According to the International Energy Agency more than half of all new electricity added in the United States and Europe last year came from renewable power such as wind and solar. 
The IEA is a UN agency. Last year was also a record year for the amount of new green power added to the grid, partly a result of shifting deployment and manufacture to emerging economies including Brazil, India and China, from flagging developed countries. The IEA issued their annual report, REN21, or the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century. Of an extra 80 gig watts of new renewable power capacity added worldwide, China added 37 GW, more than any other country, said the study. Despite the impact of the financial crisis and lower oil prices, renewable capacity grew at rates close to those in previous years, including solar photovoltaic power at 53 percent and wind power at 32 percent, the report said. Grid-connected solar photovoltaic power had grown by an average of 60 percent every year for the past decade, increasing 100-fold since 2000. That boom has been largely on the back of support in European countries, where a recent pullback following recession has raised investor jitters. But the wind and solar sectors are still poised for a record year in 2010, operators and investors say. While China is making great strides in renewable energy deployment, its carbon emissions also accelerated in 2009–placing it further ahead as the world’s top emitter of the main greenhouse gas blamed for climate change. Wind and solar power together make up less than 3 percent of the total U.S. power generation, but both are growing rapidly amid a range of state and federal incentives. The fact that 50% of all new power plants coming on line in the U.S. and world illustrates the strides we are making in building sustainable energy sources. As each year passes, the hope is that we can eventually raise that number to 100%.
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