The Implications for Renewable Energy Innovation of Doubling the Share of Renewables in the Global Energy Mix between 2010 and 2030

Deger Saygin, Ruud Kempener, Nicholas Wagner, Maria Ayuso and Dolf Gielen
Additional contact information
Deger Saygin: International Renewable Energy Agency, Innovation and Technology Centre (IITC), Robert-Schuman-Platz 3, 53175 Bonn, Germany
Ruud Kempener: International Renewable Energy Agency, Innovation and Technology Centre (IITC), Robert-Schuman-Platz 3, 53175 Bonn, Germany
Nicholas Wagner: International Renewable Energy Agency, Innovation and Technology Centre (IITC), Robert-Schuman-Platz 3, 53175 Bonn, Germany
Maria Ayuso: International Renewable Energy Agency, Innovation and Technology Centre (IITC), Robert-Schuman-Platz 3, 53175 Bonn, Germany
Dolf Gielen: International Renewable Energy Agency, Innovation and Technology Centre (IITC), Robert-Schuman-Platz 3, 53175 Bonn, Germany

Energies, 2015, vol. 8, issue 6, 1-38

Abstract: Benefits of increasing the renewable energy (RE) share in the total energy mix include better energy security, carbon dioxide emission reductions and improved human health. This paper identifies the potential of RE technologies and role of innovation to double the global RE share from 18% to 36% between 2010 and 2030. As a first step, a Reference Case is developed based on national energy plans of 26 countries which increases the RE share to 21% by 2030. Next, the realizable potential of RE technologies is estimated beyond the Reference Case at country and sector levels. By aggregating country potentials, this paper reveals that the global RE share can double to 36% by 2030. Despite differences in starting points and resource potentials, there is a role for each country in achieving a doubling. For many countries their Reference Cases result in low RE shares and many countries are just beginning to explore ways to increase RE use. The paper identifies action areas where innovation can increase technology development and improve cost-effectiveness, thereby accelerating global RE deployment. More research is required to specify these action areas for individual countries and specific technologies, as well as to identify policy needs to address them.

Keywords: renewable energy technology; country analysis; innovation; end-use sector; power sector (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/8/6/5828/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/8/6/5828/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:8:y:2015:i:6:p:5828-5865:d:51258

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().