Never has the rate of information about renewable energy been churned out so fast, by so many online sources. On one hand this is great given the industry’s fight to gain traction against Big Oil, Big Gas and climate change denying counterparts. But the pace and variety of data being released has made it increasingly difficult (and time-consuming) for the general public, policy-makers and investors alike to compile the most credible, up-to-date information and statistics.
Enter REsource. Launched earlier this week, the online search platform was designed by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) to address misperceptions that renewable energy is less accessible, less detailed and less accurate than the information on conventional energy.
REsource essentially enables users to tap into IRENA’s extensive knowledge base and library of international resources to find country-specific data, create customized charts and graphs (how cool is that), and compare countries on metrics like renewable energy use and deployment.
Reputable, readily available access (yup, it’s free for all) to such a depth and variety of information is critical to help silence the misleading information that has created a falsely uncertain environment for investors, and fuelled dangerous misperceptions in public opinion in recent years.
REsource also provides intelligent information on renewable energy market statistics, potentials, policies, finance, costs, benefits, innovations, education and trending topics (think of it as a Google-esk search engine exclusive to renewables).
“The continued growth of the renewable energy industry has outpaced the information available to monitor and analyse the sector,” said Adnan Z. Amin, Director-General of IRENA. “REsource now provides a strategic window into these trends and developments.”
In development for the past year, IRENA hopes that providing a centralized port of renewable energy information to policy-makers, private sector professionals, analysts, researchers, journalists and the general public will help improve decision-making, increase awareness and investor confidence, and accelerate the overall deployment of renewable energy technologies worldwide.
“Having accurate renewable energy information in the future depends on today’s ability to predict growth paths and implement the right monitoring instruments to capture this growth,” said Amin. “IRENA is meeting this need through REsource, which will allow us to accurately capture the renewable energy market of today and of tomorrow.”
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To access REsource visit: www.irena.org/REsource
