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Market and industry trends

Main article: Renewable energy commercialization

Renewable power has been more effective in creating jobs than coal or oil in the United States. In 2016, employment in the sector increased 6% in the United States while employment in the oil and gas sector decreased 18%. Worldwide, renewables employ about 8.1 million people as of 2016.

Growth of renewables

Investment: Companies, governments and households committed $501.3 billion to decarbonization in 2020, including renewable energy (solar, wind), electric vehicles and associated charging infrastructure, energy storage, energy-efficient heating systems, carbon capture and storage, and hydrogen.

Renewable energy investment by region

Past costs of producing renewable energy declined significantly, with 62% of total renewable power generation added in 2020 having lower costs than the cheapest new fossil fuel option.

Levelized cost: With increasingly widespread implementation of renewable energy sources, costs have declined, most notably for energy generated by solar panels.
Levelized cost of energy (LCOE) is a measure of the average net present cost of electricity generation for a generating plant over its lifetime.

In 2020, renewables overtook fossil fuels as the European Union's main source of electricity for the first time.

Comparing worldwide energy use, the growth of renewable energy is shown by the green line

From the end of 2004, worldwide renewable energy capacity grew at rates of 10–60% annually for many technologies. In 2015 global investment in renewables rose 5% to $285.9 billion, breaking the previous record of $278.5 billion in 2011. 2015 was also the first year that saw renewables, excluding large hydro, account for the majority of all new power capacity (134 GW, making up 54% of the total). Of the renewables total, wind accounted for 72 GW and solar photovoltaics 56 GW; both record-breaking numbers and sharply up from 2014 figures (49 GW and 45 GW respectively). In financial terms, solar made up 56% of total new investment and wind accounted for 38%.

In 2014 global wind power capacity expanded 16% to 369,553 MW. Yearly wind energy production is also growing rapidly and has reached around 4% of worldwide electricity usage, 11.4% in the EU, and it is widely used in Asia, and the United States. In 2015, worldwide installed photovoltaics capacity increased to 227 gigawatts (GW), sufficient to supply 1 percent of global electricity demands. Solar thermal energy stations operate in the United States and Spain, and as of 2016, the largest of these is the 392 MW Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in California. The world's largest geothermal power installation is The Geysers in California, with a rated capacity of 750 MW. Brazil has one of the largest renewable energy programs in the world, involving production of ethanol fuel from sugar cane, and ethanol now provides 18% of the country's automotive fuel. Ethanol fuel is also widely available in the United States.

In 2017, investments in renewable energy amounted to US$279.8 billion worldwide, with China accounting for US$126.6 billion or 45% of the global investments, the United States for US$40.5 billion, and Europe for US$40.9 billion. The results of a recent review of the literature concluded that as greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters begin to be held liable for damages resulting from GHG emissions resulting in climate change, a high value for liability mitigation would provide powerful incentives for deployment of renewable energy technologies.

In the decade of 2010–2019, worldwide investment in renewable energy capacity excluding large hydropower amounted to US$2.7 trillion, of which the top countries China contributed US$818 billion, the United States contributed US$392.3 billion, Japan contributed US$210.9 billion, Germany contributed US$183.4 billion, and the United Kingdom contributed US$126.5 billion. This was an increase of over three and possibly four times the equivalent amount invested in the decade of 2000–2009 (no data is available for 2000–2003).

Selected renewable energy global indicators	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Investment
Investment in new renewable capacity (annual) (billion USD)	182	178	237	279	256	232	270	285.9	241.6	279.8	289	302	304
Power
Renewables power capacity (existing) (GWe)	1,140	1,230	1,320	1,360	1,470	1,578	1,712	1,849	2,017	2,195	2,378	2,588	2,839
Hydropower capacity (existing) (GWe)	885	915	945	970	990	1,018	1,055	1,064	1,096	1,114	1,132	1,150	1,170
Solar PV capacity (grid-connected) (GWe)	16	23	40	70	100	138	177	227	303	402	505	627	760
Wind power capacity (existing) (GWe)	121	159	198	238	283	319	370	433	487	539	591	651	743
Heat
Solar hot water capacity (existing) (2008-2018 GWth, 2019-2020 EJ)	130	160	185	232	255	373	406	435	456	472	480 GWth (1.4 EJ)	1.4	1.5
Transport
Ethanol production (annual) (billion litres)	67	76	86	86	83	87	94	98.8	98.6	106	112	114	105
Biodiesel production, fatty acid methyl ester (annual) (billion litres)	12	17.8	18.5	21.4	22.5	26	29.7	30.1	30.8	31	34	47	39
Policy
Countries with renewable energy targets	79	89	98	118	138	144	164	173	176	179	169	172	165
Source: REN21