Global energy demand is expected to continue to rise, spurred on by ongoing worldwide population and economic expansion. While energy demand in OECD countries will be stagnant or may even decline due to such factors as lower economic growth and improvements in energy efficiency, energy demand in China, India and other Asian developing countries, as well as in the Middle East, will grow substantially over the coming decades.

Growth in non-fossil fuels will be substantial, and it is expected that renewable energy in particular will show major development and growth thanks to policy support and falling costs. In 2011, global investment in new renewable capacity reached a record high of US $257 billion, bringing global renewable energy capacity (excluding hydro) to 390 GW. Although 60 percent of this capacity is from wind energy, solar photovoltaic (PV) is the most rapidly growing renewable energy technology class, with global installed capacity achieving a growth rate of approximately 44 percent per year in the past decade. Nonetheless, “modern” renewables excluding hydro (i.e. solar, wind, biofuels, geothermal, modern biomass) still account for less than five percent of global final energy consumption, and so continued technology innovation and regulatory support are required if the positive momentum of renewable energy technology deployment is to be maintained.