Globally, countries have massively increased their investments in renewable energy sources such as wind and solar in the last decade. In spite of this, fossil fuels are still heavily favored in most parts of the world.
According to researchers from Chalmers University of Technology, Lund University in Sweden, and Central European University in Austria, increasing wind and solar energy sources is necessary to reduce global warming.
In a study featured in the journal Nature Energy, researchers found that virtually no nation is taking measures fast enough to limit global temperatures from rising above 2° Celsius over pre-industrial levels
A study of solar and wind energy growth rates in 60 countries found that renewable energy sources would not be able to replace fossil fuels completely.
In a recent report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said that it is possible to limit global temperatures to below 2° Celsius or even 1.5° Celsius by rapidly expanding the acceptance of renewable energy sources such as wind & solar.
However, the new paper has revealed that such a scenario is nearly impossible in most countries, with a few exceptions, as the world is still heavily reliant on fossil fuels.
Among the 60 largest countries, renewable energy grew by an average of 0.8 percent per out of the total electricity, much lower than outlined by the IPCC. To meet targets, each country needs to ensure renewables grow by an average of 1.4 percent out of the total electricity usage.
Researchers only found growth of renewables that met the IPCC targets in smaller countries such as Portugal, Chile, and Ireland. They also outlined the need to explore new and diverse technologies, if the rest of the world were to achieve that goal.