Renewables could meet 40 percent of world's needs ... if

The world could get 40 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2050 if officials deliver adequate support and financing, according to scientists meeting at this week’s “Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges & Decisions” summit in Copenhagen.

Without proper support for renewables, however, that percentage could remain below 15 percent by mid-century, scientists added.

Those findings were presented today by Peter Lund of the Helsinki University of Technology’s Advanced Energy Systems.

“Our findings demonstrate that with global political support and financial investment, previous notions that the potential for renewables was in some way limited to a negligible fraction of world demand were wrong,” Lund said at a press conference today. “If we prioritise and recognise the value of renewable energy technologies, their potential to supply us with the energy we need is tremendous.”

Previous estimates have suggested the world would get just 12 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

Boosting that figure will require advances in wind-power technology as well as a biofuel focus on non-food stocks such as woody crops and stalk materials, the researchers found.