RENEWABLES 2007 GLOBAL STATUS REPORT

www.ren21.net

Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century

REN21 is a global policy network in which ideas are shared and action is encouraged to promote renewable energy. It providesa forum for leadership and exchange in international policy processes. It bolsters appropriate policies that increase the wiseuse of renewable energies in developing and industrialized economies.

Open to a wide variety of dedicated stakeholders, REN21 connects governments, international institutions, nongovern-mental organizations, industry associations, and other partnerships and initiatives. Linking actors from the energy, develop-ment, and environment communities, REN21 leverages their successes and strengthens their influence for the rapid expansionof renewable energy worldwide.

Sultan Al JaberAbu Dhabi Future Energy Company United Arab Emirates

Richard BurrettSustainable Development ABN AMRO

Corrado CliniMinistry for the Environment and TerritoryItaly

Chris DodwellDepartment for Environment, Food andRural AffairsUnited Kingdom

Michael EckhartAmerican Council on Renewable Energy

Mohamed El-AshryUnited Nations Foundation

Amal HaddoucheCentre de Dveloppement des EnergiesRenouvelablesMorocco

David HalesCollege of the Atlantic, USA

Kirsty HamiltonChatham House, UK

Neil HirstEnergy Technology and R&D OfficeInternational Energy Agency

Richard HosierGlobal Environment Facility

Olav KjorvenBureau of Development PolicyUnited Nations Development Programme

Hans-Jorgen KochDanish Energy AuthorityDenmark

Sara Larrain Chile Sustenable

Li JunfengNational Development and ReformCommission, Energy Research InstituteChinese Renewable Energy IndustriesAssociationChina

Imma MayolUnited Cities and Local Governments/City of Barcelona

Paul MubiruMinistry of Energy and Mineral DevelopmentUganda

Kevin NassiepNational Energy Research InstituteSouth Africa

Mika OhbayashiInstitute for Sustainable Energy Policies, Japan

Rajendra Pachauri The Energy and Resources Institute, India

Wolfgang PalzWorld Council for Renewable Energy

Mark RadkaDivision of Technology, Industry and EconomicsUnited Nations Environment Programme

Peter RaeWorld Wind Energy Association/InternationalRenewable Energy Alliance

Urban RidFederal Ministry for the Environment, NatureConservation and Nuclear SafetyGermany

Athena Ronquillo Ballesteros Climate and EnergyGreenpeace International

Jamal Saghir Energy, Transport, and WaterThe World Bank

Claudia Vieira SantosMinistry of External RelationsBrazil

Steve SawyerGlobal Wind Energy Council

V. SubramanianMinistry of New and Renewable EnergyIndia

Griffin ThompsonDepartment of StateUnited States

Ibrahim TogolaMali Folkecenter/Citizens United forRenewable Energy and Sustainability

Piotr Tulej DG Environment: Energy UnitEuropean Commission

Arthouros ZervosEuropean Renewable Energy Council

Ton van der ZonMinistry of Foreign AffairsNetherlands

Disclaimer

REN21 issue papers and reports are released by REN21 to emphasize the importance of renewable energy and to generate discussion ofissues central to the promotion of renewable energy. While REN21 papers and reports have benefited from the considerations and inputfrom the REN21 community, they do not necessarily represent a consensus among network participants on any given point. Although theinformation given in this report is the best available to the authors at the time, REN21 and its participants cannot be held liable for its accuracy and correctness.

www.ren21.net

REN21 Steering Committee

RENEWABLES 2007 GLOBAL STATUS REPORT

PAGE 2 RENEWABLES 2007 GLOBAL STATUS REPORT

Renewable energy offers our planet a chance to reducecarbon emissions, clean the air, and put our civiliza-tion on a more sustainable footing. It also offers coun-tries around the world the chance to improve theirenergy security and spur economic development. Somuch has happened in the renewable energy sectorduring the past five years that our perceptions lag farbehind the reality of where the industry is today. Thisreport helps us to adjust those perceptions and to edu-cate ourselves. It paints a remarkable overall picture ofrenewable energy markets, policies, industries, andrural applications around the world.

More than 65 countries now have goals for theirown renewable energy futures, and are enacting a far-reaching array of policies to meet those goals.Multilateral agencies and private investors alike aremainstreaming renewable energy in their portfolios.And many renewables technologies and industrieshave been growing at rates of 20 to 60 percent, yearafter year, capturing the interest of the largest globalcompanies. In 2007, more than $100 billion wasinvested in renewable energy production assets, man-ufacturing, research, and developmenta true globalmilestone. Growth trends mean this figure will onlycontinue to increase.

In 2004, 3,000 delegates from 150 countries cametogether to share ideas and make commitments at theRenewables 2004 conference in Bonn, Germany. Thatconference launched many specific actions, which arenow appearing in the global trends described in this

report. It also launched the REN21 Global Policy Net-work. REN21 has grown to share ideas, facilitateaction, and provide leadership to promote renewableenergy. This type of leadership has never been moreimportant, as renewable energy has reached the top ofthe agendas of international policy processes under theUnited Nations, the G8, and other multilateral fora.

This report gives us an integrated perspective onthe global renewable energy situation that wasnt avail-able in 2004. It is the product of an international teamof over 140 researchers and contributors from bothdeveloped and developing countries, drawing uponwide-ranging information and expertise. The reportwas first produced in 2005, was updated in 2006, and isnow being issued again in early 2008.

I would like to thank the German government forits financial sponsorship, the Worldwatch Institute forleading the production, German Gesellschaft fr Tech-nische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) for administration, theREN21 Secretariat for oversight and management, themembers of the REN21 Steering Committee for theirguidance, all of the researchers and contributors thesepast three years for the information that made it possi-ble, and the reports lead author, Eric Martinot, for themonumental work of putting it all together.

REN21 is proud to offer this picture of renewableenergy to the global community.

Mohamed El-AshryChairman, REN21

FOREWORD

Report Citation and Copyright

REN21. 2008. Renewables 2007 Global Status Report (Paris: REN21 Secretariat and Washington, DC: Worldwatch Institute).Copyright 2008 Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH.

RENEWABLES 2007 GLOBAL STATUS REPORT PAGE 3

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Selected Indicators and Top Five Countries . . . . . . . 8

1. Global Market Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

2. Investment Flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

3. Industry Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

4. Policy Landscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Policy Targets for Renewable Energy . . . . . . . . . . 21Power Generation Promotion Policies . . . . . . . . . 22Solar Hot Water/Heating Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Biofuels Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Green Power Purchasing and Renewable Electricity Certificates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Municipal Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

5. Rural (Off-Grid) Renewable Energy . . . . . . . . . . 32

Reference Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Endnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Annexes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(see separate document*)

List of References . . . . . . . .(see separate document*)

Sidebar, Figures, and Tables

Sidebar 1. Share of Energy from Renewables (Primary vs. Equivalent Primary vs. Final) . . . . . . . . 21

Figure 1. Renewable Energy Share of Global Final Energy Consumption, 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Figure 2. Share of Global Electricity from Renewable Energy, 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Figure 3. Average Annual Growth Rates of Renewable Energy Capacity, 20022006 . . . . . . . . 10

Figure 4. Wind Power, Existing World Capacity,19952007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Figure 5. Wind Power Capacity, Top 10 Countries, 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Figure 6. Solar PV, Existing World Capacity,19952007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Figure 7. Renewable Power Capacities, DevelopingWorld, EU, and Top Six Countries, 2006 . . . . . . . . 12

Figure 8. Solar Hot Water/Heating Capacity Existing, Selected Countries, 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Figure 9. Solar Hot Water/Heating Capacity Added, Selected Countries, 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Figure 10. Ethanol and Biodiesel Production,20002007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Figure 11. Annual Investment in New Renewable Energy Capacity, 19952007 . . . . . . . . 16

Figure 12. EU Renewable Energy