International Energy Agency Says Global Demand for Fossil Fuels is Buckling

authordefault
on

By Kieran Cooke forย Climate Newsย Network

The worldโ€™s energy markets are in upheaval, as experts report an historic fall in global fossil fuelย demand.

One of the pillars of industrial society is tottering: global fossil fuel demand is buckling, with only renewable energy expected to show any growth thisย year.

Oil prices are going through the floor. The market for coal and gas is shrinking fast. And global emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases are set to fall in 2020 by 8 percent, the largest annual decrease in emissions everย recorded.

The latest report byย the International Energy Agencyย (IEA), the global energy watchdog, will make sobering reading for those involved in the fossil fuel industry โ€“ and hearten those fighting against a warmingย world.

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought death, pain and suffering around the world and is causing widespread economic and financialย hardship.

But itโ€™s become clear that the Covid crisis has done something that years of climate change negotiations have failed to do โ€“ it has not only forced us to change the way we live our lives, but also dramatically altered the way we use the planetโ€™s resources, in particular its energyย supplies.

โ€˜Unheard-ofย slumpโ€™

โ€œThis is a historic shock to the entire energy worldโ€, saysย Dr Fatih Birol, the IEAโ€™s executive director.

โ€œAmid todayโ€™s unparalleled health and economic crises, the plunge in demand for nearly all major fuels is staggering, especially for coal, oil andย gas.

โ€œOnly renewables are holding up during the previously unheard-of slump in electricity useโ€, says Drย Birol.

The IEA report, itsย Global Energy Review 2020, looks at likely energy trends over the coming months and analyses data accumulated over the first Covid-influenced 100 days of thisย year.

Overall world energy demand in 2020 is set to fall by 6 percentย โˆ’ a drop seven times greater than the decline recorded in the wake of the 2008/2009 global financialย crash.

That fall is equivalent to losing the entire annual energy demand of India โˆ’ or the combined yearly demand of the UK, France, Germany andย Italy.

Oil demand, says the report, is expected to decline by 9 percentย over the present year, its biggest annual drop in a quarter of a century. Demand for gas โ€“ which has consistently expanded over recent times โˆ’ is expected to fall by 5ย percent.

The economic disruption caused by the Covid pandemic is likely to hitย the coal industryย โ€“ already in decline โˆ’ particularly hard. The IEA forecasts coal demand to drop this year by 8 percentย compared with 2019, its biggest year-on-year decline since the end of WWII.

โ€œIt is still too early to determine the longer-term impacts, but the energy industry that emerges from this crisis will be significantly different from the one that came beforeโ€, says theย report.

The study saysย renewable energyย is the one segment of the sector that will see growth over the presentย year.

Decline alreadyย begun

The dominant role ofย fossil fuelsย in the energy market was already in decline before the Covid crisis. This trend is likely to continue as low operating costs and flexible access to electricity grids make renewables ever moreย competitive.

Moves in many countries towards cleaner energy and more climate change-related regulations will see an overall growth of 5 percentย in renewable electricity generation inย 2020.

The IEA is generally seen as a conservative body, careful not to offend powerful interests in the global energyย industry.

It says the resilience of renewable energy in the midst of a global crisis could encourage fossil fuel companies to switch to generating more cleanย energy.

There is the possibility that countries will revert to the old ways, with fossil fuel use climbing again as economiesย recover.

โ€˜Inescapableโ€™ challengeย ahead

The IEA urges governments to put clean energy at the centre of their economic recovery plans and prioritise clean energy technologies including batteries, hydrogen and carbonย capture.

In an article last month Dr Birolย talked of the impact the Covid crisis was having on peopleโ€™s health and economicย activity.

โ€œAlthough they may be severe, the effects are likely to be temporaryโ€, heย wrote.

โ€œMeanwhile the threat posed by climate change, which requires us to reduce global emissions significantly this decade, willย remain.

โ€œWe should not allow todayโ€™s crisis to compromise our efforts to tackle the worldโ€™s inescapableย challenge.โ€

Photo credit: Callumย Shaw/Unsplash

authordefault

Related Posts

on

A Peterson Academy lecture by Marian Tupy frames notorious killers as โ€˜extreme environmentalistsโ€™ who want to reduce Earthโ€™s population.

A Peterson Academy lecture by Marian Tupy frames notorious killers as โ€˜extreme environmentalistsโ€™ who want to reduce Earthโ€™s population.
on

Multnomah County, Oregon, says NW Natural โ€œengaged in an enterprise of misrepresentationโ€ about its productsโ€™ harm to the climate.

Multnomah County, Oregon, says NW Natural โ€œengaged in an enterprise of misrepresentationโ€ about its productsโ€™ harm to the climate.
Analysis
on

The final two Conservative candidates have worrying records on green issues.

The final two Conservative candidates have worrying records on green issues.
on

A 1961 oil and gas well is the suspected source of a geyser eruption in the region where Permian wastewater disposal is causing a flurry of earthquakes.

A 1961 oil and gas well is the suspected source of a geyser eruption in the region where Permian wastewater disposal is causing a flurry of earthquakes.