The International Energy Agency (IEA) stated that the global demand for fossil fuels is expected to peak by 2030 due to the increasing number of electric vehicles on the road, slower economic growth in China, and a shift towards cleaner energy. This will undermine the case for any increase in investment.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, a group of oil producers, sees oil demand rising long after 2030 and calls for trillions of dollars in new investment in the oil sector. This view is in contrast to the IEA report, which provides advice to industrialized countries.
According to the IEA’s annual World Energy Outlook, which was published on Tuesday, this decade’s demand peaks for coal, natural gas, and oil are visible in its scenario based on governments’ current policies—this is a first for any of these commodities.
“The world is moving toward clean energy, and this trend cannot be stopped. “The sooner the better for all of us; it’s not a question of ‘if,’ but rather ‘how soon.'” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol stated as much.
“Governments, companies and investors need to get behind clean energy transitions rather than hindering them.”
However, the IEA also stated that the current state of affairs will ensure that the demand for fossil fuels remains far too high to meet the objective of the Paris Agreement, which is to limit the increase in average global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
“This risks not only worsening climate impacts after a year of record-breaking heat, but also undermining the security of the energy system, which was built for a cooler world with less extreme weather events,” the IEA said in a statement.
Reference :
Lawler, A. (2023, October 24). World oil, gas, coal demand to peak by 2030, IEA says. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/world-oil-gas-coal-demand-peak-by-2030-iea-says-2023-10-24/
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