Amid widespread uncertainty about the planet’s climate future, hopeful news emerges from time to time. For the first time in history, renewable energy More electricity produced in the European Union from fossil fuels in the first half of this year.
“The decline of fossil fuels is a sign of the times,” according to data in a report by consulting firm Ember. “Coal and gas are too expensive, too dangerous, and the European Union is eliminating them.”
This report shows that 33 percent of the continent’s electricity was generated from coal and gas in the first half of the year. Electricity production from renewable energy reached 36%.
The report adds: “Between January and June fossil energies generated 410 Terawatt hours in the European Union, the lowest ever recorded in the electricity mix at 33%.” More than two-thirds of the 36% generated by renewable energy came from wind and solar.
This European ‘sorpasso’ of renewable energies has been possible for several reasons. The first stems from the global strategy against climate change. The EU has decided that it will be carbon neutral by 2050, which means minimal use of polluting sources such as oil, gas or coal.
This bet together the decline of nuclear energyIt leads to a rapid increase in the use of renewable energy.
Moreover, renewable energy sources give the EU energy autonomy and mean, for example, that the European Union is not dependent on regimes such as Russia for energy supplies.
Demand decline
The increase in electricity generation from renewable sources does not fully offset the decline in electricity produced from coal and gas. difference one Decrease in demand caused by sharp increase in prices Energy occurring from the end of 2021.
When demand is low, less electricity is produced and The first thing to stop is coal and gas power plantsBecause the electricity they produce is more expensive and they emit large amounts of greenhouse gases.
This decrease in demand made it possible to reduce electricity production at gas and coal power plants by 17% between the first half of 2022 and the same period of 2023.
In five countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland and Portugal), electricity generation from gas and coal fell by more than 30% in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2022. Coal was produced for the first time. In a given month, May, less than 10% of Europe’s electricity.
Expansion still insufficient
But it’s still not enough. The severity of the climate situation and the inertia of the planet in terms of emissions into the atmosphere require an even greater use of renewable energy sources. Europe’s carbon neutrality target will not be reached at current pace and the European Commission periodically reiterate to governments that they must accelerate the deployment of renewable energies, especially solar and wind
According to the report, the decline from 2022 to 2023 was largely due to the aforementioned drop in demand caused by higher electricity prices. But, These prices are slowly returning to their normal margins. Therefore, if demand does not continue to decrease, Gas and coal will not continue to decline as before. Therefore, the dissemination of renewable energy sources needs to be accelerated.
On the other hand, Electricity production from hydroelectricity also increased It is quite strong between the first half of 2022 and the same period of 2023 (11%), but its ability to grow is limited because according to forecasts, rain and snowfall will decrease, not increase, in the coming years.
Reference report: https://ember-climate.org/insights/research/eu-fossil-generation-hits-record-low-as-demand-falls/
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