EXHAUSTION OF FOSSIL FUELS
Since the industrial revolution, people have become more dependent on energy. The increasing dependence on energy has caused not only resource exhaustion of conventional fossil fuels like coal, petroleum, gas,but also serious pollution to the environment. As more greenhouse gases from the consumption of fossil.Fuels are released to the atmosphere, the Earth’s temperature increases. This causes global climate change which is threatening the development of our society. In recent years, the international powers have realized the problems caused by conventional fossil fuels. Expanding the reach of renewable energy to create a planet independent from fossil fuels has become the consensus of our international powers.
Many countries have made developing and making use of renewable energy an important part of energy production strategies and issued policies to promote the development of renewable energy. In the electric power sector, conventional fossil fuels are resources that people use to obtain electricity, but renewable energy has made rapid progress recently. According to the Global Landscape of Renewable Energy Finance 2018 published by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), since 2012, the growth rate of renewable energy projects has exceeded that of nonrenewable energy projects. In 2016 although the investment for renewable energy projects declined from the 2015 level, the total renewable energy capacity has grown to record high levels. Since 2012, renewable power capacity installations have exceeded non-renewables by a rising margin, representing about 60% of all new power-generating capacity added worldwide in 2016. By the end of 2016, total installed capacity for renewable energy projects, including hydropower projects reached 2,017GW. The U.S. Energy Information Administration predicted that by 2040, more than 30% of the global electricity will be generated by renewable energy projects.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration
