InnoBlog: The Evolution of Renewable Energy

As fossil fuels like coal and gas are a limited resource found in a handful of geographies, countries across the globe wanted alternative power generation technologies to support their rapidly growing electricity sector. The cost of coal over the last 20 years has seen some wild swings ranging from $50 to over a $130 USD per metric ton. To ensure a stable electricity sector which is a fundamental metric of growth, countries had to diversify their energy generation mix by localising resources which were independent of any supply chain constraints.

Scientists across the globe confirmed that global warming today is anthropogenic and needs to be mitigated. Citizens everywhere looked up to their governments and demanded real solutions to combat climate change. Governments across nearly 200 countries paid attention and in the landmark Paris Climate Agreement came to a consensus to cut carbon emissions to mitigate the effects of global warming. Most nations looked at renewables as the perfect solution to fight climate change. Germany drafted an ambitious plan to produce half of all its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030. India created the National Solar Mission with a goal of implementing 100 Gigawatts of Solar power by 2022.

Similar goals were set by countries across the globe doling out incentives encouraging renewable energy based power generation in the form of feed-in tariff and renewable portfolio standards coupled with an array of government subsidies.

In the late 1990s when Germany was overwhelmed with the government incentivising the use of solar panels, they tapped China's shoulder to manufacture solar panels to meet German standards. China took this opportunity to scale up their manufacturing prowess as more countries like Spain and Italy began expanding their solar incentives as well. The Chinese Government started supporting solar panel manufacturers by providing tax credits. This resulted in China becoming world's largest solar panel manufacturer.

 For every panel ordered overseas there were roughly two panels being made resulting a worldwide glut driving down prices drastically. Prices dropped by 24 % every time the cumulative production of solar panels doubled over the last 38 years. The Result - in the last 10 years solar panel prices have dropped by an astonishing 91 %.

A similar story played out for the wind industry where the National Development and Reform Commission in China declared that at least 70 % of equipment for local wind projects must be manufactured domestically. This move along with central government incentives led to a surplus of wind turbines in 2011 spilling into the global market. Five of the top 10 global wind turbine manufacturers today are from China. Wind turbine prices have fallen by 50% in the past decade.

I saw the world waking up to the realisation that Renewable Energy has the potential to become a reliable power generation resource in 2012.There was very little expertise available in the renewable energy domain and  I was keen on studying a Master's course to improve my technical knowledge on renewable energy after having completed a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering. Following a thorough research of universities across North America and Europe, I discovered that EIT InnoEnergy offered the most advanced and new age programmes tailored to specialise in renewable energy technologies. The expertise I gained during my EIT Master's  programme catapulted my career by opening up an excellent career opportunity in New York.

My peers in EIT InnoEnergy found exciting opportunities in the renewable energy industry globally as the expertise we possessed grew in demand as the industry grew substantially in the past decade. In fact, 90% of EIT InnoEnergy students found career opportunities within 6 months of graduating from their respective programs.

Onshore wind and solar power are the cheapest source of electricity today in at least two-third's of the world's population. By 2030, it will be cheaper to build renewable energy power plants than running coal power plants across every country in the world. By the end of 2018, over 26 % of the global electricity production came from renewable energy resources including solar, wind and hydropower. (REN21, 2019).

My personal experience in the renewable energy industry is evidence of the tremendous growth in this sector. We saw companies baulk at the idea of integrating solar panels on their roofs due to the high costs in 2014 only to come back five years later asking for the same solar panels to minimise their electricity bills.

But can Renewable Energy transform our Electricity Sector? Read all about it in my next post.

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