Research

The growing deployment of renewables has set in motion a global energy transformation with significant implications for geopolitics. The Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Adnan Z. Amin, with the support of the Governments of Germany, Norway and the United Arab Emirates, convened the Global Commission in January 2018 to address this implication. The […]

Renewable energy employs about 32% of women, compared to 22% in the energy sector overall. Still, within renewables, women’s participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) jobs is far lower than in administrative jobs. This report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) examines the question of gender equity throughout the sector. Building on […]

Renewable energy has advanced rapidly in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries since 2014. The project pipeline reached almost 7 gigawatts (GW) of new power generation capacity by 2018, after record-breaking bids in renewable energy auctions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia made solar power cost-competitive with conventional energy technologies. This report […]

Biofuels are an essential renewable energy resource, with 40% (90 exajoules) of renewable energy resources projected to come from biofuel sources by 2050. In order to meet these projected energetic demands, biofuel production must be increased from the current annual biofuel yield of 50 exajoules. Sustainable intensification of pastureland, or the increase of livestock yield […]

The integration of solar and wind power poses specific challenges as system operators pursue low-carbon investments and long-term energy sustainability. As these variable renewable energy (VRE) sources reach high shares of power generation, power systems must be increasingly flexible to maintain the balance of supply and demand over each day or year. In response, policymakers […]

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) produces comprehensive renewable energy statistics on a range of topics. This publication presents renewable power generation capacity statistics in trilingual tables for the last decade (2009 – 2018). Renewable power generation capacity is measured as the maximum net generating capacity of power plants and other installations that use renewable […]

Increased use of renewable energy, combined with intensified electrification, could prove decisive for the world to meet key climate goals by 2050. This study from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) highlights immediately deployable, cost-effective options for countries to fulfill climate commitments and limit the rise of global temperatures. The envisaged energy transformation would also […]

The global energy and utilities sector is making increasing use of intelligent automation, including a significant rise in the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) since 2017, but executives are underestimating its full potential with large scale projects taking a back seat, according to new research from the Capgemini Research Institute. The study found that nearly half […]

This outlook from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) shows how policy and technological breakthroughs can advance the development of this key enabling technology for renewables. Through smart charging, EV batteries can help to integrate high shares of solar and wind power into existing grids, as battery storage capacity helps to even out the variability […]