Economic growth has been closely tied to rising greenhouse gas emissions since the industrial age. But data now clearly shows that that GDP growth and CO2 emissions are diverging. Siddharth Singh at the IEA presents the numbers. In advanced economies that divergence now seems locked in, with 2007 marking the moment of peak emissions (and not simply because of offshoring manufacturing). Even in developing economies GDP growth is far outpacing … [Read more...]
Nearly 2,000 Hydrogen projects worldwide: IEA’s interactive tools give snapshot on progress, costs
The IEA has released new interactive data tools to track the development of low-emissions hydrogen production around the world. They provide a snapshot of progress on hydrogen production, with data on almost 2,000 projects that are either already in operation or have been announced. Most projects to date are concentrated in Europe and Australia, with a growing number planned in Africa, China, India, Latin America and the U.S. One of the tools … [Read more...]
$78tn net gain for compensated global Coal phase-out, when social benefits are added
Is replacing coal with renewables too expensive? No, it’s the opposite, explain Tobias Adrian at the International Monetary Fund, Patrick Bolton at Imperial College London and Alissa Kleinnijenhuis at the Oxford Martin School who summarise their paper. When the social benefits are added, the net gain globally is around $78tn under a conservative estimate. That’s equal to 1.2% of current world GDP every year until 2100 – these are real economic … [Read more...]
Record Renewables additions for 2021 and 2022 despite supply bottlenecks prove Solar & Wind’s resilience
Despite – or perhaps because of – global market and political turmoil, renewable power is set to break another record in 2022. That’s after 2021 also saw record new capacity from solar, wind and other renewables worldwide. It’s mainly driven by solar PV in China and Europe as governments around the world take advantage of renewables’ energy security and climate benefits, according to the IEA’s latest Renewable Energy Market Update. 295GW of new … [Read more...]
Eradicate global poverty, meet climate goals, by avoiding rich-world energy consumption patterns
There is concern that eradicating poverty in the global south means their growing wealth and energy consumption will make our climate targets too hard to meet. Here, Jarmo Kikstra and Narasimha Rao, writing for Carbon Brief, explain that the energy needed to eradicate poverty is compatible with climate goals, provided that policymakers focus on delivering decent living standards, and not copying the affluence and habits of rich countries. Most … [Read more...]