Fear of the impending climate catastrophe, more and more countries around the world are focusing on the expansion of renewable energies. This is having an effect: although the generation of electricity from coal increased again in 2022, the amount of carbon dioxide emitted increased only marginally this year.
Global CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels are expected to increase by just under one percent this year. Thanks to the massive expansion of renewable energies – especially solar and wind energy – the increase is less pronounced than feared because of the energy crisis, the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced.
According to the IEA, the burning of oil, gas and coal for energy generation and in aviation is expected to emit 33.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide this year, which is an increase of more than 300 million tons compared to 2021. However, this increase is significant less than the plus of two billion tons last year. At that time, some countries used fossil fuels to fuel the recovery after the corona pandemic.
According to the United Nations, greenhouse gas emissions must be halved by 2030 in order to meet the goals of the Paris climate protection agreement. That would mean a decline of around eight percent per year over this decade.
The energy crisis triggered by Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the rise in gas prices have led to a somewhat higher demand for coal, the IEA said. But the increase in coal emissions has been offset by the widespread use of renewable technology, including electric cars. This prevented the emission of around one billion tons of CO2 this year.
“The encouraging news is that with sun and wind filling much of the gap, the modest increase in coal appears to be relatively small and temporary,” said IEA chief Fatih Birol. “That means CO2 emissions are growing at a much slower rate this year than some feared — and that some government policies are driving real structural changes in the energy industry.”
According to the IEA analysis, the capacity of photovoltaics and wind energy increased by more than 700 terawatt hours – this is the highest increase within one year. According to Birol, this trend is likely to continue “thanks to the comprehensive clean energy policy plans that have been advanced worldwide in recent months”. This applies to the EU, the USA, but also China and India.
However, CO2 emissions from coal-fired power generation will increase by two percent this year, especially in Asia. According to the IEA, CO2 emissions in the EU are likely to fall, although coal has been used again in some cases. In China, the world’s largest CO2 emitter, they should remain more or less the same compared to last year.
