Nuclear power has a unique opportunity to stage a comeback amid the global energy crisis, soaring fossil fuel prices, energy security challenges & increased climate ambitions
But whether this happens will depend on governments & industry
As things stand, advanced economies have lost their market leadership in nuclear power
Of the 31 nuclear reactors that started construction since 2017, all but 4 are Russian or Chinese designs
Reaching net zero emissions with less nuclear power than envisioned in the @IEA pathway would be harder and cost consumers $20 billion more a year to 2050
At the same time, deep nuclear cost reductions can open new opportunities to produce electricity, heat & hydrogen
Increased efforts to meet the world’s climate challenge have stimulated a burst of activity in small modular reactors (SMRs)
The lower costs, smaller size & reduced project risks of SMRs may improve social acceptance & attract more private investment versus large nuclear plants
To learn more about @IEA’s new report on Nuclear Power and Secure Energy Transitions, join our Director of Energy Markets & Security Keisuke Sadamori & me for our live launch event at 10:30 CEST ➡️ iea.li/3y25oc8
Today 600 million Africans have no access to electricity & nearly 1 billion no access to clean cooking. Solving this requires $25 billion per year from now to 2030 – the same as building one new LNG terminal a year
The encouraging news is that a New Energy Economy Is Emerging
#WEO2021 shows that pursuing #NetZero can create a market opportunity for equipment like batteries & wind turbines worth over $1 trillion a year by 2050 – similar to today's oil market
If governments fully deliver on the climate pledges they have announced so far, it would limit global warming to 2.1 C.
Not enough to solve the climate crisis, but enough to change energy markets, including oil – which would peak by 2025 – and solar & wind, whose output soars.
We just launched @IEA’s new Sustainable Recovery Tracker to measure how governments’ responses to the Covid-19 crisis are affecting clean energy investment & CO2 emissions.
It shows that only 2% of fiscal support goes to clean energy transitions ➡️ iea.li/2UYzbm9
The amount of total clean energy investment mobilised by governments' recovery measures to date falls far short of what is needed to put global CO2 emissions on a path to reach net zero by 2050.
CO2 emissions are set to rise to an all-time high in 2023 👉 iea.li/3eCajHA
Our new Tracker monitors government spending & the clean energy investment it mobilises on 30+ measures in our Sustainable Recovery Report, covering 800 recovery policies in over 50 countries.
Today, emerging & developing economies account for two-thirds of the world's population, but only one-fifth of global investment in clean energy.
Our new report shows that this investment needs to grow more than 7 times by 2030 to over $1 trillion a year to meet net zero goals.
One of our key recommendations: Governments need to give international public finance institutions a strong mandate to finance clean energy in the developing world.
There is no shortage of funds globally, but we need huge efforts to channel them where they can make a difference.
Spending by some global oil & gas companies appears to be starting to diversify.
@IEA analysis last year showed only around 1% of the industry's investment went to clean energy. Recent trends suggest this may rise to 4% in 2021 – and well above 10% for some European companies.