Renewable energy faces an ‘uphill battle’ for recognition in high energy-consuming sectors, a new report from REN21 has claimed.
The Energy Demand Module, part of REN21’s Renewables 2024 Global Status Report, found that renewable energy adoption in energy-consuming sectors is stalling, despite a strong appetite for renewables.
This is due to a lack of strategic integrated planning, inconsistent policies, and a lack of structural reforms, the report claims.
In 2021, the use of renewable energy in the building industry rose 0.4 percentage points to 15.9%, while in agriculture, its use grew by 1% to 16.5% – a ‘dismal increase’, according to REN21.
In transport, meanwhile, the share of renewables decreased from 4.1% in 2020 to 3.9% in 2021, due to increased reliance on fossil fuels.
Renewable energy policies
As of the end of 2023, just 13 countries, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Ireland, United Kingdom, Italy, United States of America, Egypt, China, Vietnam, France, Germany and India, had implemented renewable energy policies across all end-use sectors—buildings, industry, transport, and agriculture, REN21 said.
The aviation, rail, and shipping sectors have also seen efforts to integrate renewables, but face political hurdles – as of last year, just 10 countries had announced renewable energy policies for these sectors.
In agriculture, meanwhile, just four countries (Bangladesh, India, Republic of Korea and Malta), as well as the European Union, have renewable energy targets in place.
‘A disappointing direction’
“What began as a good-news story of turning the energy crisis into opportunity is veering in a disappointing direction,” commented Rana Adib, REN21 executive director.
“Policymakers are stuck in business-as-usual, failing to build on the success of their reactive crisis-response measures with coherent and strategic long-term policies and planning. We need to urgently realign policies to reflect the structural changes needed in the energy-consuming sectors.”
According to REN21, unlocking the potential of renewables requires ‘strong political leadership, coherent policies and structural reforms’, as well as incentives, in the form of subsidies, tax breaks, rebates and regulatory efforts.
The Renewables 2024 Global Status Report features a collection of modules that covers the energy system from a variety of different angles, including demand, supply, systems and infrastructure, as well as economic and social value creation.
