The rate of fossil fuel use remains as high as it was a decade ago

A report by the Green Energy Policy Network REN21 on June 15 showed that the share of fossil fuels in the world’s total energy is as high as a decade ago, despite falling renewable energy prices and government policies. Governments are taking action to combat climate change.

Smoke and steam rise from the Belchatow Power Station, Europe’s largest coal-fired power plant in Poland. Photo: Reuters. The use of fossil fuels continues in the face of rising global energy demand, continued consumption and investment in new fossil fuel plants, and energy use, the report said. lower biomass such as using wood or agricultural waste in heating and cooking. Burning fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil produces carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming. As concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere rise to record levels, governments have called for stronger emissions cuts and curbs on fossil fuel use to meet global climate goals. The exhaust pipe of a car is photographed on the street in Berlin, Germany. Photo: Reuters. The share of fossil fuels in the global energy mix was 80.2% in 2019, compared with 80.3% in 2009, while renewables such as wind and solar accounted for 11, REN21 said. 2% in the energy structure in 2019 and 8.7% in 2009. The remainder of the energy mix consists of traditional biomass, which is used largely for cooking or heating in homes in the developing world. However, in many regions, including parts of China, the European Union, India, and the United States, it is now cheaper to build new wind or solar photovoltaic plants than to operate new ones. existing coal plant. Renewable energy is also competing with new natural gas-fired power plants in terms of cost in many locations and is the cheapest source of new electricity generation in countries on all continents, the report said. big land. “We are waking up to the bitter reality that the climate policy promises of the past ten years have been almost empty words,” said Rana Adib, CEO of REN21. “The share of fossil fuels in final energy consumption has not shifted an inch,” she added. In many countries, the Covid-19 economic recovery packages aim to stimulate further investment in renewable energy. But renewable investments only account for about one-sixth of investment in fossil fuels, the report added.