Planning for an energy future: Asia at a fork in the road

TEN years have passed since the first Singapore International Energy Week. In that time, the world's energy landscape has undergone a dramatic transformation, spurred by an unprecedented expansion in renewables.

Globally, new power-generating capacity from renewables has outstripped those fuelled by conventional sources for the last five years.

Growth in the power sector has been especially rapid. Between 2001 and last year, renewable generation capacity additions grew 10 times from 16 gigawatts (GW) to 161 GW. A fifth of the energy delivered to consumers comes from renewable sources. Wind and solar, which account for the bulk of renewable-energy investments, are now among the renewable sources that are economically competitive with conventional sources of power.