The adoption of new “disruptive” technology along with improvements in energy efficiency could help limit global temperature rises to 1.6°C under the Paris Agreement, a report has found.
Emerging technology is being adopted rapidly enough to “outcompete” fossil fuels, restricting carbon-dioxide emissions within the range of 650 to 1,200 gigatonnes for the period 2018–2100, Rystad Energy said in a report this week.
That would correspond to global temperatures increases of 1.6°C to 1.9°C, aligned with the Paris Agreement goal of holding warming “well below 2°C”, Rystad said, citing the carbon budget scenarios of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
A carbon budget is the cumulative amount of carbon dioxide emissions permitted over a period to keep within a certain temperature threshold.
Advancement in methane emission reduction technology offers the potential to prevent up to 0.2°C of global warming, the Norway-based consultancy said.
The belief that primary energy will continue to grow at pace with the global economy and that fossil fuels would be too expensive to replace are “behind the times”, said Jarand Rystad, chief executive of Rystad.
Primary energy supply, including all fossil fuels and renewables, is currently about 600 exajoules (EJ) after growing rapidly since 1965 on the back of strong population growth and economic progress.
However, primary energy supply is likely to peak soon at about 630 EJ by 2030 and then decline, Rystad said.
Of the 500 EJ of primary energy from fossil fuels currently, only 250 goes to the end user, while about 440 would be made available if the total came from solar, wind or hydropower, the report said.
"Moreover, energy efficiency improvements in buildings, appliances and machines have been 1 per cent per year over the last decades led by better materials and design. This trend is now accelerating," Rystad said.
The consultancy also expects a peak in global carbon-dioxide emissions around 2027, reflecting the growing impact of renewable energy sources and transition to cleaner fuels across all sectors.
“Historically, emissions reductions in the power sector have been the strongest contributor to declining total emissions in the US and in the EU,” Rystad said.
“This has been largely incentivised by competitive natural gas prices, which motivated coal-to-gas switching, and declining costs of renewable energy, like wind and solar PV [photovoltaic],” the consultancy said.
Investments in low-carbon energy solutions such as solar and wind would eclipse those in oil and gas by 2025, marking a pivotal shift, the consultancy said.
Geothermal and carbon capture, utilisation and storage are also expected to contribute to the investment surge.
“Suppliers are responding to this change, strategically expanding their portfolios to incorporate renewable technologies,” said Rystad.
“This expansion is strategic, allowing suppliers to maintain their footing in the fossil fuel sector, while embracing the burgeoning demand for renewable solutions."
Renewable energy is expected to make up nearly half of the global electricity mix by 2030 under current policies, but stronger measures would be required to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, the International Energy Agency said last month.
By the end of the decade, there will be 10 times as many electric cars on the road worldwide, with the share of renewable energy in power generation rising to 50 per cent from 20 per cent now, the Paris-based agency said in its World Energy Outlook.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
PULITZER PRIZE 2020 WINNERS
JOURNALISM
Public Service
Anchorage Daily News in collaboration with ProPublica
Breaking News Reporting
Staff of The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.
Investigative Reporting
Brian M. Rosenthal of The New York Times
Explanatory Reporting
Staff of The Washington Post
Local Reporting
Staff of The Baltimore Sun
National Reporting
T. Christian Miller, Megan Rose and Robert Faturechi of ProPublica
and
Dominic Gates, Steve Miletich, Mike Baker and Lewis Kamb of The Seattle Times
International Reporting
Staff of The New York Times
Feature Writing
Ben Taub of The New Yorker
Commentary
Nikole Hannah-Jones of The New York Times
Criticism
Christopher Knight of the Los Angeles Times
Editorial Writing
Jeffery Gerritt of the Palestine (Tx.) Herald-Press
Editorial Cartooning
Barry Blitt, contributor, The New Yorker
Breaking News Photography
Photography Staff of Reuters
Feature Photography
Channi Anand, Mukhtar Khan and Dar Yasin of the Associated Press
Audio Reporting
Staff of This American Life with Molly O’Toole of the Los Angeles Times and Emily Green, freelancer, Vice News for “The Out Crowd”
LETTERS AND DRAMA
Fiction
"The Nickel Boys" by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday)
Drama
"A Strange Loop" by Michael R. Jackson
History
"Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America" by W. Caleb McDaniel (Oxford University Press)
Biography
"Sontag: Her Life and Work" by Benjamin Moser (Ecco/HarperCollins)
Poetry
"The Tradition" by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press)
General Nonfiction
"The Undying: Pain, Vulnerability, Mortality, Medicine, Art, Time, Dreams, Data, Exhaustion, Cancer, and Care" by Anne Boyer (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
and
"The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America" by Greg Grandin (Metropolitan Books)
Music
"The Central Park Five" by Anthony Davis, premiered by Long Beach Opera on June 15, 2019
Special Citation
Ida B. Wells
How to join and use Abu Dhabi’s public libraries
• There are six libraries in Abu Dhabi emirate run by the Department of Culture and Tourism, including one in Al Ain and Al Dhafra.
• Libraries are free to visit and visitors can consult books, use online resources and study there. Most are open from 8am to 8pm on weekdays, closed on Fridays and have variable hours on Saturdays, except for Qasr Al Watan which is open from 10am to 8pm every day.
• In order to borrow books, visitors must join the service by providing a passport photograph, Emirates ID and a refundable deposit of Dh400. Members can borrow five books for three weeks, all of which are renewable up to two times online.
• If users do not wish to pay the fee, they can still use the library’s electronic resources for free by simply registering on the website. Once registered, a username and password is provided, allowing remote access.
• For more information visit the library network's website.
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Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
