Global use of coal hit record high in 2024 | Coal

Despite efforts to transition to clean energy, global coal use hit a record high last year, jeopardizing the world’s efforts to curb global warming.

With the increase in renewable energy, the share of coal in electricity production has decreased. But the general increase in energy demand meant that more coal was used overall. annual State of Climate Action reportIt was published on Wednesday.

The report painted a bleak picture of the world’s chances of avoiding the increasingly severe impacts of the climate crisis. Countries are falling behind the targets they set for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which continue to increase, albeit at a lower rate than before.

Clea Schumer, a research fellow at the World Resources Institute think tank, which produced the report, said: “There is no doubt that we are largely doing the right things. We are not moving fast enough. One of the most concerning findings from our assessment is that efforts to phase out coal are not on track, the fifth report in a row in our series.”

If the world is to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, then more sectors need to use electricity rather than oil, gas or other fossil fuels to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, as outlined in the Paris climate agreement.

But this will only work if global electricity supply is shifted to a low-carbon basis. “The problem is that an energy system that relies on fossil fuels has huge cascading and knock-on effects,” Schumer said. “The message on this is very clear. We will not limit warming to 1.5°C if coal use continues to break records.”

While most governments are expected to aim to “phase out” coal use after a commitment made in 2021, some continue to use the most polluting fuel. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Exceeded 1 billion tons of coal production This year, in the US, Donald Trump announced his support for coal and other fossil fuels.

Trump’s efforts to halt renewable energy projects and remove financing and incentives for the transition to low-carbon energy sources have not yet made a major impact in the form of higher greenhouse gas emissions. However, the report suggested that while these efforts will have an impact in the future, China and others, including the EU, could mitigate the impact by continuing to favor renewable energies.

The good news is that renewable energy production has increased “exponentially,” according to the report, which found solar power to be “the fastest growing power source in history.” But this is still not enough: The annual growth rates of solar and wind energy need to double for the world to achieve the emissions reductions needed by the end of this decade.

Sophie Boehm, senior research fellow at WRI’s systems change laboratory and lead author of the report, said: “There is no doubt that recent US attacks on clean energy have made it more difficult for the world to keep the Paris Agreement goal achievable. But the broader transition is much bigger than any one country and is gaining momentum among markets and emerging economies where clean energy is becoming the cheapest, most reliable route to economic growth and energy security.” is increasing.”

The world is making very slow progress in improving energy efficiency, particularly in reducing carbon emissions from heating buildings. Industrial emissions are also a concern: despite efforts in some countries to switch to low-carbon methods, the steel industry is increasing its “carbon intensity” (carbon produced with each unit of steel produced).

Electric road transport is progressing faster; More than one in five new vehicles sold last year were electric. In China, the share was close to half.

The report also warned about the state of the world’s “carbon sinks” (forests, peatlands, wetlands, oceans and other natural features that store carbon). Although countries have repeatedly promised to protect their forests, forests continue to be cut down, albeit at a slower pace in some regions. More than 8 million hectares (20 million acres) of forest will be permanently lost by 2024. This is lower than the high area of ​​nearly 11 million hectares reached in 2017, but worse than the 7.8 million hectares lost in 2021. The report found that the world needs to act nine times faster than governments manage to stop deforestation.

World leaders and senior officials will gather for the COP30 UN climate summit in Brazil next month to discuss how the world can get on track to stay within the 1.5-degree global warming limit in line with the 2015 Paris climate agreement. Each government must submit a detailed national plan for emissions cuts, called a “nationally determined contribution.” However, it is already clear that these plans will be inadequate, so the real question will be how countries will react.