Renewable Energy Resources Potentials in G8 and BRICS

Abstract

Renewable energy is emphasized globally due to its potential to contribute to economy and energy sustainable development, as well as mitigate the climate change. Developed and developing countries have set their sights on renewable energy as increasing exhaustion of the fossil energy and deterioration of environmental problem. This article focuses on concise summary and statistic of renewable energy resources potentials, including solar energy, wind energy, bioenergy, geothermal energy, and hydropower. Meanwhile, it provides the renewable energy development status of G8(US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan, Russia) and BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) countries. The result indicates that renewable energy resources are abundant, especially in China, the US and Russia. Each country has its own resources advantage. China has abundant renewable energy resources but still needs to accelerate renewable energy technology innovation. At last, suggestions are proposed for policy makers on renewable energy penetration.