Renewable Energy
Solar energy is a renewable, clean energy source that does not pollute the environment and does not create carbon emissions. With the gradual increase in population and industrialization, the need for energy in the world is constantly increasing. With the decrease in oil and natural gas resources day by day and in countries that do not have these resources, responding to the increasing need for energy creates a very troublesome situation. Therefore, turning to cleaner and less costly renewable energy sources helps to eliminate this problem.
The first resources that come to mind when we say renewable energy sources are hydro-HPP (water power), wind-WPP, solar-SPP, biomass and geothermal resources.
Electricity Generation from Renewable Energy
Renewable energy is energy that can be obtained from non-fossil natural resources such as sun, wind, hydraulic, geothermal, geothermal, biomass, sea (wave, current and tidal) and can be permanently supplemented by nature. Since renewable energy sources are self-existing, inexhaustible resources that do not deplete over time, alternative energy sources are increasingly being used.
With the gradual increase in population and industrialization, the need for energy in the world is increasing, albeit in a limited way. According to the "Global Energy Perspective 2022" report by the world-renowned consulting firm McKinsey, the world's energy demand is expected to increase by 14% by 2050. On the other hand, electricity consumption is projected to replace the use of fossil fuel products during this period. The main reason for this development is that, as a result of country policies, electricity has reduced carbon dioxide emissions compared to alternatives and is the most cost-effective and simplest way to be used as an energy source in many sectors. In addition to this development, the use of renewable energy in electricity generation is projected to reach 50% by 2035 and 85% by 2050. The main reason for this development is that it is both sustainable and relatively low cost.
According to the International Energy Association (IEA), which was founded by 31 countries, including Turkey, the ratio of electricity generated from renewable energy sources to total electricity generation is estimated to reach 28.7% in 2021, up from 20.2% in 2011. Within the United Nations-led goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions as much as possible to zero by 2050, it is envisaged to increase the ratio of electricity generation from renewable energy sources to total generation to 60% by 2030. Within this target, electricity generation capacity from renewable sources, which reached 340 GW in 2022, should grow by 12% annually until 2030.
Global Electricity Generation Volume and Growth from Renewable Energy Sources (2011-2021)
| Source | 2021 Production Volume (TW) | Production Share (%) | 2011 Production Volume (TW) | 2011-2021 Growth (%) |
| Hydraulic | 4.327,7 | 53,3 | 3.520,1 | 23 |
| Wind | 1.870,3 | 23,0 | 437,3 | 328 |
| Solar | 1.002,9 | 12,4 | 63,8 | 1.472 |
| Bioenergy | 764,2 | 9,4 | 392,0 | 95 |
| Other | 151,0 | 1,9 | 72,7 | 108 |
| Total | 8.116,1 | 100,0 | 4.485,9 | 81 |
Source: https://www.iea.org/reports/renewable-power
As can be seen from the table above, the volume of electricity generation from renewable energy sources has grown by 81% in the last 10 years, reaching 8,116.9 TW in 2021. Although hydropower still accounts for the largest share among renewable energy sources with 53.3%, solar energy has the highest growth rate of 1,472% in this period.