Renewable energy investing has felt a lot like pissing in the wind over the past few years. Returns have been atrocious — but renewable energy is still gaining market share. According to Ember’s latest Global Electricity Review, renewable sources like wind, solar, and hydro now generate a record 30% of the world’s electricity, up from just 19% in 2000. Solar and wind have been the major drivers, expanding from 0.2% at the turn of the century to 13.4% of global electricity in 2023.
- Global electricity demand reached another record in 2023, with half of the gains coming from electric vehicles, data centers, heat pumps, electrolyzers, and air conditioning.
- Solar has been the fastest-growing electricity source for 19 years straight, overtaking wind as the largest source of new electricity installations for the second consecutive year.
Get Trumped: High interest rates and soaring inflation have hit capital-intensive solar and wind projects hard — but the renewable sector’s biggest enemy could be sitting in the Oval this November. Trump has been critical of renewable energy, calling it “a scam business.” Some industry analysts like Timothy Fox from ClearView Energy Partners warn that “a Trump administration would be a negative for the offshore wind industry.” With new projects facing hurdles for approvals, the wind sector has seen its value drop by almost a third since 2021, according to the First Trust Global Wind Energy ETF.
