy has reached in the last 12 years of renewable energy investment - in their press release - is $2.3 trillion.
Chairman of the Advisory Board at BNEF, Michael Libreich, said: "Global investment in renewable capacity hit a new record in 2015, far outpacing that in fossil fuel generating capacity despite falling oil, gas and coal prices. It has broadened out to a wider and wider array of developing countries, helped by sharply reduced costs and by the benefits of local power production over-reliance on imported commodities." The research indicates that China - unsurprisingly - is ahead of the pack with $103 billion into the market in 2015.
The groups do admit there is still a lot of work to be done in the industry to ensure a clean energy future, however, the latest figures on encouraging in terms of global expansion of renewable energy.
Expanding on renewable energy news, Tesla has pulled the 10 kilowatt-hour Powerwall device before it even goes on sale, according to HuffingtonPost. They are now committed to working on the 6.4 kwh and 7 kwh models that instead of supplying twenty-four-hour power to households will only supply energy to the highest consumption hours during the day.
