Thursday, January 16, 2020

Climate Change: Need to Deploy Additional Zero-Carbon Technologies - Bloomberg Report

Clean Energy Investment Trends, 2019 (Bloomberg NEF)

Investment in geothermal was USD
billion in 2019, a decrease of
56% on the year
Solar, Wind, Batteries To Attract $10 Trillion to 2050, But Curbing Emissions Long-Term Will Require Other Technologies Too


Investment in geothermal was USD billion in 2019, a decrease of 56% on the year

  1. Wind and solar make up almost 50% of world electricity in 2050 – “50 by 50” – and help put the power sector on track for 2 degrees to at least 2030. 
  2. A 12TW expansion of generating capacity requires about $13.3 trillion of new investment between now and 2050 – 77% of which goes to renewables. 
  3. Europe decarbonizes furthest, fastest. Coal-heavy China and gas-heavy U.S. play catch-up.
  4. Wind and solar are now cheapest across more than two-thirds of the world. By 2030 they undercut commissioned coal and gas almost everywhere.
  5. Consumer energy decisions such as rooftop solar and behind-the-meter batteries help shape an increasingly decentralized grid the world over.
  6. Batteries, gas peakers and dynamic demand help wind and solar reach more than 80% penetration in some markets.
  7. Coal continues to grow in Asia, but collapses everywhere else and peaks globally in 2026.
  8. Gas-fired power grows just 0.6% per year to 2050, supplying system back-up and flexibility rather than bulk electricity in most markets.
  9. Making heat and transport electric lowers emissions. The challenge is scale.
  10. To keep an electrified energy sector on a 2-degree trajectory, we will need to deploy additional zero-carbon technologies that are dispatchable and economic running at low capacity factors, or technology that can capture and sequester emissions at scale.
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