Climate Change and renewable energy: a sectorial approach
Climate Change and renewable energy:
a sectorial approach Jorge C. Sicilia Serrano, Chief Economist, BBVA
Climate change is a long-term threat to the world, given the extraordinary acceleration of current global warming trends, which could have catastrophic consequences for millions of people. There is increasing evidence of the impact of high temperatures on food production, and rising sea level, which may end up flooding areas that are currently inhabited. Scientists attribute these observations to an increasing concentration of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere.
Industrialization and human activities have been linked to the net increase in GHG emissions as a result of agricultural activities, fossil fuel burning and deforestation. The main contributor to the increase in this concentration is CO2, annual emissions of which increased by 80% between 1970 and 2004, when they represented nearly 77% of greenhouse gas emissions from human activity.
Taking urgent action is becoming more and more pressing, as indicated by the latest study by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), according to which, the downward trend in CO2 emissions per unit of energy supplied, which took place between 1970 and the year 2000, turned positive after this date. According to this Agency of the United Nations, to keep the
increase in long-term average temperature between 2 and 2.4 °C, global carbon emissions must be reduced by at least 50% between the year 2000 and 2050, and it might have to be even more. The costs will be substantial: the International Energy Agency estimates that a 50% emissions reduction scenario will require an investment of $46 trillion by 2050.
The role of governments in providing the multilateral strategic plans is essential, as a result of growing global energy demand expected by a booming middle class in emerging markets. The burning of fossil fuels for power generation is the main source of CO2 emissions, and therefore, governments and private companies are focusing their efforts on increasing the share of renewable sources in electricity generation, preparing for a low carbon future. This commitment is beginning to be decided in both developed as well as emerging countries.
The future of renewable energy is promising. According to the special report on renewable energy sources by the IPCC from 2011, renewable energies have "huge potential in mitigating GHG emissions". Despite efforts by the United States and Europe to recover from the current financial
turmoil, global investment in renewable energy has continued to rise as China has entered the arena. The private sector and energy companies have not been exactly kept on the sidelines, aided by government incentives of subsidies and stimulus funds.
BBVA is strategically committed to providing funding and advice on renewable energy operations, a sector which it leads and where only in 2010 it financed and advised the installation of over 4,500 MW, increasing its investment by 36% compared to 2009.
In this process, BBVA has received the most prestigious recognition in the industry. In 2010 it was the top advisor in the Mergers and Acquistions of Renewable Energy global ranking and received the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Award for reaching the top spot. In turn, the database specialist Dealogic again stresses the strength of BBVA in funding renewable energy projects in the first half of 2011. BBVA gets the second spot in this ranking, for its part in the funding major projects in Europe, Asia and the Americas. By type of renewable energy, according to the Infrastructure Journal, BBVA is in third place globally in wind energy and leads the rankings in solar and photovoltaic power.
15
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50