Despite Paris commitments, global energy sector carbon dioxide emissions still hit a record peak last year, a key study by UK-based global industry body the Energy Institute recently warned.
The main findings of the Statistical Review of World Energy, conducted with consultancies Kearney and KPMG, found that carbon dioxide emissions from energy use, industrial processes, flaring and methane… continue to rise to a new high, growing 0.8 percent in 2022.
Primary energy consumption grew about one percent last year from 2021, or almost three percent when compared with its pre-COVID level in 2019, the review found.
Fossil fuels remain dominant at 82 percent of consumption, despite a strong showing from renewables. Meanwhile, wind and solar power together hit a record 12 percent of total electricity generation, helped by the biggest ever increase in capacity for both.
Demand for fuel for transportation continued to rebound from pre-pandemic levels, although China held “significantly” below due to the ongoing impact of its prior ‘zero COVID’ restrictions.
Energy Institute President Juliet Davenport warned the sector was heading in the “opposite direction” to the goals of the Paris deal.
Richard Forrest, chair of Energy Transition Institute at Kearney, added that soaring greenhouse gas emissions reinforced “the need for urgent action to get the world on track to meet the Paris targets.” He also noted 2022 was a “turbulent year” that saw energy security top the agenda due to key producer Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and rebounding post-pandemic demand.
The facts and figures prove that the global energy sector is still not going in the right direction, and as a result, humanity has a long way to go if it is to prevent a future where the predicted devastation caused by global warming becomes reality. Countries like the Philippines, which has long been holding on to the convenient excuse that it is the developed world that needs to do more, will also need to pitch in as soon as possible and join a whole-of-humanity effort to reduce the carbon emissions that are still accumulating and threatening the future of life in this planet.*
