Increase in green power generation ‘fails to cut energy sector’s emissions’

The share of renewables in global power generation continued to rise in 2022, driven by record new build of solar and wind, though it failed to reduce carbon emissions from the energy sector, which remains reliant predominantly on fossil fuels.

The Energy Institute, a global professional body for the sector, says in its 2023 Statistical Review of World Energy that solar and wind recorded a record increase of 266GW (14%) in 2022, with solar accounting for 72% of the capacity additions.

However, with fossil fuels such as coal and gas still contributing about 82% to the total global energy mix, and a 1% increase in total primary energy consumption, emissions from energy continued to rebound strongly from the lows recorded during the worst period of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Emissions from energy consumption reached a record high of 39.3-billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (87% of total global emissions) in 2022, a 0.8% from a year earlier.

“2022 saw some of the worst effects yet of climate change — the devastating floods affecting millions od people in Pakistan, the record heat events across Europe and North America — yet we have to look hard for positive news on the energy transition in this new data,” the review says.

“Despite further strong growth in wind and solar in the power sector, overall global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions increased again. We are still heading in the opposite direction to that required by the Paris Agreement [to reach net-zero emissions by 2050],” said Energy Institute president Juliet Davenport during the report’s worldwide launch.

International coal production increased by 7%, but trade fell almost 4% in 2022, its lowest level since 2017, the report says.

In SA, coal exports in 2022 increased by 3.6% year on year, though export volumes were still significantly below pre-Covid levels. Measured in units of energy the country’s exports have decreased by 21% and 17% when compared with 2017 and 2018 levels.

Growth in coal demand was largely driven by China (1%) and India (4%), and their combined growth offset declines in other regions such as North America and Europe which saw declines of 6.8% and 3.1%. In 2022, consumption by members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) was about 10% less than its 2019 pre-Covid level, but non-OECD coal consumption more than 6% higher.

SA, which increased its renewable energy consumption by 2.5% in 2022, accounts for about a third of all such consumption on the continent.

While increasing at a slightly slower rate than in 2021, the combined generation from wind and solar once again surpassed that of nuclear energy, with the two sources’ share of the energy mix now stood at about 9%.

The report shows that the world isn't moving quickly enough on energy transition to meet critical climate goals.

Richard Forrest, sustainability lead at global management consulting firm Kearney, which contributed to the production of the statistical review, said the 1.1% increase in global energy consumption and 0.8% increase in greenhouse gas emissions reinforced the need for urgent action to get the world on track to meet net-zero emissions targets.

“The need to drive the energy transition at pace to deliver clean, affordable and secure energy has never been greater,” he said.

The report calculates that SA installed about 300MW of solar power in 2022, bringing its total solar capacity to 6,300MW — and the country’s share of all solar power installed in Africa to about 50%. The country added only about 150MW of wind power in 2022, taking total installed capacity to 3,100MW. Total installed wind capacity in Africa reached 7,700MW in 2022.

erasmusd@businesslive.co.za