10 Graphs You Need to Know About Renewables in 2024 Learn more about global energy use, the role that renewables are playing, and how to think about the different types of renewable energy sources that are coming online, and what are some of the unique characteristics we can attribute to each renewable energy source.

Here are 10 graphs that will help you understand what you need to know about global energy use, the role that renewables are playing, and how to think about the different types of renewable energy sources that are coming online, and what are some of the unique characteristics we can attribute to each renewable energy source. We also look at how renewable energy is produced and distributed across the world.

1. Energy Use is on the Rise, Everywhere

The world as we know it, runs on energy, and the energy system that feeds us has transformed dramatically since the Industrial Revolution. Today, the world consumes more than 178,000 TWh of energy each year. In comparison, in 1920, the world consumed 18,000 TWh of energy. As shown in the chart above, we see this 10 fold increase in 100 years, and how transformative the past century has been to the global energy supply, and to humanity as a whole.

It graphs global energy consumption from 1800 onwards, where we see a steady use of traditional biomass at 5,650 TWh of energy consumed each year; and suddenly in the late 1800s we see a significant increase in the use of coal. Though the first oil well was successfully drilled in 1859, it wasn't until the turn of the century that the modern oil and gas industry started to take hold globally.

Gasoline sales were exceeding that of kerosene by 1919. The adoption of renewable energy didn't start until the mid 1900 with the adoption of nuclear power. It is easy to understand why the world is facing challenges with climate change and the build up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere when we consider the rate of change our world and humanity as a whole has undergone in the past three or four generations, alone.

2. Global Renewable Energy Mix Skyrocketed to 43% in 2023 from just 19% in 2019

In 1971, renewables consisted of Biofuels, Hydro and Nuclear, which delivered 14% of the world's total energy use. Forty-eight years later in 2019, that renewables mix increased by just 5% to deliver 19% of the world's annual energy usage. The renewable energy mix looked very different in 2019 compared to what it is today.

Up until 2019, nuclear had grown the most since the 1970's, from providing 1% of our energy mix in 1971 to providing 5% in 2019. Biofuels still provided the largest amount of renewable energy in 2019 at 9% (just as it had done in 1971), but shrunk its contribution to the global energy mix, as it has not grown at the same pace of energy consumption growth we are seeing around the world. Coal's contribution to our energy mix has stayed largely the same from 1971 to 2019, which goes to show that this industry is far from dying out. Natural Gas is the fastest growing of the carbon-intensive energy sources, having grown from providing 16% to 23% of our global energy mix in these first 48 years.

During this same period, oil saw a sharp decline, from 44% to 31%, but still was the largest contributor to energizing and electrifying our planet in 2019. Both solar energy and wind energy seem to fall into the "other renewables" category, which was nearly non-existent in 1971, making up less than a percent of the world's energy mix, but then subsequently grew to make up 2% of the world's energy mix by 2019.

Four years later, the world looks like a very different place at the end of 2023. Suddenly, 43% of the world's energy demand is met by renewable energy sources. The adoption of renewables doubled since 2019, in four short years. Solar leads, followed by hydro, then wind power. Nuclear and biofuels have shrunk to the wayside.

3. Solar Power: Largest and fastest growing Renewable Energy Source Globally in 2023

At the end of 2023, global renewable capacity amounted to 3,870 GW. Solar accounted for the largest share of the global total, with a capacity of 1,419 GW, or 37% of the total global renewable energy capacity. Renewable hydropower and wind energy accounted for most of the remainder, with total capacities of 1,268 GW and 1,017 GW respectively. Other renewables capacities included 150 GW of bioenergy and 15 GW of geothermal, plus 0.5 GW of marine energy. Marine energy converts the energy of waves, tides and ocean currents into electricity. Asia and the Middle East are the fastest growing regions for adding renewable power capacity, growing by 20.1% and 16.6% respectively. By the end of 2023, Asia was home to 50.7% of the world's renewable energy capacity, followed by Europe with 20.3%.

4. Renewable Energy Production Capacity is Unevenly Distributed around the World; China & Asia Lead

Asia again accounted for the majority of new renewable energy capacity in 2023, accounting for 69.3% of all new added capacity last year. Asia increased its renewable energy capacity by 327.8 GW in the 2023 calendar year, 17% of its total capacity; this is more than the entire renewable energy capacity available in South America and the Middle East combined. The vast majority (91%) of this capacity increase in Asia was driven by China, who brought 297.6 GW of renewable energy capacity online last year. Capacity in Europe and North America grew by 71.2 GW (+10%) and 34.9 GW (+7%), respectively.

The distribution of renewable energy around the world is highly skewed. 25% of total global renewable energy capacity is generated by the G7 economies (excluding the EU); 80% of total global renewable energy capacity is generated by the G20 economies, with a total capacity of 3,084 GW.

5. So Which Energy Source is the Greenest?

One of the primary drivers for switching to renewable energy sources to power our world is the issue of carbon emissions that are emitted into the atmosphere with our most common forms of energy production such as through the acts of burning oil, coal or natural gas. This combustion leads to carbon emissions which are harmful to our atmosphere and our planet, causing the world not just to warm, but to become chemically altered in a way that endangers our natural habitats, our safety from natural disasters and increasing weather storms, and long-term health. But it's also important to know that the development of renewable energy is not a pure fix either.

The construction of solar farms, geothermal plants, solar panels, and the batteries needed to store this energy do also contribute greenhouse gas emissions; and it's important to note that not all renewable energy solutions were made equal. While some have minimal carbon footprints, there are limits to how much power they can generate, or how consistently they can generate that power – in the case of wind power, for example.

That said, onshore wind farms have the lowest carbon footprint per kWh generated, at 11g of CO2e per kWh produced. In second and third place, are offshore wind farms and nuclear power plants, which only produce 12g of CO2e per kWh produced. Geothermal produces 3x more CO2 than nuclear, while Photovoltaic Solar Panel Farms run by utility companies produces 4x more CO2 than nuclear power.

As we get into combustion again with biomass, this produces over 19x more CO2 than nuclear power. Natural gas produces over 40x the CO2 of nuclear power, and burning coal for energy produces 68x more CO2 emissions than nuclear power.

6. How Does the Cost of Energy Differ by Source?

Not all energy has been created equal – and that also applies to the cost of electricity generation. This also largely has to do with how much funding has gone into the research and development of these power sources over time, and also the scale of production.

For example, larger-scale production facilities means that original equipment manufacturers can leverage economies of scale. Producing just a handful of wind turbines or solar panels means that the cost of each is astronomically high. These were some of the reasons for solar being largely commercially unviable until 2016, when solar power became more affordable than gas-powered energy sources for the first time.

As of 2023, solar is 14% cheaper than energy produced by gas. But if we look back to 2009, solar was 433% more costly than energy generated by gas. Today, wind is the lowest cost energy source, followed by solar energy. If we forecast pricing to 2030, it is expected that the price of Solar energy will fall another 30% from 2020 pricing, and the cost of wind power should fall another 11% from 2020 pricing as well.

Meanwhile, the cost of Nuclear, Coal and Gas is expected to increase during the same time period.

7. 86% Of New Power Capacity Expansions In 2023 Were Renewable

2023 saw the largest increase in renewable energy capacity to date, with the addition of 473 GW of renewables, expanding the stock of power by a significant 13.9%. As in previous years, most of this expansion can be attributed to growth in solar and wind power, most of which occurred in China, and to a lesser extent, the United States. However, most other countries also increased their expansion of renewable capacity in 2023 compared to 2022. Total renewable capacity in 2022 is 3,396 GW.

The share of renewables in total new capacity reached 86% in 2023, compared to the figure of 84% in 2022. The renewable share of total power capacity also rose by almost three percentage points from 40.4% in 2022 to 43.2% in 2023. This upward trend in these shares continues to show both the rapid and increasing growth in the use of renewables and the declining expansion of non-renewable capacity. At the global level, this is partly due to the large amount of net decommissioning that has occurred for many years in some regions.

However, more still needs to be done to achieve the goal adopted at COP28 to triple installed renewable power capacity by 2030 to reach 11 TW. Despite this growth, it is important to note that the world is still falling short of what is required to keep the world on a 1.5 degrees Celsius pathway. An additional 1,050 GW of renewable energy capacity must come online each year until 2030 to achieve targets.

8. Nearly 16% of Energy Consumed in MENATSA is from Renewable Sources

By the end of 2022, in the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey, and South Asia (MENATSA) Region, renewables accounted for just 15.8% of the region's energy mix. The vast majority, 84.2% is still driven by non-renewable sources; this is due to the region being home to some of the highest quality oil and gas reserves, with some of the lowest production costs.

This means that many of the OPEC countries in the region, have been less incentivized than their global counterparts to transition to oil, from a commercial perspective. That said, many countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have announced large-scale renewable projects, and have been working on long-term national strategies that will help these countries diversify their economies away from being oil-dependent.

In terms of renewable energy mix, countries such as Turkey, Pakistan and Jordan lead the renewable energy charge, producing 42%, 29% and 23% renewable energy mix, respectively.

9. In Menatsa, Turkey, Pakistan, Jordan, India And Morocco Lead In Terms Of Renewable Energy Mix Adoption

The Middle East, North Africa, Turkey and South Asia (MENATSA) region produces and uses 14.2% of the world's energy, as of 2022; this amounts to 4,090 Terawatt hours generated and used by this region. The largest energy producers in this region are India, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, and Egypt. India, with its 1.4 billion inhabitants, generates and consumes 46% of the energy produced across the MENATSA region.

Amongst MENATSA nations, Turkey has the highest rate of renewable energy mix, with 42% of its country's energy needs being met by renewable energy sources. Turkey gets 21% of its energy needs met through hydro power, an additional 11% met through wind power, another 5% met with solar power, and the other 6% met through other renewable energy sources.

Pakistan comes in second place, with 29% of its energy needs being met through renewables sources; the vast majority of Pakistan's energy needs are being met through hydro power, which provides 24% of the country's energy needs.

Jordan comes in third place, with 23% of its energy being delivered through renewable means. 16% of Jordan's energy needs are being met by solar power, while the other 7% is being met through the adoption of wind power infrastructure. Oil rich nations tend to lag behind in the adoption of renewable energy, with the exception of the UAE. Of the oil rich nations, the UAE has adopted the most renewable energy sources. The UAE aims to reach Net Zero by 2050.

10. How will the Global Energy Mix Change by 2040?

According to stated policies by international agencies and governments, the global energy mix should change significantly by 2040, compared to 2018 actual figures. Oil is expected to drop from contributing to 31% of the world's energy to just 28% by 2040. Meanwhile, natural gas is expected to rise significantly from 23% to become 30% of the world's energy mix.

Coal, unfortunately is expected to stay largely the same, even with western countries shutting down their coal mines, there are many more coal mines becoming active in Asia. Solar and wind power is expected to increase by 3X in these twenty years, while modern bioenergy use will almost double, while traditional biomass (ie. Wood, charcoal, etc.) will fall out of favor.

Unlock Essential Insights into Renewable Energy — Dive into our detailed report and see how renewables reshape the global energy system.

This article was originally published on Lucidity Insights, a partner of Entrepreneur Middle East in developing special reports on the Middle East and Africa's tech and entrepreneurial ecosystems.