In an interview with the Tribune, Agnes Panier-Luneche, France’s energy transition minister, said she would present a bill to the government next month that would propose reducing the share of fossil fuels in France’s energy mix from more than 60 percent to 40 percent by 2035.
“What is being talked about here is freeing France from its dependence on fossil fuels, which account for more than 60 percent of the energy we consume,” she said. My goal is to reduce that number to 40 percent by 2035.”
She noted that she advocated the start-up of more nuclear reactors in France. Extreme heat, made more likely by global warming caused by carbon emissions from fossil fuels, will now add nearly 100 million more people to the list of people facing severe food crises. Paul Ekins, professor of resources and policy at University College London’s Bartlett School, said: “The current strategies adopted by many governments and businesses will lock the world into a fatally warmer future, tying us to the use of fossil fuels that will rapidly close off prospects for a livable world.”
He said governments had failed to recognise the urgent need to work towards a zero-carbon world and that this “gross failure” would lead to a climate and health emergency.
The authors of the report call for a “health-centred response” to the energy, cost of living and climate crises.
Renewable energy is actually the cheapest energy option in most parts of the world today. The price of renewable energy technologies is falling rapidly. Between 2010 and 2020, the cost of solar power will fall by 85%. The cost of onshore and offshore wind energy fell by 56% and 48% respectively.
Falling prices have made renewable energy more attractive across the board, including for low – and middle-income countries, where much of the additional global demand for new electricity will come from. As costs fall, there is a real chance that much of the new electricity supply in the coming years will be provided by low-carbon sources.
By 2030, cheap electricity from renewable sources will provide 65% of the world’s total electricity supply. By 2050, it could decarbonize 90% of the power sector, massively reducing carbon emissions and helping to mitigate climate change.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) said that while solar and wind costs are expected to remain higher in 2022 and 2023 than they were before the pandemic due to widespread increases in commodity and freight prices, they have actually become more competitive due to sharp increases in gas and coal prices.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 99% of the world’s people breathe air that exceeds air quality limits, threatening their health, and more than 13 million deaths worldwide each year are due to avoidable environmental causes, including air pollution.
Particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, which are harmful to health, come mainly from the burning of fossil fuels. In 2018, air pollution from fossil fuels caused $2.9 trillion in health and economic costs, or about $8 billion per day.
Therefore, switching to clean energy sources, such as wind and solar, will not only help fight climate change, but also help address air pollution and health issues.
In 2020, about $5.9 trillion will be spent subsidizing the fossil fuel industry, including through explicit subsidies, tax breaks, and health and environmental damages that are not accounted for in fossil fuel costs.
By comparison, about $4 trillion a year will be needed to invest in renewable energy by 2030, including investments in technology and infrastructure, to get us to net-zero emissions by 2050.
For many countries with limited resources, the upfront costs can be daunting, and many will need financial and technical support to make the transition. But investment in renewable energy will pay off. Reducing pollution and climate impacts alone could save the world up to $4.2 trillion a year by 2030.
In addition, efficient and reliable renewable energy technologies can create a system that is less susceptible to market shocks and improve resilience and energy security by diversifying power supply options.
Post time: Jan-09-2024