The celebration of World Energy Day began 76 years ago, to highlight the great relevance that energy resources have in human life and their role in economic and social development on the planet.
Energy is a fundamental resource that drives industry, transport, communication and practically all human activities. However, indiscriminate use and dependence on non -renewable sources have generated serious environmental problems, such as climate change, pollution and ecosystems degradation.
As the climatic crisis intensifies, the transition to renewable energy sources becomes increasingly urgent. Experts point out that the adoption of clean technologies, such as solar and wind, is crucial to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming.
The scientific community considers that it is necessary to reduce emissions to almost half in 2030 and reach zero net emissions in 2050 to prevent negative impacts on global warming being irreversible.
Fossil fuels are the main causes of this temperature rise since, according to the United Nations, they are responsible for about 90% of global carbon dioxide emissions.
Alternative energies accelerate
Due to multiple factors, including technological advancement, cost reduction and greater awareness at the level, institutional, business and social levels, many are the countries that have begun to accelerate the use of alternative energies.
This is corroborated by the data published last year, by the International Agency for Renewable Energies, the deployment of clean energy in the electricity sector, marked a new record worldwide. The general director of Irena, Francesco La Camera, said that “this extraordinary wave in the renewable energy generation capacity shows that these energies are the only technology available to quickly climb the energy transition in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
However, according to this international agency, this growth is distributed unequally throughout the world, which, in the opinion of this agency, marks a trend away from the objective of tripling the renewable energy capacity by 2030. And in addition Consider that we must accelerate the rhythm of implementation of these technologies.
In short, accelerate and globally homogenize its implementation. “Both geographical and technological concentration patterns threaten to intensify the gap in the decarbonization process and represent a significant risk to achieve the goal of tripling renewable energies,” according to their own data.
Countries that generate all their renewable energy
However, seven countries already generate all their energy from renewable sources, according to figures from the International Energy Agency (AIE) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
More than 99.7% of the electricity of Albania, Bután, Ethiopia, Iceland, Nepal, Paraguay and the Democratic Republic of the Congo come from geothermal, hydraulic, solar or wind energy. Norway approaches 98.38% wind, hydraulic or solar energy.
In addition, another 40 countries obtained, at least half of their electricity from renewable sources in 2021 and 2022, including 11 Europeans. Others, such as Germany or Portugal, are able to function 100% with wind, hydraulic and solar energy for brief periods of time.
Although many of these countries use a large amount of hydroelectric or wind energy, experts predict that solar energy will be the main source of energy in the future. A study by the University College of London and the University of Exeter ensures that solar energy will become the main source of energy in the world in 2050.