Energy

WHAT'S NEXT?: By 2025 solar energy will be the cheapest energy option globally. In 2040, oil and natural gas are expected to make up nearly 60 percent of global supplies, while nuclear and renewables will be approaching 25 percent. Improvements in energy efficiency in lighting and home appliances are expected to continue to push residential electricity use lower. The burning of coal will fall out of favor. Transportation energy consumption will be rising in correlation to growth in automated vehicles in the coming years.

• [New] Decarbonisation of the global energy system can grow the global economy and create up to 28 million jobs by 2050.
• [New] The global growth of renewable energy will slow for the first time in 20 years due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which will hurt but not halt the rise of clean energy.
• [New] Globally renewable energy could power an economic recovery from Covid-19 by spurring global GDP gains of almost $100 tn between now and 2050, compared with a business-as-usual scenario.
• [New] Biomass still dominates the energy mix across Africa and will continue to play a substantial role in the years to come and most likely for the next 40 years.
• [New] Renewables might play a leading role in meeting the growing energy demand of the African continent.
• [New] Decarbonisation of the global energy system away from fossil fuels to renewables could generate $98 trillion in cumulative growth between now and 2050, adding an extra 2.4% to gross domestic product.
• [New] Every $1 million in spending generates less than three fossil fuel jobs, but will generate more than seven full-time jobs in renewable energy and almost eight full-time jobs in energy efficiency.
• [New] Oil prices surged on Thursday after the International Energy Agency forecast lower global stockpiles in the second half of 2020, even as worries remain over a second surge in coronavirus infections in coming months.
• [New] The Energy Information Administration projects that from 2019 to 2050, delivered energy consumed for space heating will fall by more than 1.5 quadrillion British thermal units - the largest decline among end uses in both absolute terms and percentage terms.
• [New] Renewable energy is the only sector that will achieve growth in 2020, projected at 5%, against the backdrop of declining demand for power worldwide - an average 25% decline in energy demand per week in lockdown countries, and in partial lockdown an average 18% decline.
• [New] By moving to an energy system charged from renewable sources, world-wide GDP in 2050 could be 2.4% higher than under a business as usual scenario.
• [New] While the world is expected to consume a record of 815 quadrillion British thermal units of energy in 2040, the expected increase in greenhouse gas emissions from 2010 levels is projected to be around 34%.
• [New] With improving living standards and the global economy expected to almost double over the next three decades, energy intensity - the amount of energy used per unit of GDP - will likely rise.
• The transition towards a decarbonized global energy system will require massive investments in the energy sector, totaling USD 110 trillion by 2050 or 2% of global gross domestic product (GDP) per year.
• According to the Transforming Energy Scenario USD 128 billion of annual investment will be needed for energy efficiency measures in the buildings sector, a significant share for buildings renovation over the next three decades.
• Oil fell below $20 a barrel on Wednesday after the International Energy Agency (EIA) said it expects global demand in 2020 to fall by 9.3 million barrels a day, with countries around the world effectively having to shut down in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
• Solar and wind power now have the lowest levelized cost of energy of any source of energy in two-thirds of the world and will be the cheapest everywhere by 2030.
• The International Energy Agency expects Chinese demand to be tepid in the second half of the year, as the global economy remains weak.
• While global oil consumption is expected to flatten by the mid 2030s, the Energy Information Administration projects natural gas use to rise steadily - at least until 2050 - as the rest of the world follows the United States by substituting gas for coal in power generation.
• The International Energy Agency expects carbon dioxide emissions to decline by 8% this year due to the devastation the coronavirus wreaked on energy demand.

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Last updated: 22 May 2020