At the end of this decade, the energy landscape may be very different from today: it will be electrifying. This is what emerges from the World Energy Outlook report of the International Energy Agency (IEA), which will be made public today.
By 2030, there will be ten times more electric cars on the world's roads than there are today. Likewise, solar panels will consolidate their boom. They will generate more electricity than is produced today in a year in the United States. In the global energy mix, renewable sources will account for half of the total, when at the moment it represents a third.
Finally, heat pumps will become popular as alternatives to gas heating systems. And offshore wind platforms will attract three times more capital than coal plants. In short, everything suggests a greener world with fewer emissions. "The transition to clean energy is taking place around the world and cannot be stopped. It is no longer a question of 'if', but of how", said the executive director of this organization, Fatih Birol.
Unlike what is predicted by economic studies of other organizations (such as the OPEC cartel) which assure that the demand for fossil energy will enter a plateau, the IEA does believe that the demand for coal, oil and natural gas will reach its peak throughout this decade.
At present, the human being is still "a hydrocarbon man", since the percentage of fossil fuels in energy generation represents 80%. Well, the report points out that from this decade this percentage will have dropped to 73%.
The problem, according to the IEA technicians, is that this model of demand and production forecasts, which is based on the maintenance of current plans and policies, will not serve to comply with the Paris Agreement, which establishes to contain in 1 .5ºC the increase in temperatures caused by CO2.
Specifically, emissions will continue to grow at least until 2025, when they would reach their maximum and finally begin a decline, even so insufficient to reach the desired decarbonization goals.
At a time when clean energy offers new jobs, more security and cleaner air, "the arguments that oil and gas represent a safe bet for the future seem weaker than ever", concludes this international body.
