Modern renewable energy technology is developing extremely rapidly and will surpass natural gas shortly after 2010 and become the second largest power fuel after coal. The cost of renewable energy is reduced with the mature application of technology. Assuming that the price of fossil fuels and strong policy support provide an opportunity for the renewable energy industry to get rid of the situation of relying on subsidies and promote emerging technologies to enter the mainstream .

In this forecast, the growth rate of non-hydroelectric renewable energy (except biomass energy) such as wind, solar, geothermal, tidal and wave energy is 7.2%, exceeding the global average annual growth rate of any other energy. The use of renewable energy in the power industry accounted for most of the growth. The proportion of non-hydropower renewable energy in total power generation has increased from 1% in 2006 to 4% in 2030. Despite the increase in hydropower production, its share of electricity fell by two percentage points to 14%. The growth of renewable energy power generation in OECD countries exceeds the combined growth of fossil fuel and nuclear power generation.

At present, the utilization technologies of biomass energy, solar energy, wind energy, hydroelectric power generation, and geothermal energy have been applied.

At present, the proportion of renewable energy in primary energy is generally low. On the one hand, it is related to the importance and policy of different countries, and on the other hand, it is related to the high cost of renewable energy technology, especially solar energy with high technical content. , Biomass energy, wind energy, etc. According to the forecast and research of the IEA, the cost of renewable energy power generation will drop significantly in the next 30 years, thereby increasing its competitiveness. The cost of renewable energy utilization is related to many factors, so the results of cost prediction have certain uncertainty. However, these forecast results indicate that the cost of renewable energy utilization technology will continue to decline.

The Chinese government attaches great importance to the research and development of renewable energy. The State Economic and Trade Commission formulated the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" for the development of new energy and renewable energy industries, and formulated and promulgated the "Renewable Energy Law of the People's Republic of China", focusing on the development of solar thermal utilization, wind power generation, and efficient utilization of biomass energy. Utilization of geothermal energy. With the strong support of the state in recent years, my country has made great progress in the fields of wind power generation, ocean energy tidal power generation, and solar energy utilization.

New energy (or renewable energy is more appropriate) mainly include: solar energy, wind energy, geothermal energy, biomass energy, etc. After decades of exploration of biomass energy, many experts at home and abroad have said that this energy method cannot be vigorously developed. It will not only snatch the land resources that humans rely on for survival, but also lead to unhealthy social development; geothermal energy Development and the use of air-conditioning have the same characteristics. For example, large-scale development will inevitably lead to the destruction of the surface soil environment in the region, and will inevitably cause another change in the ecological environment; wind energy and solar energy are inexhaustible for the earth. Inexhaustible healthy energy, they will surely become the mainstream of alternative energy in the future.

Solar power generation has the characteristics of simple layout and convenient maintenance, and has a wide range of applications. Now the total installed capacity of the world has begun to catch up with traditional wind power generation. In Germany, it is even close to 5%-8% of the total power generation in the country. Unexpectedly, the time limitation of solar power generation has caused an impact on the grid. How to solve this problem has become a big puzzle in the energy industry.

Wind power has been on the stage of history since the end of the 19th century. In more than one hundred years of development, it has always been the only one in the field of new energy. Because of its relatively low cost, it has become the first choice for new energy development in various countries. However, with the continuous increase of large-scale wind farms and the expansion of land occupied, social conflicts have become increasingly prominent. How to solve this problem has become another puzzle for us.