A World of Renewables

The Global Atlas for Renewable Energy (Global Atlas) aims to close the gap between countries with access to the datasets, expertise and financial support to evaluate their renewable energy potential, and those lacking such elements. As of January 2015, a total of 67 countries and more than 50 institutes and partners were contributing to the initiative, which is coordinated by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

The Global Atlas facilitates a first screening for areas of opportunity for more detailed assessments. It enables the user to overlay information listed in a catalogue of more than 1,000 datasets, and to identify areas of interest for further prospection.

This brochure presents an extract of the datasets hosted by the Global Atlas. All information in the booklet is also available through the Global Atlas interface, where IRENA is continuously adding information to the system.

The interface includes maps on solar, wind, geothermal and bioenergy resources, along with one marine energy map. The datasets will eventually encompass all renewable energy resources, providing the first-ever global coverage in a resource-assessment atlas of this kind.

IRENA is grateful to the data providers of the Global Atlas for making this publication possible.

A World of Renewables builds on an earlier booklet, Global Atlas for Renewable Energy: Overview of Solar and Wind Maps (IRENA, January 2014).

See also:

Geothermal strategy for the Global Renewable Energy Atlas

Data quality for the Global Renewable Energy Atlas – Solar and Wind (Concept paper)

Unleashing West Africa’s renewable energy potential: Reports on solar and wind opportunities