Paris, 23 November 2011

Renewables are now the fastest-growing sector of the energy mix and offer great potential to address issues of energy security and sustainability, but their rapid deployment is also bringing a host of challenges. To maintain renewable energy’s rapid growth, new IEA study assesses challenges and shows how to overcome obstacles.

A new book from the International Energy Agency http://web.iea.org/ released today provides guidance for policy makers and other stakeholders to avoid past mistakes, overcome new challenges and reap the benefits of deploying renewables – today and tomorrow.

The new book, Deploying Renewables 2011: Best and Future Policy Practice, analyses the recent successes in renewable energy, which now accounts for almost a fifth of all electricity produced worldwide, and addresses how countries can best capitalise on that growth to realise a sustainable energy future.In launching the book, IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven said deployment of renewable energy must be stepped up – especially given the world’s increasing appetite for energy and the need to meet this demand more efficiently and with low-carbon energy sources.

“As the IEA’s analysis has shown, without an urgent and radical change of policy direction, the world will lock itself into an insecure, inefficient and high-carbon energy system,” Ms. Van der Hoeven said. “Renewables already play a central role in fostering sustainability and energy security, and their significance will only grow in the coming decades. Against this backdrop, Deploying Renewables 2011 provides a major review of renewable energy markets and policies at this critical juncture.”

New challenges have come to the fore: Growth in renewable energy has so far focused on just a few of the available technologies, and rapid deployment is confined to a relatively small number of countries. In more advanced markets, managing support costs and system integration of large shares of renewable energy in a time of economic weakness and budget austerity has sparked vigorous political debate.

The new IEA book builds on and extends a 2008 publication, drawing in recent policy and deployment experience worldwide. It also:
•       Provides a comprehensive review and analysis of renewable energy policy and market trends;
•       Analyses in detail the dynamics of deployment and provides best-practice policy principles for different stages of market maturity;
•       Assesses the impact and cost-effectiveness of support policies using new methodological tools and indicators;
•       Investigates the strategic reasons underpinning the pursuit of RE deployment by different countries and the prospects for globalisation of RE.

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