April 12, 2019 Author Gero Rueter DW News – DW.COM
- This article online
- New Study: Global Energy System based on 100% Renewable Energy
- About Energy Watch Group (EWG)
If the world is to quit coal and gas for renewable energy sources, they have to be reliable and affordable. Is that realistic? Researchers have crunched the numbers and come up with some surprising answers.
How much sun and wind is available in different areas of the world? How high is the energy demand? How do we set about cutting costs for renewable energies and their storage?
These are just some of the questions put forward by researchers from the Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) in Finland and experts from the Energy Watch Group (EWG). They have used their answers to compile the first detailed global energy scenario.
Thestudy, which has just been published, outlines strategies for 145 different regions around the world, with the ultimate aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050 — and even save money in the process.
“This energy system costs less than our current one and ensures that global warming remains under 1.5 degrees Celsius (34.7 degrees Fahrenheit),” says study coordinator and Professor for Solar Economy at LUT, Christian Breyer. On average, the renewable energy system would be about two percent cheaper globally.
Read more: Paris Agreement: What needs to happen for climate action to succeed?
Titled ‘Global Energy System based on 100% Renewable Energy,’ the study simulates the most cost-effective energy mix for each region and shows how the energy requirements for electricity, heat and transport can be replaced by renewable alternatives.
Based on its findings, the most important source of energy is solar power (70 percent), followed by wind power (18 percent), biomass (5 percent) and hydropower (3 percent).
