Energy and climate: a direct correlation
According to the IEA, fossil fuels account for 80% of the Total Primary Energy Supply (TPES): oil 30%, coal 27%, gas 23%, renewables 16% and nuclear 4%. In 2020, the meaning decrease was due to the Covid19 pandemic.
The recent increase of the renewables'share, owing to the rise of solar and wind, is not strong enough to structurally modify the original distribution of the TPES.
That is especially due to the low initial share of renewables, to the weight of coal and oil and to the growing use of gas, which for a few years has been on a rising trend.
"We need a fundamental shift away from dirty fossil fuels that spew carbon pollution." Al Gore
61% of the electricity generated worldwide comes from fossil fuel sources: coal 36%, oil 2%, gas 23%, hydro 16%, other renewables 14% and nuclear 10%.
For the last years, gas and renewables have partially replaced coal and nuclear, but coal has remained a key source of electricity generation, and the rise of renewables has been too weak to deeply change the distribution of the global electricity mix.
The growth of the renewables'share has been mainly due to solar, wind and biomass while the hydro's share has remained steady.
"The evidence for human-made climate change is overwhelming [...]. We are causing the problem, but our children and grandchildren are going to suffer the consequences."James HANSEN
According to the International Energy Agency, coal accounts for 45% of the global energy-related CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion, oil for 32% and gas for 23%. Thus, coal remains by far the first source of CO2 emissions.
The significant increase between 2000 and 2010 is mainly due to China's emissions, which doubled during that period. China's energy is mainly based on coal (58% of China's energy mix). China's coal consumption account for almost 50% of global coal consumption.
In 2020, the Covid-19 crisis lead to a sharp decrease of CO2 emissions (-6%). That fall was nevertheless offset by the rise of CO2 emissions in 2021.
Hundreds of millions of people have been affected by climate warming. Its intensity is unprecedented in history and its effects (heatwaves, droughts, floods, storms, sea level rise, etc.) will increase within the next decades. But to what extent ?
