The new age of electricity

CGTN Europe

The world is on the brink of a new age of electricity.  That’s according to the International Energy Agency, in its latest report - ‘World Energy Outlook’.   CGTN’s Li Jianhua has the details.

Transcript

00:00In 2023 alone, more than 560 gigawatts of new renewable capacity were added,

00:06and to put it into context, that is enough to cover Japan's entire energy needs.

00:12And investment in clean energy projects is nearing 2 trillion US dollars each year.

00:18That is double what is being spent on new oil, gas, and coal supply combined.

00:23And China is leading the way in their shift, accounting for

00:26about 60% of the new renewable capacity added last year.

00:30And by the early 2030s, China's solar power or solar PV generation is expected to surpass

00:38the overall total electricity demand from the United States.

00:41And we know that net zero is on top of the agenda for a lot of developed economies.

00:46But right now, it's very interesting to find out that electricity generation

00:50now this year still relies heavily on coal, which is followed by natural gas and hydropower,

00:55with nuclear, wind, and solar energy contributing similarly.

00:59But it's likely to change in 2035.

01:03If all of the government don't change their current policies right now,

01:06the order would shift.

01:07Solar will take the lead, followed by wind and coal.

01:11So we have more electricity in our future, let's say.

01:14But there's going to be more demand for it, isn't there, including from air conditioning.

01:18Yeah, air conditioning.

01:19It's very interesting that here you don't typically find air conditioning.

01:22In ordinary British households, it is commonly used in wealthier countries.

01:27We look at the penetration rate of air conditioning in ordinary households.

01:32The United States and Japan, they're on top of the list.

01:34About 90% of the households own air conditioning units.

01:38China is not on top of the list, but China has the largest number

01:42of air conditioning units because of the large population.

01:45And we're likely to see a surging air conditioning use, which could have,

01:50according to the report, a significant and unpredictable impact

01:54on the world's electricity grids in the coming decades.

01:58So what are the reasons?

01:59The increase in incomes in developing economies and countries

02:04and higher temperatures because of climate change.

02:07That is why the majority of this growth will be from emerging markets

02:12and developing economies.

02:13Cooling last year accounted for about 10% of the total electricity demand

02:20last year.

02:20By 2030, air conditioning could require an extra, this is the number,

02:25a staggering 700 terawatt hours of electricity.

02:29To put this into context, that is enough to power around

02:3263 million homes in the United States for a year.

02:37And apart from that, electric vehicles and artificial intelligence

02:40will also consume more electricity.

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