Earlier this month two news items rocked me, and I'm still rocking.
The first was the US Government's CO2 Analysis Centre reporting that global emissions had grown 5.9% in the past year. That's the highest ever recorded; it was chilling news. A friend called to say he was going ahead with buying land in Canada for his kids; not an option for most people.
The second bit of news was the release of this year's World Energy Outlook from the International Energy Agency (IEA). It's a horror. Well, it's a good report, but there's some tough news in there. Three snippets:
1. Global primary energy demand will increase by one-third up to 2035, with 90% of the growth in non-OECD economies. Unfortunately we're still building oil and coal-based systems, which leads the IEA to say “The world is locking itself into an unsustainable energy future which would have far-reaching consequences.”
2. On current projections the use of coal for energy rises 65% by 2035. That is very very bad for emissions growth. Oil demand rises 15% by 2035, with all the net growth coming from transport in emerging economies. What chance going electric?
3. IEA Chief Economist Fatih Birol: “As each year passes without clear signals to drive investment in clean energy, the 'lock-in' of high-carbon infrastructure is making it harder and more expensive to meet our energy security and climate goals.”
The IEA cheerily adds: “On planned policies, rising fossil energy use will lead to irreversible and potentially catastrophic climate change.”
I think the IEA might be trying to tell world governments to change their plans.