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Ramping up policies that encourage the investment in and distribution of renewable energy could help energy sources like wind, solar and hydro overtake coal more quickly.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) released their annual World Energy Outlook today, which states that by 2015 renewable energy resources will become the second largest source of electricity, moving ahead of gas but still sitting behind coal.
The IEA’s World Energy Outlook estimates, however, were made from a "pessimistic" perspective, assuming that no global action will be taken to stem climate change.
Without a climate deal, however, things look pretty grim. According to the Outlook, "without a change in policy, the world is on a path for a rise in global temperature of up to 6 degrees C."
So what if the world's leaders were to strike a climate deal? According to the Outlook, covered in this article from Reuters, if action is taken soon to “penalize greenhouse gases and support low-carbon renewables," energy sources such as wind, solar and hydro power will catch up even more rapidly:
"Renewables-based electricity generation is expected to grow substantially over the coming decades, benefiting from high fossil-fuel prices, declining investment costs and government support."
The IEA crunched the numbers and ran two scenarios limiting global warming to 2 or 3 degrees Celsius:
Under the more ambitious, 2 degrees outcome the IEA said renewable sources of energy would account for 40 percent of global electricity generation by 2030, compared to 23 percent in the reference case.
Examples of policy steps that could be taken include raising the penalties on carbon dioxide emissions and creating incentives for a “technology revolution” for electric vehicles and on pollution reduction devices like carbon scrubbers on coal plants.
Some factors that could help renewable energy grow include an increase in funding for R&D, an increase in investment for electricity networks, and regulations that encourage the distribution of electricity from renewable resources.









