Welcome ! As a young French Marketing professional with a Master's in International Management I have been selecting since January 2007 the latest headlines and best researches on sustainable development, climate change, cleantech and the world energy sector. Sounds great ? Don't hesitate to subscribe now !
According to an International Energy Agency official, a third of ALL global energy needs could be answered by solar energies within the next five decades. (photovoltaic, concentrated and thermal)
And this could be a low estimate : as Climate Progress notes : ” Solar is clearly proving itself without a price on carbon. With an effective pricing regime in place, a 30% penetration would almost certainly be low. “
Today, oil is accounting for around a third of the energy we use. I wonder how our world would look if solar became this ubiquitous. I hope I will be able to see this ! ( I would be 77 years old then…)
According to the IEA’s annual report, the situation is getting bleaker and bleaker. Confirming that we have five years to start decreasing our global emissions – cf. my previous post on that very matter – it is also providing several other findings.
As you can sure imagine, several websites published lengthy articles on the very matter. In today’s article we will review the main findings and the most essential parts of the World Energy Outlook 2011.
World leaders will meet again very soon in Durban, South Africa, to discuss about the future of the Kyoto Protocol. It’s time they, we, step up and heed the calls for serious actions. Continue »
To Yale Environment 360 : “In the wake of the Fukushima meltdowns, some nations are looking to move away from nuclear power. But not China, which is proceeding with plans to build 36 reactors over the next decade.
Now some experts are questioning whether China can safely operate a host of nuclear plants.” Indeed, building so many reactors in such a little time seems dangerous, especially if as the article goes :
” The International Energy Agency suggests that 30 new nuclear reactors must be built each year between now and 2050 to cut CO2 emissions in half. ” Continue »
Here is another renewable energy we little hear about… According to a new publication from the IEA, geothermal could provide about 3.5% of annual global electricity production, 3.9% of energy for heat by 2050.
As the press release notes : ” there is potential to achieve at least a tenfold increase in the global production of heat and electricity from geothermal energy – heat emitted from within the earth’s crust – between now and 2050. “
Currently, geothermal represents 0.3% and 0.2% of electricity and heat, respectively. It is worth noting that Indonesia believes this could bring up to a third of its electricity by 2025.
To the IEA : ” CO2 emissions reach a record high in 2010; 80% of projected 2020 emissions from the power sector are already locked in. Energy-related carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2010 were the highest in history. ”
” After a dip in 2009 caused by the global financial crisis, emissions are estimated to have climbed to a record 30.6 Gigatonnes (Gt), a 5% jump from the previous record year in 2008, when levels reached 29.3 Gt. ”
” In addition, (…) 80% of projected emissions from the power sector in 2020 are already locked in, as they will come from power plants that are currently in place or under construction today. ” Continue »
You may perhaps remember it, the International Energy Agency is banking a lot on carbon capture and storage (CCS). Indeed, the IEA believes that it could account for 15 % of greenhouse gases emissions reductions.
However, CleanTechnica got an interesting article on how this solution fails to deliver. One of the main reasons is that ” globally there are now fewer than half a dozen full-scale CCS projects in operation around the world. ”
I believe we should stop banking on this technology. I previously wrote that it won’t solve the climate change problem as it is is too risky, too expansive, too little and… too late. Continue »
In French, we have an expression, ” la fuite en avant “ which can be explained this way : “A fuite en avant is something one does when one is in a losing situation, and one hopes to salvage it by doing more of the same or worse.”
Not that I want to delve into linguistics… I am writing about this as the answer to our oil woes is not “more” but “less”. We are beyond the end of conventional oil. The International Energy Agency stated so.
What we are heading towards is unconventional and dirtier, even extreme oil. Think about the mess caused by oil shales… Continue »
… but fossil fuels are progressing even faster. This is in a nutshell the message from the International Energy Agency’s (IEA, the OECD energy office) latest report, the Clean Energy Progress Report. As GreenTechMedia noted :
” Renewable energy generation has grown, on average, by 2.7 percent a year since 1990. Electricity generation, however, has grown by 3 percent, meaning that the steps forward have been eclipsed by the overall market.”
Indeed, coal, despite being dozens of times dirtier than renewables, has fulfilled 47 percent of the new electricity demand in the past decade. Continue »
Like every year at this period, the International Energy Agency published this week its latest World Energy Outlook (WEO). This year it is focusing on how country members can reach the goal they committed to in Copenhagen.
Indeed limiting the rise in temperatures to 2°C is an important goal that requires a plan of action. The IEA also focused on the two Asian giants, India and China and on the tremendous potential of renewable energy sources.
As you can imagine, this report is full of interesting facts and figures. As I browsed various websites I am able to propose you a selection of the main findings. Continue »
After a long break I am finally back to writing for CleanTechies. The occasion was given by the International Energy Agency as it released on Monday its latest country report on France.
As I wrote there : Although France has not been immune to the global economic downturn, the climate change plan known as the Grenelle de l’Environnement is still considered by the IEA as having “many positive provisions”.
As always to read the full article please go to CleanTechies. All ratings and comments are greatly appreciated and I look forward to reading from you there.
