– by Pradip Datta
A landmark report published in May 2011 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was not much discussed in the media. The 1000 page “Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation” is the first time that IPCC has examined low carbon energy in detail. The report observed that in order to avoid dangerous levels of global warming, production of renewable energy will have to increase by 20 times. IPCC said, renewables have a greater role than nuclear power and carbon capture and storage system. If full range renewable technologies were deployed the world could keep greenhouse gas concentrations to less than 450 parts per million (ppm). Beyond that climate change will be catastrophic and irreversible.It informed that investing in renewables to the extent needed would cost only about 1% of global GDP annually.
Anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions now increases about 30 billion tons per year. World energy consumption is growing by roughly 2 percent a year. As a result of all this growth, atmospheric concentration of CO2 are rising by about 2 parts per million per year, reaching 395.55 ppm in January 2013. At the present rate of emission we could reach the point (450 ppm) within 25 years. The global electricity industry is still dominated by big, fossil fuel fired utilities. They account for 67 percent of the generation worldwide.
China is the world’s largest carbon emitter and relies far too heavily on coal. It overtook the US as the world’s biggest electricity producer and world’s top energy consumer. It has a total installed power generation capacity of 1,140 GW by 2012, an increase from 720 GW in 2007. China is adding on average over 80 GW per year for last five years. Coal still accounts for about 80% of their energy sector. And there are 30 nuclear power plants under construction, with total capacity of 32.73 GW.
By 2011 China’s coal demand had tripled than that of 2001 It’s domestic coal industry produces more primary energy than Middle Eastern oil does. Other developing economies are just as keen on coal, but on a lower scale. In India the power sector’s coal demand is growing at around 6% a year, although it is using about one sixth amount of coal than China. International Energy Agency (IEA) reckons India could surpass America as the world’s second-largest coal consumer by 2017.
At the moment coal is loosing favour in America. Coal is being burnt less and less—but not due to it’s climate policy. At its peak, in 1988, coal provided 60% of America’s electricity. Even in 2010, when the shale-gas boom was well under way, it still accounted for 42%. By the middle of 2012 gas and coal were roughly neck-and-neck, each with around a third of power generation. America’s coal business has been going down by the advent of shale gas, now available in unforeseen quantities at low prices. This has made gas increasingly attractive to power companies, which have been switching away from coal in increasing numbers. The gas plants meet environmental regulations more easily. Cosidering Obama administration these are likely to stay in place or be extended. The coal industry’s lobbying power became weaker following the election. A gas facility can also be built in two to four years, instead of four to eight years in case of coal, giving utilities more flexibility when adding capacity. Modern coal-fired power plants, though more efficient than the old ones and capable of being made cleaner, are more expensive than those using old technology. They are twice the price of gas-fired plants with the same capacity. The cheap gas and expensive regulation means that about 50 gigawatts of coal-fired power capacity could be shut down by 2017.
IEA Prescription
IEA was founded in the wake of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) oil crises of the 1970s. Most of the world’s biggest economies are amongst its 28 member countries. As talks on measures to limit potential anthropogenic climate change took place in the18th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Doha (Katar), IEA executive director issued a strongly worded statement on 3rd December, 2012, for “more urgent than ever” action to reduce carbon emissions and promote low-carbon energy investment. She informed that IEA analysis indicates that the opportunity to limit global warming to 2 deegree C (Celcius) is becoming “more difficult and more expensive with every passing year.” If warming of 3.5C occurs, the melting of Artic permafrost will lead to “unpredictable results.”
Action to limit carbon emissions suggested by the IEA includes policies that promote rapid deployment of energy-efficiency technologies and strategies to reduce emissions by closing high-emitting facilities alongwith policies to encourage low-carbon investment. IEA opined that “fossil fuel subsidies must be eliminated”.
So long environmental activists in different countries strongly urged for urgent steps for promotion of renewable energy. Now IEA is urging to the governments for taking proper steps for promoting renewables IEA says, investors able to pick the ndustry’s winner may gain significant returns as the global economy shifts away from fossil fuels.
Renewable Now
Renewable technologies are already enabling several countries to avoid CO2 emissions. Of the 300 GW of new electric capacity added globally in 2008 and 2009 about 140 GW came from renewable sources. Renewables accounted for almost half of the estimated 208 gigawatts (GW) of electric capacity added globally during 2011. Wind and solar photovoltaics (PV) accounted for almost 40% and 30% of new renewable capacity, respectively, followed by hydropower (nearly 25%). By the end of 2011, total renewable power capacity worldwide exceeded 1,360 GW. Renewables comprised more than 25% of total global power-generating capacity estimated as 5,360 GW in 2011. Non-hydropower renewables exceeded 465 GW in 2012. Solar PV grew the fastest of all renewable technologies during the period from 2006 to 2012, with operating capacity increasing by an average of 55% annually, followed by wind power by an average of- 26%.
Renewable sources now account for 15.66 percent of total installed capacity in the U.S.out of which hydro power is 8.50 percent. By comparison, oil accounts for 3.54% of the total capacity, nuclear for 9.23 percent, coal for 29.04 percent, and natural gas for 42.37 percent.
China plans to add 49 GW of renewable capacity in 2013, including hydro power. In 2012 installed renewable capacity increased by 39 GW in China. Their new target for 2015 is to install 21 GW of solar power capacity. This is quadruple of its initial 2015 target. China has considered to increase solar power capacity repeatedly since last year, as their solar panel makers suffer from cuts in European subsidies and a global supply glut that made prices lower. A little more than one year ago, the country doubled its target to 10 GW and it increased again to 15 GW in December last and recently 21 GW. Perhaps the 2015 target will reach 30 GW in coming six months. Of the 90 GW of electric capacity newly installed during 2011, renewables accounted for more than one-third, and non-hydro renewables were more than one-fifth. China ended 2011 with more renewable power capacity than any other nation, with an estimated 282 GW (three-quarter of this was hydro).
The top seven countries for non-hydro renewable electric capacity are China, the United States, Germany, Spain, Italy, India, and Japan respectively. But the ranking was quite different on a per-person basis, which is Germany, Spain, Italy, the United States, Japan, China, and India respectively.
Germany continues to lead globally, remaining among the top users of many renewable technologies for power, heating and transport. In 2011, renewables provided 20% of electricity consumption (up from 11.6% in 2006), 10.4% of heating demand (up from 6.2%).Four German states met more than 46% of their electricity needs with wind last year. In the United States, renewable energy made up an estimated 39% of national electric capacity additions in 2011. The share of U.S. net electricity generation from non-hydropower renewables has increased from 3.7% in 2009 to 4.7% in 2011. Nine states generated more than 10% of their electricity with non-hydro renewables in 2011. The states of South Dakota and Iowa produced 22% and 19% of their power from wind respectively. In 2011 wind provided nearly 26% of electricity demand of Denmark. In Spain it was 15.9%, Portugal 15.6% The state of South Australia generated 20% of its demand from wind.
Despite the subsidy saga, renewable energy investment have hit a record high of $263 billion in 2011, with 85% of the funds coming from non-governmental, non-research sources. Comprising the lion’s share was the solar sector, which accrued $128 billion of the total. Out of that the distributed photovoltaic projects won the lion’s share to reach $71.5 billion, followed by public and private research and development investments at $26 billion. Global investment in all renewable energy had fallen by 11% in 2012, due largely to drops in government support in the US, Spain and Italy. Investment continued to rise in Asia. In November 2012, IEA noted that low-carbon energy was growing quickly, driven largely by state subsidies. But the IEA highlighted that fossil fuels received six times more subsidy – $523bn in 2011, up 30% from 2010 – than low-carbon energy.
Increasing interest in renewable energy in the Middle East is remarkable at the time of economic worries in the U.S. and Europe. The official launch of Saudi Arabia’s plan to procure 54,000 MW of renewable energy capacity by 2030 is going to take place in the second quarter of 2013. The first step will be an introductory procurement up to 600 MW of solar power facilities and 100 MW of wind power. The program is due to take place deployed in response to projections that continued use of Saudi Arabia’s own oil resources could make the country a net oil importer by 2030. This is going to be a massive game changer for the global renewables industry, particularly solar power. Combined with Japan’s encouraging feed-in tariff news a couple of months ago, we could soon see the solar power leaders shift from Europe to Asia. Global wind and solar capacity reached 282 GW and 100 GW respectively in 2012. It is certainly a good news. But it’s noteworthy that these numbers are dwarfed by those from fossil fuels. In 2011, for example, the U.S. capacity to produce electricity from coal was 318 GW, while China’s capacity was 650 GW. International capacity was estimated to be around 1,600 GW.
Renewable Future
According to the findings of the World Energy Outlook 2012, a report prepared by IEA, released on November 2012, renewable will take their place in the sun by 2035, unhampered by a massive increase in the output of oil and natural gas. Overall, solar power is expected to grow more rapidly than any other renewable technology. Within the next two decades renewable will account for nearly one-third of total electricity output. By 2015 they will grow to become second only to coal as the world’s largest source of power generation. By 2035, they will rival coal. Rapid increase in renewable energy will be facilitated by falling technology costs, rising fossil-fuel prices, carbon pricing and continuing subsidies. The report projects that a steady increase in hydropower, coupled with the rapid expansion of wind and solar power, will fortify the position of renewable in the global energy mix. IEA predicts that a total of 710 GW will be installed by 2017. As with photovoltaics, by next two decades China is expected to account for the biggest increase, adding 270 GW of new capacity, followed by the U.S. with 56 GW, India, with 39 GW, Germany and Brazil with 32 GW respectively.
The report outlines four scenarios for future energy usage. They are : Current Policies Scenario, under which government policies enacted to date as unchanged; New Policies Scenario, under which existing policies are maintained and recently announced commitments are implemented cautiously; 450 Scenario, under which policies are adopted that offer a 50% chance of limiting the long-term global increase in average temperature to 2° C; and Efficient World Scenario, under which all possible energy efficiency investments are made and all market barriers are eliminated.
Based on the assumptions of the New Policies Scenario – electricity generated by PVs in 2035 will rise 26-fold from 2010, increasing from 32 terawatt hours (TWh) to 846 TWh. Meanwhile, installed photovoltaic capacity will increase from 67.4 GW in 2011 to just over 600 GW in 2035. Over the Outlook period, European Union’s (EU) capacity is projected to escalate to 146 GW. In the United States, capacity is expected to increase to 68 GW in 2035. In China it would be increased to 113 GW), India (85 GW) and in Japan 54 GW. IEA forecasts that cumulative, grid-connected photovoltaic capacity will grow from 70 GW (app) in 2011 to 230 GW in 2017.
Under the New Policies Scenario, the United States will become a net exporter of natural gas by 2020. This will accelerate a switch over in the direction of international oil trade, with almost 90% of Middle Eastern oil exports drawn to Asia by 2035. Global energy demand will push ever higher, growing by more than one-third by 2035. China, India and the Middle East will account for 60% of the growth. Demand will barely rise among the members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). There will be a clear shift toward gas and renewables. Biofuel use would be more than triple from 1.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (mboe/d) in 2010 to 4.5 mboe/d in 2035. The report predicts that ethanol will remain the dominant biofuel in Brazil, United States and European Union in 2035.
In 2010 the world’s solar capacity amounted to 39.7 GW, in 2011 it totalled to 67.4 GW and last year it reached to 101 GW. Now it’s expected to grow at a much faster rate than wind power heading into the future. Today most of the projects are cheaper than 2010. The largest market by far is Europe, with Germany (32 GW total) and Italy (16 GW) the leaders. This year while PV capacity increase was less in Europe, installations increased in rest of the world, notable China, the US, Japan and India. Even in tough economic times and despite growing regulatory uncertainty it has managed to repeat the record year of 2012.
Renewables, led by PVs, are the only options for energy price reductions in the future, says the European Commission’s Joint Research Center (JRC). In addition to calculating how many GWs of PVs could have been installed using past fossil fuel subsidies, its new report looks at investment in the sector, and emerging markets. In its new ‘PV Status Report 2012, Research, Solar Cell Production and Market Implementation of PVs’, the JRC states that PVs is the “key” to a decarbonized energy landscape, due to the global abundance of solar resources and its unsuitability for monopolization. According to the report author, Arnulf Jäger-Waldau, “regardless for what reasons, and how fast the oil price and energy prices increase in the future, PVs and other renewable energies are the only ones to offer a reduction of prices, rather than an increase in the future”
Global photovoltaic capacity stood at just 1 GW in the year 2000. According to the IEA, global solar photovoltaic capacity has been increasing at an average growth rate of more than 40 percent since 2000. IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), world’s largest professional association dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence, believes there is a potential for photovoltaic electricity generation to become more economical than traditional fossil fuels within the next decade. Competition between technologies, is delivering the efficiency gains required. Substantial reductions in costs resulted largely from widespread installations and oversupply. Between the first quarter of 2010 and the first quarter of 2012, photovoltaic generating costs fell by 44. Over the long-term like other semi-conductor industries solar module cost is expected to decline further and efficiency will increase. Advancements in technologies and the availability of materials require for photovoltaic cell production are also assisting in its growth. Silicon is now more available than old days. Thin film technology, solar storage and electronic control technologies are also lowering down costs.
World PV Capacity (GW) Year-wise
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Year Generation Capacity
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2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
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The price was so low, that there are at least 40 to 50 countries in the world that haven’t gone for solar are earnestly looking for awarding contracts and having construction completed by the end of 2013. An extraordinary proliferation of solar pv capacity is expected this year.
The CSP market is also expected to grow, although not at the levels previously expected. From an installed capacity of 2 GW in 2011, it is forecast to reach just 11 GW by 2017. The technology faces a number of challenges, including price competition from PVs and “complex” environmental permitting issues. Still, power storage and scope of CSP to merge with a fossil fuel plant provide project attractiveness.
The U.S. now has over 6,400 MW of installed solar electric capacity. The average price of a solar panel has declined by 58 percent since first quarter of 2011. The increasing value of solar installations has injected life into the U.S. economy as well. By the end of 2012 Australia has over 2.4 GW of solar PV capacity installed. With a capacity factor of about 18%, 2 GW capacity would be expected to output an average of no more than 360 megawatts. All fired up at the same time it is enough to produce about 8% of the average daytime electricity demand.
China’s solar goal for 2013 is 10 GW, up from 7 GW at the end of last year (www.gov.cn). China’s export-focused solar panel industry has been hit hard by excess capacity and decreasing foreign demand as European nations cut subsidies for green power. Panel prices fell by 30 percent last year, virtually erasing firms’ profits. As a result, Chinese producers are increasingly turning to their home market, which has become one of the worlds biggest for solar energy development. The Chinese government, like those in Germany and Italy, is leaning towards small, distributed photovoltaic systems, as opposed to large-scale ground-mounted plants. But grid connection in China is a big problem. Grid structure is poor. While 2.89 GW worth of photovoltaic projects were installed in the country in 2011 and in 2012 about 4 MW, less than half have actually been grid connected.
Wind Power
Global wind power installations increased by 44,711MW in 2012, bringing total installed capacity up to 282,482 MW, a 18.7% increase on the 238,035 MW installed at the end of 2011. Even more impressive is the fact that the United States is leading the charge. China paused for breath. Both the U.S. and China accounted for 13 GW each of new wind turbines around the world. India, Germany, and the UK were next with 2 GW plus each. Asia still led global markets, but with the U.S. a close second, and Europe not far behind.
Despite recent improvements in the cost and performance of wind power technology, with continued low natural gas prices, modest electricity demand growth, and existing state policies that are not sufficient to support continued capacity additions, new builds in 2013 and beyond may dramatically slow down.
The record year for installation in the US was driven by a rush to beat an anticipated end to tax credits. 8 GW of the total 13 GW were installed in the last quarter of 2012. The US is second highest in the world with 60 GW of installed wind power capacity, China being the first with capacity of 75 GW. Germany ranks third (31 GW) and Spain fourth (23 GW) and India stands fifth with 18.4 GW. The UK is by far the world leader in offshore wind deploymenthaving total of 3 GW. Market consolidation and constraints on the electric grid led to the relative slowdown in China. In India a similar slowdown resulted due to lapse in policy.
The U.S. government extended a tax credit in the end of December 2012 for only one year after considerable political tension. Even then probably 2013 will be slow year because of the late passage of the Production Tax Credits (PTC) extension. It means that PTC for wind-powered generation will be available for wind farms that begin construction by the end of 2013. PTC extension was so late that some of the companies went through painful layoffs at some of its American facilities last year. Wind farms that are under construction by the end of 2013 can claim the credit, based on the amount of power produced, which is valid for 10 years. Wind developers in the United States have also been stymied by the falling price of electricity, which is a result of the enormous supplies of natural gas for power plants. Wind power currently contributes more than 3% of total U.S. electricity supply. In spite of the lack of policy clarity, wind turbine manufacturers and their suppliers continued to localize production in 2011. As a result, a growing percentage (67% in 2011) of the equipment used in U.S. wind power projects is being sourced domestically. But profit margin is declining and concerns about manufacturing over capacity have deepened.
Six years ago, almost no one was talking of wind in China, and today it’s the largest market in the world. Wind farms have been built so quickly that some have had to shut down because the grid system lacks the ability to transport the power from remote, windy regions to the big cities. Wind energy is the third largest source of electricity in the world’s most populous nation after thermal and hydro power. Steady government support and rising demand has Slauchened the country far ahead of America, Europe, and India.
But the adoption of wind power in China has been damped by the electricity grid’s ability to handle the influx of energy, forcing the government to impose stricter approvals on new projects. Now China is making progress in connecting idled wind farms to the electricity grid, helping to address a roadblock slowing the development of wind power. According to recently-issued roadmap drawn up for the country’s wind power industry, China’s wind power capacity will reach 200 GW, 400 GW and 1,000 GW by 2020, 2030 and 2050 respectively.
The offshorewind market currently stands at about 3.5 GW of capacity, with more than 100 GW in development. Many of those developments will come online in 2013. Larger turbine announcements will continue to be made in 2013. Larger turbine announcements will continue to be made in 2013,such as Siemens and GE’s 4 MW turbines and Vestas’ 7 MW turbine. These larger turbines are specifically maqde for offshore wind farms.
Wind energy is going to play a major role in our energy future. But for wind to reach its full potential, governments need to act quickly to address the climate crisis. Wind power is now competitive in an increasing number of markets, even when competing against subsidized conventional energy sources, with little or no financial compensation for its environmental and social benefits, i.e., zero CO2 emissions, zero water use, and no air or water pollution. The most important ingredient for the long term success of the wind industry is stable, long term policy, sending a clear signal to investors about the government’s vision for the scope and potential for the technology. The Global Wind Energy Outlook (GWEO) shows that given the right policy support the industry could employ 2.1 million people by 2020 – 3 times more than today.
By 2020, the IEA’s New Policies Scenario suggests, total capacity would reach 587 GW, supplying about 6% of global electricity; but the GWEO Moderate scenario suggests that this could reach 759 GW, supplying 7.7-8.3% of global electricity supply. Greenpeace International and the Global Wind E$nergy Council released trhe3ir bi-annual report on the future of the wind industry in Beijing in November 2012. This fourth edition of the Global Wind Energy Outlookshows that wind power could supply up to 12% of global electricity by 2020, creating 1.4 million new jobs and reducing CO2 emissions by more than 1.5 billion tons pewr year, more than five times today’s level. By 2030, wind power could provide more than 20% of global electricity supply.
Wind Power Capacity ( GW ) by Country
| Country | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | |
| China | 44,733 | 62,733 | 75,564 | |
| United States | 40,200 | 46,919 | 60,007 | |
| Germany | 27,214 | 29,060 | 31,332 | |
| Spain
India |
20,676
13,064 |
21,674
16,084 |
22,796
18,421 |
|
| UK | 5,203 | 6,540 | 8,445 | |
| Italy | 5,797 | 6,747 | 8,144 | |
| France | 5,660 | 6,800 | 7,196 | |
| Canada
Portugal |
4,008
3702 |
5,265
4083 |
6,200
4525 |
|
| Rest of the world | — | — | 39,852 | |
| Total Market | 1,97,637 | 2,38,482 | 2,82,4822 |
Helpless Situation
Fossil fuels are still receiving strong political support across the globe in the form of subsidies. According to IEA, in 2010, US$ 409 billion was spent, by 37 governments, “on artificially lowering the price of fossil fuels”. In the same year, renewable energy subsidies reached just $66 billion. Meanwhile, according to a joint report (JRC) by the IEA, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank, released in 2011, around $1,840 billion was spent on direct fossil fuel consumption subsidies and tax breaks between 2007 and 2010. According to JRC report writer Jager -Waldau – with 2007 to 2010 PV system prices, this subsidy would have been sufficient to install about 340 GW of PV systems world-wide. With the current system cost, the amount would be sufficient to install 610 GW of photovoltaic electricity systems.
The Outlook (GWEO) finds that no more than one-third of proven reserves of fossil fuels can be consumed prior to 2050, if the world is to achieve the 2 °C goal, unless carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology is widely adopted. Almost two-thirds of these carbon reserves are related to coal, 22% to oil and 15% to gas. These findings emphasize the importance of CCS as a key option to mitigate CO2 emissions, but its pace of deployment remains highly uncertain.
Global energy demand will push ever higher, growing by more than one-third by 2035. China, India and the Middle East will account for 60% of the growth. Demand will barely rise among the members of the OECD, but there will be a pronounced shift toward gas and renewables. The United States will become a net exporter of natural gas by 2020, attaining a position close to self-sufficiency in energy by 2035. This will accelerate a switch in the direction of international oil trade, with almost 90% of Middle Eastern oil exports drawn to Asia by 2035. Biofuel use would more than triple from 1.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (mboe/d) in 2010, to 4.5 mboe/d in 2035, driven primarily by blending mandates in different countries.
The world’s energy sector already accounts for 15% of the world’s total water usage. Its need is growing. On the other hand deployment of renewables under the New Policies Scenario would reduce CO2 emissions by over 4.1 gigatonnes in 2035, reduce stress on water resources, contribute to diversity of the energy mix, lower oil and gas import bills andcut local air pollution.
Losing battle?
“… coal met nearly half of the rise in global energy demand during the first decade of the 21st century,….and if no changes are made to current policies, coal will catch oil within a decade,” said Maria van der Hoeven, the Executive Director of IEA in a statement. Despite the growing awareness about global warming and other environmental issues, global coal demand seems surging continuously at a rapid pace. This reemergence of coal, on the global energy horizon, is to a very great extent owed to China. Coal power has been the dominant source of energy used to fuel the rapid economic development of China over the past two decades. China is the world’s largest consumer of coal, using more coal each year than the United States, the European Union, and Japan combined. China relies on coal power for approximately 70-80 percent of its energy, with 45 percent used for the industrial sector and the remainder used to generate electricity. China’s coal production too has more than doubled since 1990, from one billion tons then to 2.72 billion in 2008. In 2007, China’s demand for coal outpaced its supply and it became a net importer of coal for the first time. The World Coal Institute estimates that China imported approximately 47 million tons of coal in 2008. China’s 2009 net imports rose to 100 million tons, and to almost 170 million tons in 2010. Chinese coal consumption is forecasted to account for more than half of global demand by 2014.
Currently there are 1,199 proposed coal plants in 59 countries. And with coal back on the global energy circuit, it is now set to surpass oil as the world’s top fuel within a decade. China and others including India are already on the list, as the major consumers. Energy-starved Pakistan also seems evaluating seriously to exploit its huge Thar coal reserves to generate power. The deposits – 6th largest in the world, estimated to comprise around 175 billion tons -sufficient to meet the country’s fuel requirements for centuries.
Even Europe is finding it hard to cut coal’s use despite pollution concerns. As per Medium-Term Coal Market Report of the IEA, global coal demand will rise 2.6 percent annually over the next six years and challenge oil as the top energy source. The report said that coal usage is to rise in all regions except the US, where cheap natural gas has dampened coal demand. Economic growth is expected to push up further coal’s share of the global energy mix. The latest IEA projections see coal consumption nearly catching oil consumption in four years time, rising to 4.32 billion tons of oil equivalent in 2017 against 4.4 billion tons of oil.
The IEA report on coal thus found that due to this new-found love with coal generated power plants, countries which had committed themselves to reducing carbon emissions, are now finding it difficult to resist the temptation to use coal. A number of European countries have seen their use of coal for electricity consumption jump at the beginning of this year, including by 65 percent in Spain, 35 percent in Britain and 8 per cent in Germany. The shale gas boom in the United States has led to a slump in coal prices there and subsequently on the market in Europe, where natural gas remains expensive. This gave a price advantage to coal beginning 2011, with the low price of polluting in Europe’s emission trading scheme also a contributing factor. “…low coal prices, supported by a low (emissions) price resulted in a significant gas-to-coal switch in Europe,” said the report.
The world is on the verge of losing battle against global heating. If indications from IEA, is to be believed, it seems so. Also IEA doesn’t foresee, over the next five years, any widespread take-up of technology to capture and store underground carbon emissions from burning coal. The energy world seems heading to a ‘black’ future!
References:
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