The world is headed for a "dire future" where high energy prices drag on economic growth and global average temperatures rise by more than 3.5 Celsius, unless there are significant innovations to lower the cost of clean energy and carbon capture technology, said the International Energy Agency Wednesday.
The world is headed for a "dire future" where high energy
prices drag on economic growth and global average temperatures rise by more
than 3.5 Celsius, unless there are significant innovations to lower the cost of
clean energy and carbon capture technology, said the International Energy
Agency Wednesday.
Speaking at the conclusion of a two-day meeting with international energy
ministers and business leaders in Paris, senior officials from the agency
painted a gloomy picture of the world's current trajectory. It said growth in
energy demand will be powered largely by coal and the only hope of restraining
the rise in global temperatures to safe levels is to create cheaper
technologies to capture the carbon dioxide it produces.
The meeting, which was attended for the first time by ministers from a large
number of emerging economies, was a clear acknowledgement of how economic
realities conflict with the goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
"Twenty percent of the world's population does not have access to reliable
energy," said Martin Ferguson, Australia's Minister of Resources and
Energy who was chairing the IEA meeting. These developing countries, "are
going to continue to grow their economy and hence their demand for
energy."
This means that, "coal will continue to be the world's fastest growing
energy source for some time," with its consumption rising by two-thirds
under the current trajectory, he said.
"It's not for us to deny them, but to invent clean technology at the
lowest possible cost," and share it with them, he said. Investment in
carbon capture and storage and renewable energy is important, he said.
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