The world is reducing its reliance on fossil fuels - except for in three key sectors

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

The world is reducing its reliance on fossil fuels – except for in three key sectors

Dramatic changes in energy industry and EVs reducing fossil fuel use, but shipping, aviation and industry a long way from net zero

Oliver Milman
@olliemilman
Fri 9 Feb 2024 12.00 GMT
Last modified on Fri 9 Feb 2024 16.39 GMT

Humanity has made some uneven progress in reducing our addiction to fossil fuels – but there remain three areas of our lives in which we are notably not on track to kick the habit over the next 30 years, according to a new analysis.

Record levels of investment in clean energy (solar has been called the cheapest source of electricity in history by the International Energy Agency) and a decline in coal-powered generation means less and less of the world’s power will come from fossil fuels between now and 2050, the analysis from Rhodium shows.

Similarly, the blossoming electric vehicle market is going to drive down emissions from cars and trucks, with global oil consumption for on-road vehicles set to drop by 50% over the next three decades, the forecast finds.

But even with these dramatic changes reshaping two of the world’s hungriest consumers of fossil fuels, emissions are still a long way from hitting net zero by 2050, as scientists say they must if dangerous global heating – spurring worsening heatwaves, floods, droughts and more – is to be avoided.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/09/biggest-fossil-fuel-emissions-shipping-plane-manufacturing

[NickB79]

1. We burned more fossil fuels than ever in 2023

How exactly are we reducing our reliance on fossil fuels? Because Nature doesn't care if we are reducing carbon intensity per GDP or any other BS metric humanity can envision to tie fossil fuels to economic growth.

What matters is tons of GHG's emitted annually. That's it. And with an ever-growing demand for energy, simply reducing our percentage of energy from fossil fuels means we could still burn as much, of not more, fossil fuels in the coming years in absolute terms.

[NNadir]

2. Exactly. I hear this delusional bullshit all the time.

I heard it from a Princeton University professor this past weekend, apparently one unfamiliar with the IEA data. Ironically the lecture in question took place on the very day that readings at the Mauna Loa CO2 Observatory shattered multiple records and did so dramatically.

If one doesn't know what one is talking about, one can make stuff up.

As for this "solar is cheap" lie that flies around unchallenged that obviously excludes the external and internal costs of the required redundant systems.

We repeat these bullshit slogans at the expense of the future of humanity.