European Renewable Energy Creates More Energy Than Fossil Fuels For The First Time In History

Since the start of 2020, it has been recorded that over one-fifth of energy generated in Europe was renewable; generated by wind turbines and solar panels. Denmark, in particular, had the highest generation of solar and wind energy with 64% of their energy from renewable sources. Ireland followed with 49% and Germany with 42%.

For the first time in history, all renewable energy exceeded fossil fuels. Renewable sources produced 40% of EU energy in the first six months whereas fossil fuels only contributed 34%. This information was included in a report from the independent climate think-tank, Ember.

Europe Had One of the Largest Renewable Contributions

The rest of the globe only renewably created a tenth of energy. Thus, Europe became the leaders and the beacon for renewable energy production.

In 2019, coal energy fell by 3%. This was partly due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. A huge drop of 8.3% of coal used to generate electricity globally shows the impact the pandemic has had. In Europe, the drop was even larger, with coal energy falling by around 33%.

However, Coal Still Has a Major Influence

In the first half of the year, a third of electricity was generated by coal. This shows coals influence in energy production and consumption in the world. Climate scientists say we need more huge cuts to fossil fuels for real improvements to occur.

In fact, to keep the globe at a stable temperature, the generation of coal will need to fall by 13% every year this decade. This year it has fallen by 8% so there is still a long way to go before coal production is as low as possible to prevent the earth from warming any more.

The energy gains this year have originated from wind and solar projects that were manifested last year. The impact that COVID-19 has had on the world could see another fall in fossil fuels soon.

The International Energy Agency predicts a 13% drop this year, which is the lowest since 2015. Focussing on cleaner energy will allow healthy levels of renewable energy to occur. However, all this heavily relies on the investments in more renewable energy according to Ember.

Time is of the essence. Slowly but surely, progress is being made. But is it happening fast enough?

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