Renewable energy sources are seen as essential in the fight against climate change, with huge falls in the unit costs of wind and solar, a study found Wednesday Oct 5 that the world's energy demand for fossil fuels would have risen by four per cent if not for boosts in wind, solar and hydropower.
It found that global electricity demand increased by 389 terawatt hours TWh in the first half of 2022, while wind, solar and hydro increased by 416 TWh.
Dave Jones said that renewables are closer to the tipping point where they can meet the increase in global electricity demand as the world moves towards being more electrified.
The level of coal and gas power was kept the same, he said.
The bad news is that we need to be at a stage where there are deep cuts every year in the global power sector. It's meant to be the fastest sector to reduce emissions and we're not at that stage yet. Jones said higher prices for gas were here to stay bolstering the allure of renewables.
The Ember report also noted increased coal and gas power generation in July and August, a month that saw a spike in energy use as heat waves swept across large parts of the world.
Malgorzata Wiatros-Motyka, senior analyst at Ember said global power sector emissions are still pushing all-time highs when they need to be falling very quickly.
The fossil fuels that are pushing us into a climate crisis are also causing the global energy crisis. Wind and solar are homegrown and cheap, and are already cutting bills and emissions fast.