Seven Charts Show New Renewables Outpacing Rising Demand for First Time

For the first time ever, investment in new renewables was more than enough to cover rising global electricity demand in 2015.

That’s according to the first World Energy Investment report, published by the International Energy Agency (IEA).  While fossil fuels still dominate energy supplies, the IEA says changing investment flows point towards a “reorientation of the energy system”.

Carbon Brief has seven charts showing why the IEA thinks an energy shift is underway.

1) Energy investment
World energy investment amounted to $1.8tn in 2015, the IEA says, equivalent to 2.4% of global GDP.  Around half went towards fossil fuel extraction and distribution, mainly for oil and gas.

Renewables accounted for 17% of the total, around $300bn.  The vast majority of this was in the electricity sector, where nearly 70% of investment in power stations went towards renewables.

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