World Energy Investment Report, 2021:
The International Energy Agency (IEA) published the World Energy Investment Report, 2021.
Increased Investment in Energy Sector:
- Global energy investment is expected to rebound in 2021 and increase 10% year-on-year to around USD 1.9 trillion.
- Most of this investment will flow towards power and end-use sectors, shifting out of traditional fossil fuel production.
- The scenario is perfectly aligned with the projection that global energy demand will rise 4.6% year-on-year in 2021, offsetting its contraction in 2020.
Renewable Energy:
- Renewable power will have the largest share – around 70% of the total will be spent on new power generation capacity.
- There will be substantial gain of renewable energy as the future energy outlook has been dependent on technological development, well-established supply chain and demand from consumers for carbon-neutral electricity.
Fossil Fuels:
- Upstream (production and exploration) investment in oil is expected to grow 10%.
- This expansion in fossil fuels was planned with novel technologies like Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and bioenergy CCS, which are yet to attain commercial success.
- The increment of coal-fired power in 2020, mostly driven by China, is indicating that coal is down but not yet out.
Increased Emissions:
- The above positive scenarios will still not deter the increase in carbon dioxide emission, after a contraction in 2020 mainly due to economic slowdown induced by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
- Global emission is set to grow by 1.5 billion tonnes in 2021.
- Many developing nations’ supporting policy and regulatory frameworks are not yet aligned with long-term net-zero goals.
- Net-zero emissions refer to achieving an overall balance between greenhouse gas emissions produced and greenhouse gas emissions are taken out of the atmosphere.
- In many Emerging Market and Developing Economies (EMDEs), investment in renewables was hit harder by Covid-19 than in developed nations – and now many EMDEs have prioritized coal and oil in recovery plans.
