Since the COVID-19 pandemic and the military conflict in Ukraine, the world has recorded an unprecedented increase in coal production by 8.5%. Increased coal consumption increased CO2 emissions by 7% in 2021 compared to the previous year. In 2021, many countries have restored the capacity of fossil fuel power generation, and some have even started investing and developing them (Indonesia, Philippines, Japan). Three factors contributed to the surge in coal consumption: increased demand for Energy due to the economic recovery and development, less water production due to global drought, and higher natural gas prices. In order to keep the ?light bulbs on? in the era of challenges, the world is going through a phase of change that will determine whether it will achieve net zero emissions and whether the political mechanisms leading to it will meet today’s energy challenges.

Have renewable technologies had an impact on the partial replacement of fossil fuels or are they just an addition to the gaps resulting from the growing energy consumption? So far, however, they have been a small addition to the energy supply due to the constant increase in demand and low production potential in relation to technologies based on fossil fuels. So, are we living in an age of transformation or deformation? This question will be answered by BloombergNEF analysts’ annual report, which analyzes trends in global generation, power and emissions, which is based on collected data from six continents from major sources in 136 countries.

Some of the report’s conclusions:

  • Unprecedented growth in global coal production in 2020-2021.
  • Leading by Asia, total global electricity production increased by 5.6% in 2021. Power generation increased to 27,300 TWh from 25,800 TWh, setting a new record after three years of stable electricity demand.
  • Solar reached a new milestone in 2021 with 1,000 TWh for the first time, while wind approached 2,000 TWh.
  • More countries than ever are choosing to build renewable energy. Solar energy was the technology of choice in nearly half of the world’s countries.
  • 53 economies added wind capacity in 2021, up from 44 in 2020. However, large-scale clean energy deployment remains concentrated.
  • Total global electricity generation capacity has nearly doubled in 15 years and hit a new record of 7.9 TW in 2021.
  • The Asia-Pacific region led the generation capacity boom with a 191% increase between 2006 and 2021.
  • Coal still accounts for more than a quarter of the world’s installed capacity.

 

Contact: Małgorzata Wojtaszek-Kalaitzidi  mwojtaszek@itpe.pl