Moneytalks II: World needs $48 trillion in investment to meet its energy needs to 2035

-- a _kt75 | reprint

Download: Quarterly Notes on Sustainable Water Management - Q01/2014



IEA World Energy Outlook special report sees rising role of governments in shaping investment decisions.




Meeting the world’s growing need for energy will require more than $48 trillion in investment over the period to 2035, according to a special report on investment released today by the International Energy Agency (IEA) as part of the World Energy Outlook series. Today’s annual investment in energy supply of $1.6 trillion needs to rise steadily over the coming decades towards $2 trillion. Annual spending on energy efficiency, measured against a 2012 baseline, needs to rise from $130 billion today to more than $550 billion by 2035.

“The reliability and sustainability of our future energy system depends on investment,” said IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven. “But this won’t materialise unless there are credible policy frameworks in place as well as stable access to long-term sources of finance. Neither of these conditions should be taken for granted. There is a real risk of shortfalls, with knock-on effects on regional or global energy security, as well as the risk that investments are misdirected because environmental impacts are not properly reflected in prices.”
Newly compiled data show how annual investment in new fuel and electricity supply has more than doubled in real terms since 2000, with investment in renewable source of energy quadrupling over the same period, thanks to supportive government policies. Investment in renewables in the European Union has been higher than investment in natural gas production in the United States. Renewables, together with biofuels and nuclear power, now account for around 15% of annual investment flows, with a similar share also going to the power transmission and distribution network. But a large majority of today’s investment spending, well over $1 trillion, is related to fossil fuels, whether extracting them, transporting them to consumers, refining crude oil into oil products, or building coal and gas-fired power plants.

Investment decisions are increasingly being shaped by government policy measures and incentives. While many governments have retained direct influence over energy sector investment, some stepped away from this role when opening energy markets to competition:  many of these have now stepped back in, typically to promote the deployment of low-carbon sources of electricity. In the electricity sector, administrative signals or regulated rates of return have become, by far, the most important drivers for investment: the share of investment in competitive parts of electricity markets has fallen from about one-third of the global total ten years ago to around 10% today. Read on...

Popular posts from this blog

Renewables - Part I: Is Solar Energy Ready To Compete With Oil And Other Fossil Fuels?
- a status note -

Image
reprint The solar energy industry may prove to be a dark horse in the race to provide global energy security. The world has renewed its interest in solar energy investment as it searches for a cleaner and more sustainable alternative to conventional fossil fuels. Countries like China , Germany, the UK, the US, Japan and Canada have already made significant investments in solar power . Who are the other players who are investing big in solar energy? With its own set of limitations such as high installation costs and high plug-in time, are consumers across the world ready to choose solar energy to power their daily lives? Or, are the conventional energy sources still the best bet? The best part about solar energy is that it is abundant and freely available, at least in most parts of the world. However, the high upfront costs of a photo voltaic panel remain a concern for many. Things are changing fast, however, and according to data from SEIA, the cost of an average PV system i
Read more

Goodbye _kt75 | mirror. Hello _progress | M
- a status note -

Image
  note (by W. Scharnhorst ) As of 1st July 2015 _progress | M will replace _kt75 | mirror, the latter will as of than to be further developed nor will any content be published via that platform. Already today, you can visit _progress | M via http://progress-m.blogspot.ch . There are many improvements compared with _kt75 | mirror, e.g.: full responsive design panel/mobile reader mode (recommended if you want to get the full content of an article redesigned download area ( http://progress-m.blogspot.ch/p/downloads.html ) redesigned fonts to facilitate readability There are some more features currently still in the development mode, therefore they are not yet available, e.g.: embedding related content (via the content bar in the panel£/mobile reader mode) opportunities to allow for 3rd party actions (user customisation) Overall the development of _progress | M is part an entire blog development package. Other parts of development include: u.pid
Read more

Climate Change and its Effects on Water Resources/Supply

Image
Most recent publications document a distinct effect of the ongoing climate change on water systems such as lakes, oceans, rivers, etc. Accordingly, implications (increasingly stress effects) on any kind of system be it artificial or natural are expected. More detailed information can be obtained among others from: Climate Changes & Satellites AWRA Onearth Nature Reports   CMAJ
Read more