News | Headlines CO2 emissions up but less than feared
Worldwide Emissions abatement Global CO2
emissions are increasing less than initially feared, as clean energy growth offsets much of the impact of greater coal and oil use. The International Energy Agency publication ‘CO2
Change Conference in November. Global energy-related CO2
emissions grew in
Emissions in 2022’ provides a complete picture of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in 2022. The risk of runaway pollutant growth from the shift to coal brought on by the global energy crisis has failed to materialise as renewables growth and other factors reined in the rise in CO2
emissions.
Global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions rose by under 1% in 2022 as the growth of solar, wind, EVs, heat pumps and energy efficiency helped limit the impacts of increased use of coal and oil.
Although the rise in emissions last year was far smaller than the exceptional jump of over 6% in 2021, emissions still remain on an unsustainable growth trajectory, calling for stronger actions to accelerate the clean energy transition and move the world onto a path towards meeting its energy and climate goals, according to the new analysis. The report is the first in a new series, ‘The Global Energy Transitions Stocktake’, which will bring together the IEA’s latest analysis in one place, making it freely accessible in support of the first Global Stocktake in the lead-up to the COP28 Climate
2022 by 0.9%, or 321 million tonnes, reaching a new high of more than 36.8 billion tonnes, according to the report. The rise was significantly slower than global economic growth of 3.2%, signalling a return to a decade-long trend that was interrupted in 2021 by the rapid and emissions-intensive economic rebound from the Covid crisis. Extreme weather events including droughts and heatwaves, as well as an unusually large number of nuclear power plants being offline, contributed to the rise in emissions. “The impacts of the energy crisis didn’t result in the major increase in global emissions … but …
without clean energy, the growth in CO2 emissions would have been nearly three times as high,” said IEA executive director Fatih Birol. “However, we still see emissions growing from fossil fuels … fossil fuel companies are making record revenues and need to take their share of responsibility, in line with their public pledges.”
Coal firing CO2
emissions from coal grew by 1.6% as the global energy crisis continued to spur a wave of gas-to-coal switching in Asia, and to a lesser degree in Europe. While the increase in coal emissions was only around one-quarter of 2021’s rise, it still far exceeded the last decade’s
emissions from oil grew even more than those from coal, increasing by 2.5% but still remaining below pre-pandemic levels. Around half of the year-on-year increase in oil’s emissions came from aviation as air travel continued to rebound from pandemic lows. China’s emissions were broadly flat in 2022 as strict Covid-19 measures and declining construction activity led to weaker economic growth and reductions in industrial and transport emissions. The European Union’s emissions fell by 2.5%, thanks to record deployment of renewables helping ensure the use of coal was not as high as some observers had anticipated. A mild start to the European winter and energy savings measures in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine also contributed. In the United States, emissions grew by 0.8% as buildings increased their energy consumption to cope with extreme temperatures. Excluding China, emissions from Asia’s emerging and developing economies increased by 4.2%, reflecting their rapid economic and energy demand growth.
ACWA’s major renewables deal in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan Renewables ACWA Power has announced a ground- breaking partnership agreement with the Republic of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy, and with Samruk-Kazyna, the sovereign wealth fund of Kazakhstan, to lead and develop a 1GW wind energy and battery storage project within the country.
The project marks ACWA Power’s entry into Kazakhstan, and with an initial investment of US$1.5 billion, it aims to support national
climate action, renewables integration, and sustainable development efforts ‘through innovation and technology integration’. It is intended to decarbonise fossil fuel-based power generation following its scheduled completion in 2027.
The Kazakhstan 2050 Strategy which defines the course for long-term economic development is aimed at placing the nation among the top 30 global economies by 2050. Sustainability is a key priority, and the focus is
to meet 50% of its energy requirements via alternative and green energy technologies by 2050. The country is fast tracking a number of clean energy initiatives to achieve set targets. ACWA Power’s involvement will represent the biggest Saudi investment in Kazakhstan’s power sector to date, with wind turbines and battery storage intended to unlock new value and help ensure that involved parties capitalise on emissions abatement and energy transition opportunities.
Masdar invests in major geothermal player
Indonesia Geothermal energy Masdar is making a strategic investment in Indonesian company Pertamina Geothermal Energy, (PGE) one of the world’s largest geothermal players. The investment (the total consideration has not been disclosed) marks Masdar’s entry into geothermal energy, in the second-largest geothermal market in the world. Dr Sultan Al Jaber, UAE minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, and chairman of Masdar, commented: “Through its investment in PGE, Masdar is demonstrating its continuing
commitment to Indonesia’s energy transition and its support of one of the major focus areas of the upcoming COP28, which is to provide practical energy security solutions while reducing emissions.”
Indonesia has a goal of increasing its installed geothermal capacity from 2.8 GW in 2022 to 6.2 GW by 2030. The government is targeting net-zero emissions by 2060 and having renewables provide 23 % of the energy mix by 2023. PGE has been operating geothermal facilities in Indonesia for the last
6 | March 2023 |
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40 years, with a portfolio capacity exceeding 1.87 GW.
The PGE investment is the latest in Masdar’s continuing effort to expand and increase its strategic partnerships in the Asia-Pacific region. It is already developing the region’s largest floating solar facility – the 145-MW Cirata floating solar PV Plant in Indonesia – and last year signed an agreement with Tuas Power, EDF Renewables, and PT Indonesia Power to explore development of up to 1.2 GW solar capacity in Indonesia for export to Singapore.
average growth rate. The increase in emissions from coal more than offset the 1.6% decline in emissions from natural gas as supply continued to tighten following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and as European businesses and citizens responded with efforts to cut their gas use. CO2
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