The agency authored a chapter of the recently published 2018 Global Innovation Index (GII) report, named Innovation Driving the Energy Transition in which four central policy-level innovation recommendations were outlined as critical for scaling-up renewable energy deployment.
According to the report, in 2017, the world’s total renewable power capacity reached 2,179 gigawatts (GW), surpassing close to 2,000 GW of total global coal power capacity.
Over the last decade, global installed solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity grew from 6.1 GW to 390 GW by the end of 2017. Cumulative installed wind capacity reached nearly 514 GW by the end of the same year.
“At present, around a quarter of the world’s electricity is produced from renewable energy sources,” the report said.
Decarbonization of the energy sector is the backbone of the current transition, the report affirmed.
Paris Agreement a milestone
In December 2015, at the Paris Climate Conference, widely known as COP2, countries agreed to set out an action plan to decarbonize the global economy and limit global warming to well below 2 degree Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels.
Around two-thirds of global greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to fossil fuel energy supply and use.
"To achieve our climate goals, energy-related carbon dioxide emissions must decline by 2.6 percent per year, or 0.6 metric gigatons per year on average, all while ensuring that sufficient energy is available for economic growth," according to IRENA.
Economic benefits of transition beyond climate change
The global energy transition could create around 6 million additional jobs by 2050, IRENA stated while job losses in fossil fuels would be completely offset by new jobs in renewables alone, while millions of additional jobs would be created in related sectors.
"Greater economic growth is driven by the increasingly strong business case of renewable energy and the stimulus of higher investment in renewables and energy efficiency, and is enhanced by pro-growth policies, particularly carbon pricing," IRENA added.
By 2050, two-thirds of total primary energy supply must come from renewables, IRENA argued.
"This requires the share of renewables to increase at a rate of about 1.4 percent per year, a sevenfold acceleration compared to recent years," IRENA suggests.
To achieve this, innovation must support both faster deployment of available technologies and the development of new renewable energy technologies.
(Anadolu Agency)