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Jan. 12 (UPI) — A more diverse energy mix is necessary globally to meet current supply-side needs, though it’s clear that low-carbon alternatives are bringing the global economy closer to its net-zero ambitions, the head of the International Energy Agency said Thursday.
The IEA estimated that the global market for manufacturing of clean-energy components could be worth as much as $650 billion by the end of the decade. That’s three times as much as current levels and if all of the investment proposals for low-carbon energy progress to development, the global economy would be two-thirds of the way to net-zero emissions.
Fatih Birol, the head of the Paris-based energy agency, said there’s been a steady call for reconfiguring the global energy sector to accommodate more renewables and low-carbon alternatives. The issue now is a “central pillar” of the economic strategies of global policymakers.
“The current momentum is moving us closer to meeting our international energy and climate goals – and there is almost certainly more to come,” he said.
The latest data from the U.S. economy, the world’s largest, show the share of natural gas in electric power generation will be around 38% this year, 1% lower than last year, coal-fired power declines 2% to 18% and renewables increase from 21% in 2022 to 24% this year.
For Birol, however, that shows that progress is lopsided and the global economy needs to do more to find alternatives and more variety to avoid an over-dependent relationship, such as the pre-war energy ties between Russian and the European Union.
“I’m pleased to see many economies around the world competing today to be leaders in the new energy economy and drive an expansion of clean technology manufacturing in the race to net zero,” he said. “It’s important, though, that this competition is fair — and that there is a healthy degree of international collaboration, since no country is an energy island and energy transitions will be more costly and slow if countries do not work together.”
Supporting equity in the global energy sector was one of the themes from the COP27 environment summit in Egypt last year. Many of the leaders of the world’s largest economies voiced support last year for assisting developing nations that have been significantly and disproportionately affected by climate change.
In Mexico, meanwhile, North American leaders gathered to say the region could be a clean energy leader.
“We should be the clean energy powerhouse of the world,” President Joe Biden said. “And that’s not hyperbole.”
