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Greenhouse gasoline emissions from power hit a document excessive final yr as demand for fossil fuels rose regardless of a giant enhance in renewable energy, in keeping with a report that highlights the necessity to pace up the inexperienced transition.
Power emissions elevated 2 per cent in 2023 to exceed 40 gigatonnes of CO₂ equal for the primary time, in keeping with the Power Institute’s Statistical Evaluate of World Power.
“Clear power remains to be not even assembly everything of demand development,” mentioned Nick Wayth, chief govt of the London-based Power Institute. “Arguably, the [energy] transition has not even began.”
Wayth highlighted the “lopsided” progress within the shift to renewable electrical energy era, which rose 13 per cent from 2022 to hit a document 4,748 terawatt hours.
Fossil gas use accelerated in high-growth international locations akin to India, however there have been indicators demand had reached a peak in Europe, the US and different superior economies.
The report, which was revealed on Thursday, mentioned international main power use climbed 2 per cent to a document 620 exajoules — 1EJ is equal to about 170mn barrels of oil. Fossil fuels’ share within the power combine dipped solely barely by 0.4 share factors to 81.5 per cent. Its proportion was 86 per cent in 1995.
The info spotlight the challenges seven months after international locations on the COP28 convention in Dubai set formidable targets to hurry up the transition away from fossil fuels, in a bid to restrict international warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial ranges.
Simon Virley, head of power at KPMG, which co-authored the report, mentioned it was “time to redouble our efforts on decreasing carbon emissions and offering finance and capability to construct extra low-carbon power sources within the international south”.
This yr’s report reveals the share of fossil fuels in Europe’s power combine falling under 70 per cent for first time for the reason that industrial revolution, because the continent continues to chop its reliance on Russian gasoline following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, and steadily weans itself off coal.
“It could take a serious surprising change for Europe to revert from this course,” Wayth mentioned.
Within the US, coal consumption fell 17 per cent, serving to to push the nation’s total fossil gas use down 2 share factors to only over 80 per cent of main power consumption.
Each economies had been “exhibiting clear indicators of peaking or post-peak fossil gas demand”, Wayth mentioned.
In distinction, India’s use of fossil fuels climbed 8 per cent, with its coal consumption overtaking the mixed use in North America and Europe for the primary time.
Whereas the nation was on observe to fulfill its targets for constructing new renewable energy capability, this was “removed from adequate to cowl the general enhance in energy demand”, Wayth mentioned.
In China, which accounts for about 30 per cent of world power, fossil gas consumption climbed 6 per cent to a brand new excessive of 139 EJ.
Nevertheless, the nation has been quickly rolling out renewable energy, with its new photo voltaic and wind capability accounting for 63 per cent of world installations final yr. It’s also dwelling to half of the world’s giant energy storage batteries.
General, the proportion of fossil fuels in China’s main power combine has been falling over the previous decade, reaching 81.6 per cent in 2023.
Wayth mentioned China’s speedy renewables development pointed to a “potential inflection level”, which might see clear power sources assembly electrical energy demand development in 2027 and exceeding it by 2030.
Oil and gasoline main BP revealed the Statistical Evaluate of World Power for greater than 70 years earlier than the Power Institute, a physique that represents professionals within the sector, took over producing the report final yr.
Knowledge visualisation by Clara Murray
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