Trillions have been spent on renewables yet they still provide less than 10% of global energy

By Robert Lyman

COP28, the 28th “Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change,” which just concluded in Dubai, had as one of its central themes the need to promote the energy transition by spending more on renewable energy. But what have been the results of such spending up to now?

The International Energy Agency, in its reports on energy financing, breaks down global energy investment into investment in fossil fuels, on the one hand, and in “clean energy,” on the other. In 2023, estimated investment in “clean energy” will be close to $2.2 trillion (in C$). That is an almost unimaginable amount of money, made only slightly less daunting when portrayed as $6 billion per day.

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The $2.2 trillion consists of investment in: renewable power (electricity generated by wind, solar and biomass energy sources) of about $857 billion, energy grids ($430 billion), energy efficiency ($438 billion), electric vehicles and battery storage ($216 billion combined) and nuclear energy ($82 billion).

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) uses a different definition of renewable energy. It includes wind, solar, biomass, energy efficiency, “electrified transport,”........

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