New report by a major energy body has warned world remains on track to exceed its aim of a global warming target of now more than two degrees Celsius.
As a result the major new report says energy efficiency will have to play a much more central role if countries are to bring down emissions and tackle rising energy bills.
The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) 2013 World Energy Outlook, just released, predicts energy sector emissions will increase 20 per cent to 2035, largely as a result of growing demand for energy in Asia and the Middle East.
Emissions rising at the predicted rate would put the world on track for a long-term average temperature increase of 3.6 degrees Celsius, the report warned, significantly higher than the two degrees Celsius target to which world leaders have agreed.
British environmental website BusinessGreen reports the latest warning comes as diplomats gather in Warsaw, Poland, for the latest round of United Nations climate talks, which are aiming to deliver a new international agreement to tackle emissions by 2015.
Unveiling the latest report, IEA executive director Maria van der Hoeven warned the world faced an “energy trilemma” as it battled to deliver security of supply, sustainability and economic prosperity.
She underlined the need for governments and businesses to anticipate the need to adapt to rising energy prices, including carefully designing subsidies to support the development of new clean energy capacity in the most cost-effective manner possible.
“Major changes are emerging in the energy world in response to shifts in economic growth, efforts at decarbonisation and technological breakthroughs,” she said.
“We have the tools to deal with such profound market change.
“Those that anticipate global energy developments successfully can derive an advantage, while those that do not risk taking poor policy and investment decisions.”
Ms Van der Hoeven said energy efficiency had already become a crucial part of governments’ response to climate change and rising energy costs.
BusinessGreen reports she also warned its full potential was likely to remain unrealised unless governments reform market barriers, such as continued fossil fuel subsidies, that deter investment in energy efficiency measures.
The report predicts the global boom in clean energy technologies will continue with almost half of new power capacity coming from solar and wind by 2035, the majority of which will be built in China.
In fact, the IEA predicts China is likely to build more new green power capacity than the European Union, Japan and United States combined over the period.
However, the report also shows that fossil fuels are likely to continue to play a dominant role in the global energy mix, with unconventional sources closing the gap created by dwindling conventional supplies.
BusinessGreen reports as such, the report argues that step change in the global approach to energy investment is still required if climate change targets are to be met.
Commenting on the findings, Christoph Frei, secretary general of the World Energy Council, said the IEA’s report had underlined the need for the development of emerging technologies such as electricity storage and carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) in order to further accelerate investment in clean technologies.
“We urgently need to realise the potential of breakthrough technologies such as electricity storage and CCUS,” he said in a statement.
However, Dr Stephan Singer, director of global energy policy at environmental lobby group WWF, accused the IEA of trying to “have its cake and eat it”, as the report also suggests unconventional gas and oil will be able to fill the gap left by existing conventional reserves.
“WWF strongly supports the IEA view that changing the energy sector, which is responsible for the majority of global greenhouse gas emissions, is the most important action to take,” he said in a statement.
“But we can’t have our cake and eat it and the IEA is being too positive about new energy sources like shale gas.
“As the IEA themselves recognise, we need to leave more than two thirds of all existing fossil fuels underground to have a decent chance to avoid overstepping the threshold to dangerous levels of climate change,” Dr Singer added.
