Growth of renewable energy sources generating ‘new world': IRENA

The speedy growth of renewable energy sources and the downfall of fossil fuels are causing key changes in global politics, a special commission alleged in a report.

The move "will alter the global distribution of power, relations between states, the risk of conflict, and the social, economic and environmental drivers of geopolitical instability," supposed a the commission set up by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

Solar, wind and other renewables, which at present make up approximately a fifth of global energy production, are increasing faster than any other source, the report believed.

Commission chairman and former president of Iceland, Olafur Ragnar, believed the move will likely cause China to cast a shadow on the United States, position oil-dependent Gulf states at risk and help insolvent African nations accomplish energy independence.

"It is difficult to predict when, but this change is happening comprehensively and fast," Ragnar supposed. The report, entitled "A New World", was launched at IRENA's ninth general assembly in Abu Dhabi.

"The shift from fossil fuels to renewables is determined by new technologies and falling costs, increasingly making renewables as competitive as conventional sources of energy," the report whispered. The price of electricity from solar sources has dropped by 75 percent since 2009 while the price of wind turbines bisects over the same period, it alleged.

IRENA secretary general Adnan Amin said the body's study shows that "by 2020, all commercially available renewable technologies will be on par with or cheaper than, fossil fuels competitors". He believed that in 2017, a record 168 GW of electricity were generated from renewable sources -- double the preceding year.

The IRENA commission also advised that countries are profoundly dependent on fossil fuel exports would need to acclimatize to evade "serious economic consequences". But, it held, renewables will be a powerful vehicle of democratization because they make it possible to decentralize the energy supply.