Global economy’s future is electric, but still dirty: IEA

Bloomberg

More of the world will run on electricity in the future, but most of the power won’t be clean. That’s the key message from the International Energy Agency’s latest report on investment trends released on Tuesday. The Paris-based organisation said that electricity generation attracted more capital than oil and natural gas for the second ye-ar in a row, but investment in renewables
declined and is expected to keep falling.
Running the economy on electricity is just one part of the energy transition.
The question of where the power comes from is also key. Electrifying transport will reduce air pollution in cities, which is largely attributed to nitrogen oxide emissions from vehicles, but the issue will not ultimately be solved if they are simply replaced by carbon dioxide and other pollution from fossil-fuel power plants.
“Global investment in renewables and energy efficiency declined by about 3 percent last year, and more importantly it could slow down once again this year,” Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, said by telephone. “This is a worrying trend, especially when we think of our clean-energy transition goals and the implications for energy security, climate change and air pollution.”