Investment continues to be heavily focused on wind and solar PV, however all renewable energy technologies need to be deployed in order to keep global warming well below 2C.Transport, heating and cooling sectors continue to lag behind the power sector. Integrating large shares of variable renewable generation can be done without fossil fuel and nuclear “baseload” with sufficient flexibility in the power system – through grid interconnections, sector coupling and enabling technologies such as ICT, storage systems electric vehicles and heat pumps. The single most important thing we could do to reduce CO2 emissions quickly and cost-effectively, is phase-out coal and speed up investments in energy efficiency and renewables.

Globally, subsidies for fossil fuels and nuclear power continue to dramatically exceed those for renewable technologies. Solar PV accounted for around 47% of the capacity added, followed by wind power at 34% and hydropower at 15.5%.Renewables are becoming the least cost option. In 2012, investments in PAYG solar companies amounted to only USD 3 million; by 2016 that figure had risen to USD 223 million (up from USD 158 million in 2015).Arthouros Zervos, Chair of REN21, said “The world is adding more renewable power capacity each year than it adds in new capacity from all fossil fuels combined. The 2017 Edition of the REN21 Renewables Global Status Report reveals a global energy transition well underway, with record new additions of installed renewable energy capacity, rapidly falling costs, and the decoupling of economic growth and energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Among developing and emerging market countries, renewable energy investment fell 30%, to USD 116.6 billion, while that of developed countries fell 14% to USD 125 billion. Energy; Download. Renewables 2017 Global Status Report in perspective . REN21 Renewables 2017 Global Status Report (GSR) is the most comprehensive annual overview of the state of renewable energy. As the share of renewables grows we will need investment in infrastructure as well as a comprehensive set of tools: integrated and interconnected transmission and distribution networks, measures to balance supply and demand, sector coupling (for example the integration of power and transport networks); and deployment of a wide range of enabling technologies.But the energy transition is not happening fast enough to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.Investments are down. Winners of two recent auctions for offshore wind in Germany have done so relying only on the wholesale price of power without the need for government support, demonstrating that renewables can be the least cost option.The inherent need for “baseload” is a myth. REN21 Renewables 2017 Global Status Report (GSR) is the most comprehensive annual overview of the state of renewable energy. This year’s report continues REN21’s long-standing tradition of providing the most up-to-date data and informative infographics to detail renewable energy’s contribution to the energy transition.Read more at: http://www.ren21.net/status-of-renewables/global-status-report/ For every USD 1 spent on renewables, governments spent USD 4 perpetuating our dependence on fossil fuels.Christine Lins, Executive Secretary of REN21, explains: “The world is in a race against time. This year edition reveals a global energy transition well underway, with record new additions of installed renewable energy capacity, rapidly falling costs, and the decoupling of economic growth and energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.In their Press Release, its pointed out that additions in installed renewable power capacity set new records in 2016, with 161 gigawatts (GW) installed, increasing total global capacity by almost 9% over 2015, to nearly 2,017 GW.

By the end of 2016 more than 50 countries had committed to phasing out fossil fuel subsidies, and some reforms have occurred, but not enough.

This first IEA Global Energy and CO2 Status Report provides a snapshot of recent global trends and developments across fuels, renewable sources, and energy efficiency and carbon emissions in 2017. Pingtung, Chinese Taipei The production of the Renewables in Cities 2019 Global Status Report is a collaborative effort of many.