Renewable Energy Facts
The truth about renewable energy is that it’s not just the future, it’s the past. Humans have been relying upon natural sustainable renewable energy sources since as early as 200BC, when the Persians created an efficient wind turbine to pump water! Learn incredible facts about renewable energy from across the globe, with 30 facts about everything from the world of clean green energy.
Facts About Renewable Energy
We’ll begin by telling you that in 1873, it was predicted by Professor Augustin Mouchot that we’d have to go back to natural energy eventually!
These renewable energy facts demonstrate how far we’ve come, as a nation and the global community. Learn how we’re sourcing energy at home in the UK and all over the world, as plans intensify to combat climate change.
In fact (!), global energy supplies of renewable energy are expected to double in the next five years. Amongst other things, the International Environment Agency (IEA) reports that solar energy projects are growing at the fastest rates ever seen. By 2024, the IEA reckons the worlds solar capacity will increase to over 600GW.
As the earth begins the long battle to decarbonise, renewable energy has never looked so positive!
The Greenest Countries Around The World
Of the 195 countries in the world, 139 of them are responsible for 99 percent of global carbon emissions.
Countries leading the way for the fight against climate change include Costa Rica, who are already running on 100% renewable energy via hydropower and solar power plants. Other inspirationals like Albania, Iceland, Kenya and Paraguay are also powered almost entirely by renewable sources. Denmark is in top spot though, with a EPI (environmental performance index) score of 82.5. In 24th place, the USA is one of the lowest performing industrialised nations, falling well behind the other countries in the G8..
According to Bloomberg , global investment in clean energy has hit just over $500 billion, with an increase of 9% compared to 2019.
Much as this is positive news, to really tackle the threat of a global temperature increase beyond 1.5 degrees, the fossil fuel investment must stop. Currently, 33% of investment still goes to fossil fuels with large banks such as Barclays.
Renewable Energy Jobs
Renewable energy currently creates 5 times more jobs than fossil fuels. Renewable energy jobs grew from 1.7 million jobs in 2004, to 10.3 million in 2017 to 11.5 million in 2019 according to the annual review from International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
As renewable energy grows, so do the jobs. In the UK, one third of electricity was generated by renewables in 2019, meaning that renewable generated energy now outstrips fossil fuels.
By 2025, the global renewables industry will be worth £1512Billion!
Green Energy Technology
The big technology powers that be, including facebook, twitter, apple, google and microsoft are all making significant changes to their carbon output pursuing carbon capture technologies.
Apple has pledged to be 100% carbon neutral by 2030 for its entire supply chain and products. with Google committing a carbon free business by 2030.
Microsoft has gone one step further with an admirable promised to be carbon negative by 2050, meaning they intend on extracting carbon from the atmosphere, not just offsetting or not emitting it.
Wind Power Facts
1,400 homes can be powered from just a single wind turbine, which is what makes it extremely appealing for a nation on a windy island such as the UK. The British government has invested £160 million into offshore wind projects, making it one of the world leaders in wind technology.
But before we sing our own praises too much, we might consider that China has created a capacity of 250GW from wind power alone. By comparison that’s a whopping 10 times the amount of wind power, than the UKs total yearly energy usage. It’s no real surprise to learn that China has been building 2 wind turbines per hour since 2017!
Solar Energy Facts
Albert Einstein was the first person to discover the photoelectric effect, which was applied to a solar cell to eventually become the foundation of solar panels. He later won a nobel prize for his efforts, which we say was well deserved!
If fully utilised, just an hours’ worth of sun power, is enough to meet the energy needs of the entire planet for a year.
Such a strong contender for renewable energy solutions, solar power is predicted to be the world’s main energy source by 2050.
In 2016, a solar powered aeroplane known as Solar Impulse 2, made a full journey around the world using nothing but sun power!
And another thing about solar power – It doesn’t have to be used all at once during daylight hours. It can be stored in molten salts at more than 500 degrees. The steam produced from the salts is then used to turn turbines, to be transmitted as power for during the night!
Geothermal Energy Facts
A quarter of Brits live in areas that could be heated using geothermal heating via ground source heat pumps. In fact, in our recent blog about what Scotland have been up to to reach their net zero goals, we detail their exploration of geothermal activity in Glasgow.
Geothermal isn’t a new thing – Romans used underground heat as a way to keep their homes warm throughout the year in a process known a hypocaust.
Is Renewable Energy The Future?
It’s safe to say that renewable energy is most certainly the future and we can expect to see trends continuing to shift towards a clean energy. The human race certainly has left it to the last minute and it remains to be seen whether it’s in time or not! The current carbon particle per million count ppm is still dramatically higher than the previous record 300ppm in the past 800,000 years.
Nasa have been developing space technology that can provide the worlds population with affordable green energy in the form of a project called ‘Watts on the Moon’. This crowd sourcing of ideas is designed to solve the tasks of storage, sourcing and managing energy on the moon.
In fact, they’re not the only ones with their eyes on the moon. Japanese scientists proposed a massive solar panel belt around the circumference of the moon that could provide infinite clean cheap energy. Watch the fascinating video of what could be our future energy supply
What You Can Do To Help Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
One of the best solutions to regenerating our planet is renewable energy. If you’re thinking about installing renewable energy in your home, there has never been a better time.
Neat Heat is a MCS approved British company that installs green technology into homes around the country. From air source heat pumps to Solar, our expert team take great care to deliver the best service! Better still, we focus on the best incentives that will save you the most money and get the best return on your investment!
