14 DAY TRIAL // Yesterday, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released a new report saying that, under a business-as-usual scenario, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that the world's energy industry produced annually would up by about 20% by the year 2035.
According to the Agency, this will happen due to an increase in Asia's and the Middle East's yearly energy demands.
Interestingly enough, IEA says that global emissions are likely to rise regardless of the fact that about 50% of the new energy capacity set to be installed by 2035 will come from solar and wind power alone.
As the Agency puts it, greenhouse gas emissions are bound to increase due to the fact that fossil fuels will remain a key player in the energy sector, Business Green reports.
Should annual emissions increase to said extent, the world is likely to get about 3.6 degrees Celsius hotter. Otherwise put, the average global temperature increase will be nearly double the 2 degrees Celsius that world leaders have settled on.
In light of this report, IEA urges that world leaders promote energy efficiency. The Agency's Executive Director, Maria van der Hoeven, maintains that doing so could help the world solve its ongoing energy “trilemma,” i.e. ensuring security of supply, sustainability and economic prosperity.
IEA's executive director says that, although several measures to promote energy efficiency have been implemented by governments worldwide over the past few years, human society still has a long way to go to make the most of this means to curb climate change and global warming.
The way Maria van der Hoeven sees things, it is mandatory that fossil fuel subsidies be slashed and that investments in clean energy sources be supported if the world is to even stand a chance at limiting global warming. What's more, investments must be made in carbon capturing and storage technologies.
“Major changes are emerging in the energy world in response to shifts in economic growth, efforts at decarbonisation and technological breakthroughs,” the IEA executive director said.
“We have the tools to deal with such profound market change. Those that anticipate global energy developments successfully can derive an advantage, while those that do not risk taking poor policy and investment decisions,” she added.