In a recent review, FAO identified that 41 out of 54 countries in Africa included at least one policy or measure on more sustainable use of bioenergy in their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). Considering the critical role of sustainable bioenergy in sub-Saharan Africa, FAO’s…

Twenty-seven policy briefs were authored for the Global Preparatory Meeting for Review of SDG 7. IRENA released two reports, on renewable energy market analysis for Southeast Asia and prospects for the EU. A joint report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance and Facebook looks at options for bridging the…

Most power generation consumes water, whether to cool steam in thermoelectric plants or power turbines for hydropower. And the global demand for both water and electricity will continue to increase substantially in the coming decades. Although growth is generally a good thing for the economy, it…

This infographic shows the interactions and key questions around the relationship triangle of water, energy and food security, like: What are energy efficient water-treatment technologies? How does watershed management help hydropower? What technologies make irrigation more water efficient? et al.

The cultivation of bioenergy plants at fertile, arable lands increasingly results in new land use conflicts with food production and cannot be considered as sustainable, therefore. Marginal lands have been frequently considered as potential alternative for producing bioenergy from biomass. However,…

Transformation is picking up speed in the power sector, but urgent action is required in heating, cooling and transport This year’s Renewables 2018 Global Status Report GSR reveals two realities: one in which a revolution in the power sector is driving rapid change towards a renewable energy future,…

A new report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the International Energy Agency (IEA), and the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21), Renewable Energy Policies in a Time of Transition, is an unprecedented collaboration that sheds new light on the policy…

Representing nearly 41% of the land above sea level, arid zones are home to more than two billion people who suffer from the ongoing degradation of the land and soil that provide them sustenance. Owing to desertification and droughts, nearly twelve million hectares of land are no longer arable each…

All the electricity the world needs can come from clean energy, reliably and throughout the year, British researchers say, at any time of day or night.

Launched during IRENA’s Innovation Week, the agency’s latest technology outlook ‘Hydrogen from Renewable Power’ outlines the potentially pivotal role hydrogen may play in a deeper energy transition. And, while hydrogen is already widely used in facilities such as chemicals plants and refineries, by…

Cover enough ground with wind turbines and solar panels, and you change the local climate, green the desert and could even boost the Sahara’s rainfall.

Sustainable Energy for All’s Energizing Finance series is the first and only in-depth attempt to capture multiple years of data on investment for the two key areas of energy access: electrification and clean cooking. It focuses on public and private finance commitments in 20 developing countries –…

The Global Atlas for Renewable Energy, for example, is a free online resource assessment tool to help policy makers and investors appreciate the extent of the renewable energy potential at their disposal in any given area.

This research investigates the human impact on land-cover dynamics in arid agro-ecosystems. Using remote sensing and ancillary datasets combined with classification and regression tree (CART) models, we mapped land-cover class distributions over 22 years (1988–2009) to characterize agricultural…

The ten categories identified in our typology are based on real-world adaptation projects being financed through the Least Developed Countries Fund, the Special Climate Change Fund, and the Strategic Priority for Adaptation.

Deserts may be difficult to define, but they play an active role in the evolution of our global climate and society at large, and their future is of the utmost importance.

Soil damage, climate change, water and energy availability are all challenges for farming.

Experience in several countries shows how solar irrigation pumps can make farmers more resilient against the erratic shifts in rainfall patterns caused by climate change or the unreliable supply and high costs of fossil fuels needed to operate water pumps.

"Europe is now generating four times more wind power and 70 times more solar power as in 2005. This is good news, but a clear, forward-looking investment strategy is also necessary across the fossil fuel power sector to meet our long-term challenge to cut CO2 emissions. Europe is committed to…

The new tool REsource offers the best available data and information on renewable energy which is now

In fact drought is extremely serious problem in the Arab region, and will increase causing serious threat, keeping in mind that all Arab countries are suffering from fragility of their ecosystems, and facing severe risks of depletion of soil, vegetation, and water resources on daily basis.

By providing access to a large amount of information and data in one centralized location, REsource aims to improve decision-making, increase awareness and investor confidence, and accelerate the overall deployment of renewable energy technologies worldwide.

Thirty kilometres from the bustle of downtown Abu Dhabi, lies a remarkable undertaking that could one day change the environmental impact of air travel. Set on a two-hectare farm down the road from the IRENA Headquarters building, a pilot project conducted by Masdar Institute’s Sustainable Bioenergy…

Overall, the growth prospects of the Emerging Asian economies (Southeast Asia, China and India) are expected to remain robust over the medium term amid global economic uncertainty.

Chinese companies plan to spend $1 billion over the next two years building a giant solar farm on land contaminated by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. It was the worst nuclear accident in history, directly causing the deaths of 50 people, with at least an additional 4,000 fatalities believed to be…