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We are seeing an unprecedented growth in the renewable energy industry today. Over the last decade, Solar PV led the race to be the number one power generation source installed across the world.  Renewable energy went from being a technology heavily dependent on subsidies and tax credits to a highly bankable and attractive investment asset. Onshore wind and solar power are the cheapest source of electricity today in at least two-third's of the world and in the last 10 years investment in renewable energy has grown by more than USD 2.6 trillion. Renewable energy has grown from an expensive off grid electrification solution to a highly bankable and attractive investment for most businesses keen on reducing their electricity costs.

This has tremendous implications for students interested in entering the renewable energy industry.  With renewables becoming a lucrative investment, we are seeing a large chunk of public and private investment pouring into this sector. This capital will drive enterprises globally to research, manufacture, deploy, operate and maintain renewable energy assets.  A large skilled workforce will be essential to drive this growth forward.  So, I highly recommend students contemplating a career in renewable energy to take the dive as the future looks very bright for the industry.

It came as no surprise that earlier this year BlackRock, the world's largest fund manager, recognised climate risk as an investment risk. some new measures identified, a major highlight was, "Making sustainability integral to portfolio construction and risk management; exiting investments that present a high sustainability-related risk, such as thermal coal producers."

Blackrock is setting an example by raising more than US$5 billion, the largest alternate investment fund raised in its history. The investments will be disbursed globally in the renewable energy sectors like solar, wind, hydro and waste-to-energy and will exclude investments in coal power. 

IEA projects renewables to pull in about USD $322 billion a year through 2025. With investments pouring in, the future looks extremely promising for renewable energy. BNEF predicts solar and wind power to contribute close to 50 % of the total power generation by 2050.

The benefits of switching to renewable energy are tremendous. Data from IRENA suggests that investing in a renewable energy assets over the next 30 years would provide a return on investment of between 300-800%  and eliminate 70% of global carbon emissions by 2050.

The renewable energy industry is going global and will have a huge requirement for skilled manpower to fuel its rapid growth. In 2018, the renewable energy sector employed around 11 million people worldwide. IRENA projects this number to almost double by 2030. Most of this demand in jobs will sprout from the construction of solar and wind power generation plants worldwide.

In the last decade I have seen an unprecedented race to renewables globally. This has strengthened my belief in the potential of renewable energy in transforming our energy systems today. My mission is to rapidly decarbonise India's energy systems by accelerating the uptake of renewable energy solutions.

I believe in this mission because after travelling across 29 countries spanning multiple continents, I have realised the critical link between clean energy access of a country and the well being of its citizens. Clean energy is an excellent opportunity to bolster every country's economy by increasing employment, reducing dependence on fossil fuel imports and improving the health of its citizens. I hope to inspire students and professionals who have a similar drive to change the status quo and bring about a clean energy revolution globally.

The journey of renewables gets more exciting as it helps create new industries accelerating the energy transition.  Read all about it in my next post!

Arjun Gupta,EIT InnoEnergy Master School alumni and Top 30 under 30 Sustainability Leader 2019