egypt climate summit
A report from the International Energy Agency on the use of this fossil fuel calls for the most dependent countries such as China and India to abandon them before 2030
The International Energy Agency (IEA) publishes today a study in which it analyzes the use of coal as a fuel used, essentially, to generate electricity in a significant part of the world. Despite the carbon emissions and the consequent greenhouse effect generated by this fuel, investments in this regard have not receded in economies as important as China, India or, to a lesser extent, South Africa or Indonesia.
Far from declining, global demand for coal has held steady at near-record levels for the past decade. If nothing is done, existing coal emissions, by themselves, would push the world to the limit of 1.5 °C,” the Agency warned in its report. Thus, he concludes that renewables alone, despite the strength and expansion that they are experiencing, and that they will experience thanks to the investment plans of super powers such as the EU and the US, will not be enough to stop global warming. .
“More than 95% of global coal consumption occurs in countries that have committed to reducing their emissions to zero,” says IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. “But while there is encouraging momentum towards the expansion of clean energy in the policy responses of many governments to the current energy crisis, a major unresolved problem – he continues – is how to deal with the enormous number of existing coal assets around the world. the world”.
To offer solutions and strategies that help to travel the path of decarbonization, the aforementioned work published today on the occasion of the celebration of energy day at the world climate summit in Egypt, COP27 (titled ‘Coal towards zero emissions transition: strategies for rapid and secure change’), the Agency is conducting what it calls the most comprehensive analysis published to date of what is needed to reduce global carbon emissions fast enough to meet international climate targets and, at the same time, support the energy security and economic growth of the countries involved. Nothing more and nothing less.
Young power plants in Asia, at the focus of the problem
Among the countries targeted especially directly by the study are countries where reliance on coal is high and transitions are likely to be more challenging, such as Indonesia, Mongolia, China, Vietnam, India and South Africa.
Today, there are about 9,000 coal-fired power plants around the world, representing 2,185 gigawatts of capacity. Their age profile varies greatly by region, from an average of over 40 years in the United States to less than 15 years in the developing economies of Asia.
“Coal-fired industrial facilities are just as durable, and investment decisions are expected to be made this decade that will, to a large extent, shape the prospects for coal use in heavy industry in the years to come,” the paper notes. of the International Energy Agency.
The youth of these coal-fired power plants distributed in Asia, especially in China, complicates the objectives of reducing global emissions and achieving a decarbonized economy. “If operated for typical lifetimes and utilization rates, the existing coal-fired fleet worldwide, excluding plants now under construction, would emit more than the historical emissions to date of all coal-fired plants currently under construction. have ever operated, “says the report emphatically.
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Topics
International Energy Agency, European Union (EU), China, Datong, Egypt, United States, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, South Africa, Vietnam, Climate Summit, Nuclear energy, Solar energy, Renewable Energies, carbon dioxide
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