The International Renewable Energy Agency’s (IRENA) Renewable Capacity Statistics 2020 shows that new renewable power—principally hydropower, wind, solar, geothermal, and bioenergy—accounted for 72 per cent of all power expansion last year. Renewable energy expanded by 7.6 per cent in 2019, adding 176 gigawatts (GW) of generating capacity globally, marginally lower than the (revised) 179 GW added in 2018.

“Investments in renewables bring more people into the economy, they deliver more jobs, better quality jobs and better paid jobs. Clean energy also means less pollution, which means healthier, happier development.” 

Nowadays, 1.2 billion people live without access to energy, and a lack of access to to electricity means missing out on many opportunities in life in education, career development and health. So renewable energy is the solution to make energy accessible for more and more people. Renewable energy technology is now significantly cheaper than diesel or kerosene-based systems, and cheaper than extending the electricity grid in areas with low populations and per capita energy demand. Local, green solutions, like solar pumps and microgrids, give poorer smaller communities control over their own power and water supplies;

Access to clean running water supplied by solar-powered water pumps means that local farmers can irrigate their crops, and women and children have more free time - giving them more opportunities and access to education and health standards improvements;

Solar microgrids also benefit local economies by providing homes with light so children can study without using dangerous kerosine lamps, and give access to better technology for farming. Solar energy bridges the digital divide by giving locals access to mobile phone charging, computers and the internet. It also stops dependence on expensive fossil fuels, saving the whole community money that can be spent on other things.

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Sources:

https://theswitch.co.uk/blog/energy/renewable-world

https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/uptick-renewable-electricity-generation-2019

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