Countries around the world have committed to a clean future by investing in renewable energy. Since 2010, clean energy has made its mark on the world economy. 2019 marks a record-breaking year in renewable energy investment, as the investment is on course to reach $2.6 trillion over the past decade. Due to the advancements in clean energy, the market has grown exponentially—making it more affordable and accessible for both commercial and residential customers worldwide.
Worldwide Expansion of Solar Energy
With these record-breaking investments, reports have confirmed that renewable energy capacity has quadrupled from 414 GW at the end of 2009 to over 1,650 GW in 2019. The biggest contributions to this expansion have been solar and wind farms. Solar power capacity has increased 2,500% globally, drawing in half—$1.3 trillion—of the $2.6 trillion in renewable energy investments. By the end of this year, solar alone will have grown to 663 GW—enough to produce the electricity needed in 100 million homes in the U.S.
“Investing in renewable energy is investing in a sustainable and profitable future, as the last decade of incredible growth in renewables has shown,” said Inger Andersen, executive director of UNEP. “It is clear that we need to rapidly step up the pace of the global switch to renewables if we are to meet international climate and development goals.”
The Race for Renewables
Although the U.S. has invested $356 billion in renewables over the last decade, China takes the gold metal as the biggest investor of renewables. China alone has invested $758 billion between 2010 and 2019. Coming in third place, Japan invested $202 billion. Although there has been an overall increase in clean energy from wind, solar and hydro, a large portion of this energy was generated from coal and natural gas plants.
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