প্রকাশ: 15/01/2022
The world faces more years of high energy prices and
emissions unless the electricity sector changes faster after demand hit a
record last year, the International Energy Agency said Friday.
The economic recovery from the Covid pandemic, combined with
unusual weather conditions, caused electricity demand to jump by more than six
percent in 2021, the largest increase since 2010, the IEA said.
In absolute terms, the increase of more than 1,500
terawatt-hours was the largest ever, the Paris-based agency said in its
semi-annual Electricity Market Report.
This pushed prices to unprecedented levels while emissions
from the electricity sector rose by seven percent in 2021 -- an all-time high
after having decreased the previous two years, the IEA said.
While renewable power experienced "impressive
growth", electricity generation from coal and natural gas hit record
levels, the report found.
"In the absence of faster structural change in the
sector, rising demand over the next three years could result in additional
market volatility and continued high emissions," the IEA said.
IEA executive director Fatih Birol said emissions from
electricity must fall by 55 percent by 2030 if the world is to meet a target of
net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
"But in the absence of major policy action from
governments, those emissions are set to remain around the same level for the
next three years," Birol said in a statement.
"Not only does this highlight how far off track we
currently are from a pathway to net zero emissions by 2050, but it also
underscores the massive changes needed for the electricity sector to fulfil its
critical role in decarbonising the broader energy system."
Birol also warned that high electricity prices "have
been causing hardship for many households and businesses around the world and
risk becoming a driver of social and political tensions."
China accounted for around half of the global growth in
electricity demand last year. The country experienced power cuts due to coal
shortages -- a problem also encountered by India.
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