Renewable Energy Sources Can Provide 90% Of World’s Total Electricity By 2050, Says Union Power Minister

The energy minister underlined that the target is to increase global renewable energy capacity three times by the end of the decade.

Union Power, New and Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh on Tuesday said that renewable energy sources can supply the majority of the world’s total electricity by 2050. The minister stated that by the end of the decade, renewable energy could account for as much as 65 per cent of the global electricity.

While addressing the launch of the sixth assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), the minister said, “Renewable energy sources have the potential to supply 65 per cent of the world's total electricity by 2030 and decarbonise 90 per cent of the power sector by 2050,” reported PTI.

The minister noted that presently, about 80 per cent of the world’s population lives in nations dependent on fossil fuels import, coming up to about 6 billion people. He stated that the G20 Summit in New Delhi also highlighted the need to transition to clean energy urgently. 

Singh, also the president of the ISA, invited all member nations, ISA Partner Organisations, and other entities present at the inauguration to collaborate with ISA for change. “Our vision in mind when the ISA came into being was to create a sustainable world through the adoption of solar energy solutions,” he said. 

The energy minister underlined that the target is to increase global renewable energy capacity three times by the end of the decade. He said, “The objective is to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030, aligning with the countries’ established targets and policies and expanding aspirations to include zero and low emission technologies, adopting more blended finance and risk-sharing facilities in the renewable energy sector.”

Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, France’s Minister of State for Development, and the co-president of the ISA Assembly said, “As a critical initiative to fight climate change, the International Solar Alliance has made progress towards being an efficient and results-oriented organisation that is actively engaged in implementing its programmes on a global scale, significantly impacting the worldwide solar energy landscape.”

ISA Director General, Ajay Mathur, added that investment in clean energy has grown 12 per cent annually since 2020, mainly due to the boost in solar and wind power projects. The executive, however, pointed out that this boost in investment has been majorly limited to a select few countries, discarding many developing nations, especially in Africa. 

The assembly saw ministers from 20 nations, delegates from across the 116 member and signatory countries, and 18 prospective countries in attendance.