Renewables Claim Small But Growing Share of Global Energy Mix

摘要

If readers of Oil Daily had been asked back in 1951 what they thought about renewable energy, most would probably have responded with a blank look. True, renewables had been in use for hundreds of years — biomass was virtually the only form of heat or light before the Industrial Revolution and Henry Ford designed his Ford Model T to run on ethanol, gasoline or both. But coal was still king when it came to meeting energy demand, although oil was gearing up to steal coal’s crown. Most readers would doubtless have been amazed to learn that, 60 years later, governments — including some in the oil-rich Middle East — would be plowing billions of dollars into developing alternatives to fossil fuels such as biofuels for transport, or electricity generated by solar panels or wind turbines. They might be even more surprised to learn that China had surpassed the US as the world’s largest energy consumer and had also taken the lead in the race to develop viable new forms of energy.