Energy transition is crucial today

Reuters April 14 has an analysis of the urgent need for energy conversion in the context that the world is still heavily dependent on fossil fuels and continues to exacerbate the risk of climate change disasters.

A coal-fired power station from German giant RWE, in Weisweiler, West Germany, January 26, 2021. Photo: INA FASSBENDER | AFP | Getty Images Policymakers are under increasing pressure to fulfill the commitments of the Paris Agreement ahead of COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, November 2021. Politicians and businessmen acknowledge the need to transition to a low-carbon society, but slowing global warming and meeting global goals of reducing emissions is increasingly so difficult. According to the director of the International Center for Environmental Law Carroll Muffett, the energy transition is going too slowly from a climate change perspective, but most importantly the acknowledgment of the problem is mainly willpower. political and economic options. World leaders and business sectors repeatedly reiterate their commitment to “transform the energy”. Nearly 200 countries have ratified the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, unanimously pursuing efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. This continues to be the main focus of COP26, albeit one Some climate change scientists say that now this goal has been “unattainable”. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) thinks that between 2030 and 2052, the global temperature will get 1.5 degrees C hotter; To reduce global warming, it is necessary to reduce carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 from 2010 levels, before reaching net zero emissions by 2050. The problem is not that there is no technology or the ability to transform, or economic choice, but the structure of power and support for an industry that will decline. The emissions balancing strategies of some Governments and companies still depend on the increasing use of fossil fuels in the “coming decades”. According to Carroll Muffett, this reality can be seen in US policy, particularly in the plan to invest heavily in carbon capture and capture. The road is bumpy ahead . According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Earth’s carbon level is higher than at any time in the past 3.6 million years; If the worst effects of climate change are to be mitigated, it is important to focus on reducing fossil fuel emissions and studying how to prevent greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere. Burning fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal releases large amounts of carbon into the air. Fossil fuel emissions and industry accounted for 89% of global emissions in 2018, the IPCC says. The US Energy Information Administration projects that global carbon emissions from fuel sources will continue to increase over the coming decades. According to energy finance analyst Clark William Derry, the current “energy transition” process is like the “transition of energy systems from the 19th century to the 21st century”; transition is taking place but it is not clear whether it is fast enough to prevent the worst consequences of climate change, fast enough to improve air quality in cities in developing countries such as in India, China, Bangladesh, Vietnam as well as some other countries; The road ahead is very bumpy. Is the current essential issue . The IPCC Intergovernmental Group notes that the transition from fossil fuels is underway and will require “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented” changes in all aspects of the commune. festival. However, the February 2021 United Nations report showed that countries’ commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions was “far from” compared to the far-reaching measures needed to avoid the dire consequences of Climate Change. Currently only 75/195 countries have signed the Paris Agreement on climate change, submitting the National Contribution Plan (NDC) on emissions reductions to 2030. USA, China and India, are emissions countries. The world’s largest has yet to release its own NDC. United Nations Executive Secretary on Climate Change Patricia Espinosa urged policymakers to “accelerate” ambitious plans to cut emissions by 2021, emphasizing it as “crucial. ” The current./.