Accelerating exploitation and integration of global renewable energy

Main text

The rapid expansion of renewable energy, particularly solar and wind power, is crucial for achieving carbon neutrality in the energy sector. By 2030 and 2060, renewable energy is projected to account for 40% and 80% of global electricity generation, respectively.¹ Despite climate change offering potential benefits for renewable energy development, such as increased solar radiation enhancing photovoltaic (PV) generation, the development of renewable energy is confronted with significant challenges. These include ecological impacts, resource demands, and unpredictable climate evens, which can affect generation output. Conversely, large-scale deployment of renewable energy systems may influence the climate and ecology, affecting factors like animal migration and land characteristics.

While previous studies have examined the impact of renewable energy on the environment, the bidirectional effects between energy production, exploitation, and the climatope remain unclear. This analysis, from a life cycle perspective, explores the challenges and interactions between renewable energy development, which includes energy production, resource extraction, grid integration, and the environment. In this context, we propose solutions, including technological advancements and policy recommendations, to support efficient energy use and facilitate the transition to sustainability. It is worth noting that, while hydropower currently dominates global renewable energy generation, its growth is constrained by geography and investment budgets. In contrast, solar and wind energy offer greater scalability and cost effectiveness. Therefore, this work primarily focuses on the rapid growth and expanding role of solar and wind energy within a broader renewable energy landscape.

Interactive impact of renewable energy production and the climatope

Climate change poses significant challenges to renewable energy production, particularly for wind and solar power, which are highly dependent on meteorological conditions. Global warming is expected to cause fluctuations in wind speed, radiation, temperature, and precipitation, leading to variability in renewable energy utilization. Studies suggest that more severe climate change could displace renewable resources and increase inter-annual variability, making it harder to maintain power balance. Additionally, extreme weather events, such as low temperatures causing wind turbine shutdown or high temperatures reducing PV efficiency, are anticipated to occur more frequently, compromising the stability and operation of renewable energy systems. For example, the 2021 winter storm in Texas led to widespread blackouts and left millions without power, highlighting the vulnerability of the renewable energy supply to extreme events, which could reduce reliability by over 10%.²

The advancement of renewable energy also affects the ecological environment. Wind and solar facilities can influence local climate factors, such as wind speed, temperature, humidity, and biodiversity, with mixed results. For example, data from China’s Inner Mongolia show that droughts progress faster in wind farm areas compared to surrounding regions. On the other hand, changes in surface temperature and humidity can have positive effects, such as the “pastoral-light complementation,” where solar farms enhance pasture planting for livestock feeding. While studies on the ecological impact of PV are increasing, most focus on local scales, lacking a global perspective.

Supply risks of critical mineral resources for renewable energy exploitation

The growing demand for renewable energy is driving a significant increase in the need for essential mineral resources. In contrast to conventional energy, renewable technologies like wind and solar power require more materials, with solar power consuming over six times more minerals than thermal power with the same installed capacity.³ This heightened demand presents challenges in sustaining mineral supply, with minerals such as silver, cadmium, and copper limiting solar power and rare earth elements like neodymium and dysprosium restricting wind power expansion.

Mineral extraction for renewable energy also raises environmental concerns. The land required for mining reduces land fertility and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and ozone depletion. Furthermore, the large-scale use of renewable energy will give rise to new types of industrial waste, and mineral resource waste will significantly impact the ecological environment, including land and hydrology. It is expected that, by 2030, the global cumulative PV waste will increase to 8 million tons, and by 2050, it will reach 80 million tons.⁴ It is worth noting that the concentrated distribution of mineral resources adds vulnerability to the supply chain, exposing it to risks from extreme weather, natural disasters, and regional conflicts.

Grid-connected integration challenges for renewable energy utilization

The integration of large-scale renewable energy into power grids requires balancing energy supply and demand amid fluctuating power generation and random loads. In contrast to traditional power grids, the spatiotemporal distribution and integration of renewable energy significantly impact the system’s structure and operation. In terms of structural configuration, wind and solar power accounted for just 30% of global generation in 2023,⁵ highlighting the need for a more flexible power system to support higher renewable energy shares. Centralized renewable energy development and flexible transmission, such as China’s West-East Electricity Transmission, along with cross-regional and cross-border interconnections between the United States and northern Europe, will be crucial. However, distributed resources, such as offshore wind and solar power, are underutilized, and traditional centralized power systems struggle to manage their rapid growth. The shift to national-level, cross-regional networks poses significant challenges, particularly as flexibility issues hinder renewable energy integration. For example, California’s 2023 shift from a “duck curve” to a “cliff curve” highlighted the growing need for flexible transmission and energy storage, though these technologies are still in development.

Operationally, high penetration of renewable energy complicates power system stability and security. Traditional AC systems rely on thermal power units for rotational inertia, essential for frequency regulation. Although solar thermal power generation uses solar radiation to heat molten salt and produce steam to drive a turbine generator, providing rotational inertia similar to that of conventional thermal power systems and enabling effective frequency modulation, most traditional renewable energy systems, such as wind and solar, have low or even non-existent rotational inertia, which reduces system stability. Moreover, renewables have limited support for grid failures, complicating system operation. The “plug and play” nature of distributed resources, such as electric vehicles and rooftop solar panels, increases randomness in energy supply and demand, further complicating real-time balance and raising the risk of grid disconnection or cascading failure.

Conclusion and policy implications

Figure 1 summarizes the opportunities and challenges in renewable energy production, exploitation, and utilization, proposing solutions from technological and policy perspectives. Regarding renewable energy production, future work should prioritize the development of multi-timescale climate forecasting and risk management technologies to address both short-term extreme weather and long-term climate trends. Climate variability will impact energy generation and deployment strategies. Current forecasting technologies are still confronted with challenges in predicting sudden weather shifts and long-term trends. Integrating satellite monitoring, weather radar, ground-based stations, and models can improve short- and long-term renewable energy predictions. These technologies, combined with historical data and real-time observations, can also enable early warnings and responses to extreme weather events.

Figure 1.

Production, exploitation, and utilization challenges of global renewable energy development and the corresponding solutions

The solid line with arrows illustrates the bidirectional relationship between renewable energy production, exploitation, and utilization and climate change, including impacts on resource scarcity, environmental pollution, ecological damage, energy supply, and the operation of renewable energy systems. The dotted lines with arrows represent the flow of materials, energy, and information across the stages of the renewable energy system. Specifically, material flow refers to the physical movement of resources, such as components used in wind turbines or solar panels, while energy flow describes the transmission and conversion of energy (e.g., electricity and hydrogen) generated from renewable sources. Information flow highlights the role of data exchange in optimizing system efficiency, such as real-time grid management or predictive climate impact models. Although the figure emphasizes renewable energy and its material flows, non-renewable resource recycling remains an essentially parallel process, contributing to sustainability and reducing resource extraction.

In renewable energy exploitation, emphasis should be placed on recycling technologies to address resource limitations. Recycling waste components, like solar panels, wind turbine blades, and storage devices, can reduce the environmental impact. However, current recycling methods, which rely on physical separation and chemical treatments, may release harmful substances, highlighting the need for environmentally friendly technologies, such as hydrometallurgical processes and bioleaching. Additionally, advancing renewable energy materials, like perovskite-based PV, and using life cycle analysis techniques can provide a holistic view of renewable energy’s environmental impacts, aiding sustainability decisions.

With regard to renewable energy utilization, future work should focus on developing grid-connected integration technologies that coordinate generation, transmission, and load management. On the generation side, maximizing the complementarity of wind and solar power and utilizing both long-duration (e.g., hydrogen and pumped storage) and short-duration energy storage (e.g., electrochemical batteries) can reduce fluctuations and ensure balanced supply and demand. On the transmission side, flexible alternating current (AC) and high-voltage direct current (DC) transmission technologies improve capacity, while microgrids and distributed generation reduce the requirement for long-distance transmission. On the load side, integrating demand response, electric vehicles, and energy storage can promote renewable energy adoption. Energy storage technologies vary by region due to factors such as geography, technological maturity, and policy support. Countries with abundant solar resources, like Australia and countries in the Middle East, often use battery or concentrated solar power with thermal storage. In contrast, wind-rich regions such as Germany and Denmark rely on pumped hydro storage and explore large-scale solutions like hydrogen storage. The US and China focus on lithium-ion and hydrogen storage technologies. These diverse approaches reflect each country’s distinct priorities and energy needs as it transitions to renewable energy.

Regarding market mechanisms, future work should also develop market trading frameworks that integrate renewable energy and promote cross-regional trading. Policy planning should support renewable energy adoption through incentives like tax breaks, subsidies, and quotas, while international collaboration will advance global renewable energy integration.

Funding And Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants 72025401, 72422015, 72243007, 72204132, and 72174197), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (grants 2022YFC3702902, 2022YFC3702900, and 2023YFE0204600), the Carbon Neutrality and Energy System Transformation (CNEST) Project, and the Ordos-Tsinghua Innovative & Collaborative Research Program in Carbon Neutrality.

Declaration of interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Published Online: March 11, 2025