Renewables 2018: global status report- A comprehensive annual overview of the state of renewable energy

Positive developments show that the renewable energy transition is possible, but advances so far are uneven across sectors. The year 2017 was another record-breaking one for renewable energy, characterised by the largest ever increase in renewable power capacity, falling costs, increases in investment and advances in enabling technologies. Many developments during the year impacted the deployment of renewable energy, including the lowest-ever bids for renewable power in tenders throughout the world, a significant increase in attention to electrification of transport, increasing digitalisation, jurisdictions pledging to become coal-free, new policies and partnerships on carbon pricing, and new initiatives and goals set by groups of governments at all levels. Increasingly, sub-national governments are becoming leaders in renewable energy and energy efficiency initiatives. At the same time, many developing and emerging countries are expanding their deployment of and investment in renewables and related infrastructure. The private sector is also increasingly playing a role in driving the deployment of renewable energy through its procurement and investment decisions. As of 2016, renewable energy accounted for an estimated 18.2% of global total final energy consumption, with modern renewables representing 10.4%. The number of countries with renewable energy targets and support policies increased again in 2017, and several jurisdictions made their existing targets more ambitious. Strong growth continued in the renewable power sector, while other renewable sectors grew very slowly. Solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity installations were remarkable – nearly double those of wind power (in second place) – adding more net capacity than coal, natural gas and nuclear power combined. In the transport sector, the use of biofuels is still held back by sustainability debates, policy uncertainty and slow technological progress in advanced fuels, such as for aviation. Similarly, renewable heating and cooling continues to lag behind. Both sectors receive much less attention from policy makers than does renewable power generation. However, lack of policy attention does not reflect relative importance, as heating and cooling account for 48% of final energy use, transport for 32% and electricity for 20%.
The interconnection of power, heating and cooling, and transport in order to integrate higher shares of renewable energy gained increased attention during the year, in particular the electrification of both heating and transport.