4th industrial revolution to be driven by renewable energy: WEF meeting

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The leaders from various key sectors highlighted the 4th industrial revolution will be driven by renewable energy at the 46th World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting, which kicked off on Wednesday in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland.

Under the theme "Mastering the 4th Industrial Revolution", over 2,500 leaders from business, government, international organizations, civil society, academia, media and the arts are participating the event.

In a session titled "Transformation of energy", participants have shared ideas that renewable energy are central to meet the energy demands that the new revolution will bring.

Clean energy now accounts for more than half of all new energy supply, said Fatih Birol, Executive Director, International Energy Agency.

The bulk of new installations, more than two-thirds, come from emerging countries, he added, saying "To meet climate change and growth targets, around 40 percent of future energy supply must come from zero-emission technologies."

Hiroaki Nakanishi, Chairman of Hitachi, said the challenge has moved from having more renewable energy to having better energy systems.

There are distributional challenges that come with the distance between generation sites of wind and solar energy and the load centers.

"A more systematic approach is required to integrate renewable energy sources into an overall smart grid," he stressed.

Over the next 25 years, energy demand will increase by more than 80 percent globally. Huge investments are required across all energy technologies as well as electric grids and distribution systems.

China will play a leading role in this transformation towards green and renewable energy, said Luo Xin, CEO from China's Shunfeng International Clean Energy.

"The country has set an ambitious target that 25 percent of all energy production comes from renewable sources," Luo said. In the meantime, China is already a leading exporter of clean energy technology, for instance, more than 60 percent of the world's solar panels are manufactured in China.