VOA科学技术2024--Report: 2023 a Big Year for Renewable Energy

A recent report says that 2023 was a record-breaking year for renewable energy sources.

Ember, a research group based in London, reported that, for the first time, 30 percent of electricity produced worldwide was from clean energy sources. And billions of people are using clean energy sources daily as the number of solar and wind farms continues to grow.

Hydropower

Last year, hydroelectric dams produced most of the clean energy sources - as in most years. Yet dry weather conditions, or droughts², in India, China, and North America meant hydropower hit a five-year low. Research shows climate change is causing droughts to develop more quickly and be more severe.

People used more electricity than ever last year, about 2 percent more, an increase of about as much as Canada uses in a year. Some of this new demand was for heat pumps, which are an efficient way to both heat and cool buildings, and for electric vehicles. The demand was also for electrolyzers, special machines used to get hydrogen³ out of water, for energy. These are all technologies that provide solutions to climate change.

Other increased demand was for electricity to feed new data centers and for air conditioning as places around the world become hotter.

Solar

Solar made up the biggest part of new clean energy last year. More than twice as much solar power was added as coal power. It was the 19th year in a row that solar was the fastest-growing source of electricity generation. A large increase in solar installations⁴ happened at the end of the year and the report predicts 2024 will see an even larger jump.

China added more renewable energy than any other country last year - 51 percent of the new solar power and 60 percent of the new wind power worldwide.

China, the European Union, the United States and Brazil together were responsible for 81 percent of new solar generation in 2023.

Coal

Despite the growth in clean energy, fossil⁵ fuels like coal still made up most of the electricity generated⁷ worldwide last year.

The report said some countries burned coal to make up for the loss of hydroelectric power they experienced⁸ when drought¹ caused their water supply to dry up.

China was responsible for 55 percent of coal generation worldwide. And 60 percent of China's electricity generation came from coal. China, India, Vietnam and Mexico were responsible for nearly all of the increase.

The International Energy Agency⁹ says fossil fuels release¹⁰ more carbon dioxide to produce electricity. And scientists say fossil fuel burning needs to decrease quickly to protect Earth's climate.

Experts expect the world to use even more electricity in 2024. However, as renewable energy generation is predicted to grow, it could mean a 2 percent drop in energy generated from fossil fuels.

Words in This Story

renewable -- adj. able to be replaced by nature

drought -- n. a period of too little rainfall

fossil fuel - n. a fuel such as coal, oil, or natural gas

generate⁶ - v. to produce something or cause something to be produced

1 drought   

n.旱灾，干旱，久旱

参考例句：

• The plants are growing in again,despite the drought.尽管干旱，植物又长出来了。
• The ground is as hard as stone after the drought.长期干旱后土地硬得就像石头一样。

2 droughts   

n.干旱（时期）( drought的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some of these droughts must have been severe. 有一些旱灾想必是严重的。 来自辞典例句
• Farmers' problems continued, and their suffering was compounded by serious droughts in 1986 and 1988. １９８６年和１９８８年的干旱使农民的处境更是雪上加霜。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

3 hydrogen   

n.氢元素，氢气

参考例句：

• Water is made up of atoms of hydrogen and oxygen.水由氢和氧的原子构成。
• A chemist can isolate the oxygen from the hydrogen in water.一个化学家能把水中的氧和氢分解。

4 installations   

n.装置( installation的名词复数 )；安装；就职；军事设施

参考例句：

• The cooker,heaters and other electrical installations are all in perfect working order. 厨房、加热器以及其他电器设备都处于完好的工作状态。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 fossil   

n.化石，食古不化的人，老顽固

参考例句：

• At this distance of time it is difficult to date the fossil.时间隔得这么久了，很难确定这化石的年代。
• The man is a fossil.那人是个老顽固。

6 generate   

vt.生成，产生（光、热、电等）导致

参考例句：

• We need someone to generate new ideas.我们需要有人出新主意。
• This book will continue to generate excitement for a long time.这本书将在很长一段时间里继续使人们为之激动。

7 generated   

a.生成的

参考例句：

• It is generated by some specified means. 这是由某些未加说明的方法产生的。
• It generated much excitement and frenetic activity. 这使人们非常激动并导致了狂热的行动。

8 experienced   

adj.有经验的；经验丰富的，熟练的

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather.有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• Perhaps you and I had better change over;you are more experienced.也许我们的工作还是对换一下好，你比我更有经验。

9 agency   

n.经办；代理；代理处

参考例句：

• This disease is spread through the agency of insects.这种疾病是通过昆虫媒介传播的。
• He spoke in the person of Xinhua News Agency.他代表新华社讲话。

10 release   

vt.发布，发表，发行；释放，放开

参考例句：

• After my examination I had a feeling of release.考完试后我有如释重负之感。
• This medicine will give you release from pain.这药吃后会解除你的疼痛。