I normally don't write about reports that are mainly PROJECTIONS, because the entire coming global warming crisis is a PROJECTION of the future climate -- not reality. And we have been hearing that coming climate crisis PROJECTION (prediction) for the past 50 years. Like a broken record, if any of you remember what records were.
SUMMARY:
The IEA ( International Energy Agency ) "World Energy Outlook for 2020" report (October 2020) suggests fossil fuels will have to be closed down. That's a route to economic self destruction.
According to the IEA, even though governments’ responses to COVID have been an economic disaster, and have not stopped the spread of the virus, now is the time to place more faith in our central governments. Of course this libertarian recognizes leftists have been saying that for over a century!
Governments may be fools on medical science, with some exceptions, but we should trust government "science" on the subjects of climate change, and which sources of energy we should use?
The IEA report seems intended mainly to promote the leftists' "renewables" agenda, by spinning deceptions about solar energy.
It's sad that I have to summarize the IEA report here because truth is not a leftist value.
DETAILS:
The IEA produces a annual World Energy Outlook mainly to promote (spin) a bright future for wind and solar energy. The leftist-biased mainstream media copies "facts" from the IEA press release without any questions, or any investigation. Most of the mainstream media writers are leftist lap dogs who summarize press releases, exhibiting no real journalism skills, which would include investigations of claims.
In 2020, the COVID partial lockdowns temporarily reduced energy demand. So the demand for fossil fuels was down this year. Down more than the demand for wind and solar energy. Not a long term trend -- just a very unusual year.
According to the latest IEA report:
“Our assessment is that global energy demand is set to drop by five per cent in 2020, energy-related CO2 emissions by seven per cent, and energy investment by 18 per cent. The impacts vary by fuel. The estimated falls of eight per cent in oil demand and seven per cent in coal use stand in sharp contrast to a slight rise in the contribution of renewables.”
The report fails to mention wind and solar use is dictated by government mandates and taxpayer subsidies. Utilities were FORCED to cut back use of cheaper fossil fuels when electricity demand fell in 2020 -- a very unusual year.
“Global solar PV (photovoltaic) capacity has increased almost 20-fold over the last decade and is set to triple over the coming decade ... I see solar becoming the new king of the world’s electricity markets … Based on today’s policy settings, it’s on track to set new records for deployment every year after 2022.”
- Solar energy is only 0.4 percent of total (aka "primary") energy demand, which includes all fuels for generating electricity and transportation, including lawn mowers!
Solar generated electricity accounted for two percent of electricity generation in 2019. Electricity was about one fifth of total energy demand, so the contribution of solar energy to total energy demand was 0.4 percent. That's a solar energy "revolution"?
- "Renewable"s are PROJECTED to increase from 10 percent to 15 percent of total energy demand, between 2019 and 2030. Not mentioned in the press release is that the most used renewable is hydro-power, not solar or wind. And the most of the increase PROJECTED by 2030 comes from “bio-energy” ... er ... burning wood.
I don't consider wood to be a true "renewable", because burning wood creates more CO2 than any other fuel, even coal. It's still wood from chopped down trees, something I object to. I even object to killing trees for temporary Christmas decorations. Wood burned to generate electricity is described by the propaganda term "biomass". Even leftist Michael Moore figured out what biomass really was.
Government mandates and subsidies MAY force the solar power share of electricity generation to be eight per cent in 2030, as has been PROJECTED by the EIA. But that would only be two percent of PROJECTED total energy demand.
-- In 2030, oil and gas use is PROJECTED to be a little higher, with coal use a little lower, but fossil fuels would still account for 76 percent of total energy, versus 80 percent in 2019.
-- In 2030, coal is PROJECTED to account for 28 percent of electricity generation — three and a half times as much as solar energy used for electricity generation.