In May 2021, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector. The IEA describes this report as "the world’s first comprehensive study of how to transition to a net zero energy system by 2050 while ensuring stable and affordable energy supplies, providing universal energy access, and enabling robust economic growth."
The report addresses the major gap between governmental pledges of action and the urgent need to reduce the polluting greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate change. The IEA notes that current pledges by governments to achieve net-zero emissions over the coming decades, even if fully achieved, "fall well short of what is required to bring global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050 and give the world an even chance of limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5°C."
The Net Zero Energy (NZE) report sets out a pathway to "a clean, dynamic and resilient energy economy dominated by renewables like solar and wind instead of fossil fuels." Specifically, the share of renewables in total electricity generation globally increases from 29% in 2020 to over 60% in 2030 and to nearly 90% in 2050.
The report envisions that by 2050, "the energy world looks completely different. Global energy demand is around 8% smaller than today, but it serves an economy more than twice as big and a population with 2 billion more people. Almost 90% of electricity generation comes from renewable sources, with wind and solar PV together accounting for almost 70%. Most of the remainder comes from nuclear power. Solar is the world’s single largest source of total energy supply. Fossil fuels fall from almost four-fifths of total energy supply today to slightly over one-fifth."
Significantly, the report finds that "the rapid drop in oil and natural gas demand in the NZE means that no fossil fuel exploration is required and no new oil and natural gas fields are required beyond those that have already been approved for development. No new coal mines or mine extensions are required either." This finding reinforces calls from Indigenous and civil society organizations to keep fossil fuels in the ground.
While solar would grow to become the single largest source of total energy supply, other sources are expected to grow as well. For example, hydropower as a source of electricity is projected to nearly double by 2050, but the report does not address the environmental and human rights impacts of large dams in sensitive ecosystems such as the Amazon, the health of which are essential to climate stability.
Achieving the goals set forth in the report will require not only rapid deployment of existing technologies, e.g., wind, solar, energy efficiency systems, and electric vehicles, but also rapid innovation and deployment of new technologies, e.g., advanced batteries, hydrogen electrolysis, and carbon capture.
Although other emissions reductions pathways have been published, this report has received a great deal of attention because the IEA has historically reflected a fossil-fuels oriented perspective. Hence, this report "[gives] industry credence to the idea it is possible to essentially eliminate emissions from the world’s energy system in the next three decades."
The report addresses the major gap between governmental pledges of action and the urgent need to reduce the polluting greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate change. The IEA notes that current pledges by governments to achieve net-zero emissions over the coming decades, even if fully achieved, "fall well short of what is required to bring global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050 and give the world an even chance of limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5°C."
The Net Zero Energy (NZE) report sets out a pathway to "a clean, dynamic and resilient energy economy dominated by renewables like solar and wind instead of fossil fuels." Specifically, the share of renewables in total electricity generation globally increases from 29% in 2020 to over 60% in 2030 and to nearly 90% in 2050.
The report envisions that by 2050, "the energy world looks completely different. Global energy demand is around 8% smaller than today, but it serves an economy more than twice as big and a population with 2 billion more people. Almost 90% of electricity generation comes from renewable sources, with wind and solar PV together accounting for almost 70%. Most of the remainder comes from nuclear power. Solar is the world’s single largest source of total energy supply. Fossil fuels fall from almost four-fifths of total energy supply today to slightly over one-fifth."
Significantly, the report finds that "the rapid drop in oil and natural gas demand in the NZE means that no fossil fuel exploration is required and no new oil and natural gas fields are required beyond those that have already been approved for development. No new coal mines or mine extensions are required either." This finding reinforces calls from Indigenous and civil society organizations to keep fossil fuels in the ground.
While solar would grow to become the single largest source of total energy supply, other sources are expected to grow as well. For example, hydropower as a source of electricity is projected to nearly double by 2050, but the report does not address the environmental and human rights impacts of large dams in sensitive ecosystems such as the Amazon, the health of which are essential to climate stability.
Achieving the goals set forth in the report will require not only rapid deployment of existing technologies, e.g., wind, solar, energy efficiency systems, and electric vehicles, but also rapid innovation and deployment of new technologies, e.g., advanced batteries, hydrogen electrolysis, and carbon capture.
Although other emissions reductions pathways have been published, this report has received a great deal of attention because the IEA has historically reflected a fossil-fuels oriented perspective. Hence, this report "[gives] industry credence to the idea it is possible to essentially eliminate emissions from the world’s energy system in the next three decades."
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