Use of fossil fuels likely to fall for power production

The world will likely use fewer fossil fuels to produce electricity this year in a “turning point” for planet-friendly energy, a new report says.

It would be the first ever annual drop in the use of coal, oil and gas to generate electricity, outside of a global recession or pandemic.

As a result, fewer warming gases would be released during energy production.

The authors attribute the expected change to a boom in renewable energy led mainly by China.

Wind and solar now produce 12% of global electricity with enough wind turbines added in 2022 to power almost all of the UK.

Renewables are set to meet all growth in demand this year, the study from energy analysts Ember says.

Making electricity is the single biggest contributor to global warming, responsible for over a third of energy-related carbon emissions in 2021.

So phasing out coal, oil and gas in this sector is seen as critical in helping the world avoid dangerous levels of climate change.

This new study looks at data from countries representing 93% of global electricity demand.

The fourth edition of Ember’s Global Electricity Review, indicates that significant progress is now being made in reducing the role of fossil fuels in power production.

The major developments are the continuing rise of solar and wind as economically viable sources of electricity. Around the world, solar grew by 24% last year, enough to meet the annual demands of a country as big as South Africa.

Taken together with nuclear and hydropower, clean sources produced 39% of global electricity in 2022. The report finds that electricity produced last year was, in effect, the cleanest ever made.

But despite this, carbon emissions from the sector also continued to rise, as coal use edged up.

China added around 40% of the world’s new solar panels last year, with large numbers of rooftop installations

According to the report’s authors this is because overall demand for electricity rose, and not all of it was met from clean sources.

There were also problems with nuclear and hydro electricity in 2022, with many French reactors offline, and Europe’s rivers too low in many places for hydro generation.

However the report says that in 2023, the growth of wind and solar will be greater than the rise in demand – and this will start to turn the tide on warming gases.

While the fall in fossil fuel emissions in electricity this year is expected to be small, around 0.3%, the authors believe the drop will continue and accelerate in subsequent years. Key to this is a fall off in the use of gas, which fell slightly last year according to the report, with some countries like Brazil seeing a surge in hydro power which reduced their use of gas by 46% in 2022.

Meeting the rising demand for electricity with renewables is key to curbing fossil fuel use

One significant player impacting the overall trend is China. Around 50% of the global addition of wind power came from China and about 40% of the world’s new solar came from from the country that’s also the world’s biggest use of coal power.

Energy experts acknowledge that curbing fossil fuels in power generation could well be a “turning point”, but much more remains to be done.

Tags: Ember Global Electricity Review, Fossil Fuels, Power, Production