The world added record levels of renewable energy capacity in 2016 despite an investment level that was 23 percent lower than the previous year, according to a new United Nations report.
Globally, those low expenditures, the lowest seen since 2013, were largely due to declining prices in renewable energy, a sign of vitality in the sector. For instance, the average dollar cost per megawatt for solar photovoltaics and wind energy dropped by more than 10 percent, according to the report.
In total, the world spent $241.6 billion on renewable energy last year. (That excludes spending on “large hydro,” which largely refers to projects that use a dam and a reservoir to retain water from a river.)
Last year’s spending created 139 gigawatts of renewable energy infrastructure, 8 percent more than the amount of renewable capacity built in 2015.
Market forces alone cannot create the conditions required for renewable energy transformation. There are many players in the game.
Some suspect the new U.S. EPA director will work away from green policies made by previous administrations, but a lot of administrations have supported oil and gas industries.