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There is no clear definition of renewable energy but it is generally
agreed that it includes energy derived from natural processes that do not
involve the consumption of exhaustible resources such as fossil fuels and
uranium. Large-scale hydropower is also excluded typically, leaving wind
and wave power, solar and geothermal energy, landfill gas, waste incineration
and biomass as the constituents of renewable energy.
A large share of renewable energy is non-commercial in the sense that
its production and consumption does not involve a market transaction. Such
non-commercial energy, typically in the form of firewood, charcoal, crop
residues and animal waste is especially important in developing countries.
Since it is very difficult to collect data for this sort of energy, it is
typically not accounted for in conventional energy statistics. Commercial
renewable energy is better measured, especially energy used in the production
of electricity. The IEA estimates that such energy accounted for around 2%
of (commercial) primary energy in 1997.
Commercial Renewables
Some forms of commercial, renewable energy are well established and relatively
mature. For instance, geothermal power generation capacity was almost 6 gigawatts
(GW) in 1990 and expanded by a modest 3% p.a between 1990 and 2000. Geothermal
power is a major contributor to power generation in countries such as the
Philippines, as shown in the link below.
Some other renewables are relatively immature and fast growing: for
instance wind power and solar energy. The rapid growth of wind and solar
is being driven by a combination of technology advances and supportive government
policy, which create a virtuous circle of expanding markets and falling unit
costs.
As the data on the Wind page demonstrates, installed wind power generation
capacity has increased more than ten-fold over the last decade. For the last
three years, wind power capacity additions have exceeded those of nuclear
power, signalling wind's emergence as a mainstream energy source. Of the
roughly 25 GW installed world wide, the largest concentrations are in Germany
(8.8 GW), the USA (4.2 GW), Spain (3.3 GW) and Denmark (2.4 GW).
Solar energy is used in two main ways: to make electricity (photovoltaics)
and to heat water (solar thermal). The photovoltaic (PV) application is the
larger of the two and data is also more readily available. As with wind,
installed capacity has increased more than ten fold over the last decade,
albeit from a very low base. The installed PV capacity base is concentrated
in a relatively small number of countries. Between them, Japan, the USA and
Germany account for around 80% of total installed capacity. Capacity data
is available on the solar page.
Data on renewable energy is not included in the main BP Statistical Review
Of World Energy because of problems with the completeness, timeliness and
quality of the data. However, the data on installed capacity included here
helps to illustrate some of the key trends in renewable energy.
Further information about renewable energy is available at the following websites:
EIA Renewable Fuels Page
http://www.eia.doe.gov/fuelrenewable.html
IEA Renewable Energy Page
http://www.iea.org/techno/renew/index.htm
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network (EREN) home page
http://www.eren.doe.gov
American Wind Energy Association
http://www.awea.org/
European Wind Energy Association
http://www.ewea.org
BP Solar
http://www.bpsolar.com
Solar Energy Industries Assocaition
http://www.seia.org
International Geothermal Association
http://iga.igg.cnr.it/index.php
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