IEA

Advances in solar power and other clean energy technologies have failed to keep up with demand for electricity as economies rebound from the Covid crisis and China and India’s fossil fuel appetite will ensure the world stays well short of what is needed for a net zero 2050 for at least the next three years.

The Paris-based body expects the world will have installed almost 160 GW of solar this year, a record number, but still not enough to keep the prospect of a net zero global economy by mid century in sight.

Ahead of the COP26 conference beginning in Glasgow later this month, the International Energy Agency this week published its World Energy Outlook report for 2021. While it expects rapid growth in renewable energy, the report finds that, on top of currently stated policies, annual energy transition-related investments would need to reach US$4 trillion annually by 2030.

A report by the IEA laying out two routes for China to reach net zero attempts to persuade policymakers to gun for that goal by 2050, rather than ten years later, and dangles the prospect of continued global dominance as the main reward on offer.

Energy efficiency, electrification of heating and transport, and the provision of clean cooking facilities are all going in the wrong direction as the Covid crisis deprived millions in sub-Saharan Africa of electricity use, according to a report by the IEA, IRENA, WHO, World Bank and UN Statistics Division.

Private sector fossil fuel spending on exploration is drying up just as modest rises in clean energy investments are being observed. With stock market investors increasingly embracing renewables, the IEA has observed positive signals in its latest energy investment report, but warned we are still doing far too little to keep global heating at bay.

The sheer volume of new power lines which will be required to accommodate the rising tide of solar installations ensures copper has been included by the International Energy Agency on its list of minerals which must keep flowing if the energy transition is to stay on course. And it’s not production that’s the potential bottleneck.

According to the International Energy Agency, most of the global reductions in CO2 emissions between now and 2030 would come from technologies available today. In a recent report, the agency sets what it described as a “cost-effective and economically productive” pathway resulting in an energy economy “dominated by renewables like solar and wind.”

Focusing on the big picture is always challenging, particularly in light of the current all-consuming coronavirus pandemic. However, there are some key issues related to the U.K. solar sector, which will feature significantly on the domestic agenda in the months ahead.

With the International Energy Agency publishing its latest five-year clean energy forecast today, pv magazine takes a look at the solar content of the 162-page document.