IEA urges changes to ‘unsustainable’ global energy course
The International Energy Agency (IEA) is calling for an “energy revolution” to meet a growing global demand for energy and prevent “shocking” climate change consequences. In the Executive Summary (pdf, 176kb) of the 2008 edition of its World Energy Outlook, the IEA warned: “Preventing catastrophic and irreversible damage to the global climate ultimately requires a major decarbonisation of the world energy sources.”
Current energy use trends would cause enough greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the century to ultimately push global temperatures 6°C higher, the summary report said. The Outlook presents two scenarios which would result in global temperature increases of 3°C and 2°C, respectively. The share of low-carbon energy in the global energy mix would need to rise from 19 percent in 2006 to 26 percent by 2030 to meet the former scenario, and to 36 percent by 2030 to meet the latter scenario, said IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka in a press release.
“To reach either of these outcomes, hundreds of millions of households and businesses around the world would need to be encouraged to change the way they use energy,” the summary report said. “This will require innovative policies, an appropriate regulatory framework, the rapid development of a global carbon market and increased investment in energy research, development and demonstration.”