IRENA has called for the U.S. to step up policies in support of renewable energy, concluding that under current policies renewables will only reach 10% of energy share by 2030. By contrast, IRENA says that the U.S. can achieve a renewable share of 27%, in what is both a cost-effective technically feasible scenario.
IRENA released its report Renewable Energy Prospects: United States of America today. The report is part of IRENAs REmap 2030 roadmap.
To reach the 27% renewables share, US$86 billion must be invested annually between now and 2030, an increase of $38 billion on a business-as-usual scenario. While this investment is hardly trivial, IRENA concludes that annual savings of between $30 billion and $140 billion will be achieved through the renewables switch, due to positive health impacts and emission reductions.
REmap 2030 shows that the US could install significantly higher amounts of renewables and that it can do so affordably, said IRENA Director-General Adnan Z. Amin. Even in a country with cheap shale gas like the US, renewable energy is still cost competitive and reduces air pollution, enhances energy security, benefits the economy, and plays a leading role in fighting climate change.
The REmap roadmap maps out a proposed doubling of global renewable energy share by 2030. This includes the power and industry, building and construction and transport sectors.
This report adds to the growing chorus of studies that show the increasing cost competitiness and potential of renewable energy in the US, said Dolf Gielen, Director of IRENAs Innovation and Technology Center. Importantly, it shows the potential of renewables isnt just limited to the power sector, but also has tremendous potential in the buildings, industry and transport sectors.
IRENA will hold its fifth Assembly next week in Abu Dhabi. 150 countries and representatives from 110 international organizations will be present. The event will be held concurrently with the World Future Energy Summit (WFES). pv magazine will be reporting from WFES throughout the week.
Popular content
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
Share
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.