IEA report says stabilisation of greenhouse gas emissions is not in sight
Wed 30 May 2012
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A new report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) says that a stabilisation of greenhouse gas emissions is not in sight and that current energy trends indicate a long-term temperature increase of 6 degrees celsius. Meanwhile, the European Environment Agency (EEA) has reported that greenhouse gas emissions for the European Union increased 2.4% in 2010, despite the economic recession and policies intended to tackle climate change.
The IEA report, 'Tracking Clean Energy Progress', says that energy related CO2 emissions are at an historic high, the global economy remains in afragile state, and energy demand continues to rise.
The latest report builds on earlier IEA work - Energy Technology Perspectives 2012 2OC Scenario (ETP 2DS)1 - which highlights that achieving the low carbon transition is technically feasible, if timely and significant government policy action is taken, and a range of clean energy technologies are developed and deployed globally.
The latest analysis finds that a few clean energy technologies are currently on track to meet the 2DS objectives. Cost reductions over the past decade and significant annual growth rates have been seen for onshore wind (27%) and solar photo-voltaic (PV) (42%). The report says that while this is positive, maintaining this progress will be challenging.
The report also comments that government targets for electric vehicles stock (20 million by 2020) are ambitious, as are continued government nuclear expansion plans in many countries, in both of these cases,significant public and private sector efforts will be necessary to translate plans into reality.
Meanwhile, the European Environment Agency says that the 2010 increase of 2.4% in greenhouse gas emissions takes Europe further away from its international commitments to cut carbon dioxide by 2020, and runs counter to advice from climate scientists, who agree that global emissions must peak by 2020 if climate change is not to become catastrophic and irreversible.
The European Environment Agency, which compiled the statistics, said that the rise - which followed a sharp reduction in 2008-9 - was owing to signs of economic recovery in some areas, and a colder winter. But the Agency said emissions might have been higher still if it were not for a strong increase in the production of energy from renewable sources, such as solar and wind.
The rise, of 111m tonnes of carbon dioxide or its equivalents between 2009 and 2010, followed a decline in emissions of 7.3% between 2008 and 2009. That large drop was largely attributed to the financial crisis and recession.
Jacqueline McGlade, Executive Director of the EEA, said (reported by The Guardian): "Emissions increased in 2010. This rebound effect was expected as most of Europe came out of recession. However, the increase could have been even higher without the fast expansion of renewable energy generation in the EU."
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