Renewable energy use is growing much faster than 10% per year throughout the world, according to a new report from the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21). Excluding large hydropower, the global electric generating capacity of renewable energy facilities reached 237 gigawatts (GW) this year, up 15% from last year. That's about 5.5% of the electric generating capacity throughout the world. At 93 GW, wind power provided about 40% of that renewable generating capacity; wind power capacity increased by 25% over 2006. Grid-connected solar photovoltaic systems reached 7.8 GW in capacity, a 56% increase, while the global production of photovoltaic systems reached 3.8 GW per year, a 52% increase over 2006.
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