Renewables Could Save TRILLIONS Annually!

Sometimes, it doesn’t matter what our beliefs or morals are – it comes down to the cost or the savings. If it doesn’t make financial sense it’s not worth it. Well now the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has done an analysis and found that doubling global renewable energy by 2030 will save around USD $4.2 trillion each year – saving 15 times what it would actually cost to double.

In addition – not only would we be saving trillions but we would also be creating more jobs and saving lives! The Remap: Roadmap for a Renewable Energy Future report says that getting out global renewable energy to around 36% would increase jobs from 9.2 million in 2014 to 24.4 million in 2030 – and it would save up to 4 million lives EACH YEAR in 2030! Not only will it help in all the above, but it will also save the nearly 15% global freshwater withdrawals each year that is used for energy supply. The benefits seem to know no bounds.

“Achieving a doubling is not only feasible, it is cheaper than not doing so,” said Adnan Z. Amin, director-general of IRENA.

“It would create more jobs, save millions of lives from reduced air pollution and set us on a pathway to limit global temperature rise to two degrees as agreed in Paris.”

It sounds like an absolute no brainer – yet all our government subsidies and structures are all focused on helping reduce the cost of fossil fuels. The goal of globally doubling our renewables is achievable but it would have to increase by 1% each year between now and 2030 in order to reach that – currently average annual growth is falling far short of that at 0.17%.

“The good news from this report is that we can transition our energy mix to significantly more renewables, while keeping the economy healthy and growing,” said Claire O’Rourke, National Director of Solar Citizens.

“The Turnbull Government must seize the opportunity to put Australia on a pathway to the clean energy future supported by the majority of Australians.”