Ukraine war led to big switch in renewable energy

The latest figures on solar power use could be the turning point in tackling climate change and reducing air pollution, claims a Midlands green energy expert.

Ron Fox was commenting on the amount of electricity generated from the sun last year which went up by 24 per cent.

“2022 will be remembered as an important year in cutting harmful carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions as many governments were forced to rethink their reliance on fossil fuels because of the war in Ukraine,” said Ron, of Noreus Ltd on the University of Keele Science Innovation Park.

“To put that in context,” said Ron, “the extra generation of electricity from new solar panels last year around the world produced 1,284 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity – enough to power South Africa.”

A terawatt-hour (TWh) is a unit of energy that is equal to 10 raised to the power of 12 watt-hours. It is also equal to 1,000,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) or 1,000,000,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh).

China provided almost 80 per cent of the extra TWh of generation in 2022, followed by the USA and the EU.

The Netherlands was the stand-out star in Europe for solar growth last year generating 15 per cent of its electricity from the sun last year, up from just 4.5 per cent in 2019.

The International Energy Agency expects solar power to become the world’s biggest source of electricity by the middle of the century and they said that last year’s figures appear to have marked an important step toward that target.

And according to their Electricity Market Report renewables will become the world’s top source of electricity within three years, providing 35 per cent of the total energy market and overtaking coal.

The report reckons that 90 per cent of new demand for electricity will be covered by clean energy sources such as wind, solar and nuclear energy by 2026.

Although solar power’s growth in the UK was slow compared to the global average – it generated 13.5TWh from solar last year, up just 1TWh, it blew ahead in wind power. Generation from wind turbines in the UK increased by 23 per cent, or 15 TWh.

But Ron pointed out it was not all good news – coal production grew by 1.1 per cent whereas gas generation fell by only 0.2 per cent.

However, he said the UK is fortunate to have a significant wind resource and with the shallow waters of the North Sea, fixing offshore wind turbines to the seabed is relatively easy and cheap.

On top of that Britain has been a world leader in wind energy and that investment has paid off by reducing our dependence on fossil fuels.

“But the UK cannot afford to be complacent,” said Ron, “as global competition for investment is fiercer than ever, particularly as the USA and the EU are offering incentives to clean energy investors.”

He added: “But we have still some way to go if we are to reduce our carbon emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 which is the aim of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.”

If you want any advice on solar panels and green energy solutions for your sports club contact Ron on 0845 474 6641.

 

Caption: Catching the sun – the amount of electricity generated by solar power last year went up by 24 per cent.