London:

Global fossil fuel consumption and energy emissions hit all-time highs in 2023, even as fossil fuels’ share of the global energy mix decreased slightly on the year, the industry’s Statistical Review of World Energy report said on Thursday.

Growing demand for fossil fuel despite the scaling up of renewables could be a sticking point for the transition to lower carbon energy as global temperature increases reach 1.5C (2.7F), the threshold beyond which scientists say impacts such as temperature rise, drought and flooding will become more extreme.

“We hope that this report will help governments, world leaders and analysts move forward, clear-eyed about the challenge that lies ahead,” Romain Debarre of consultancy Kearney said.

Last year was the first full year of rerouted Russian energy flows away from the West following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and also the first full year without major movement restrictions linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Overall global primary energy consumption hit an all-time high of 620 Exajoules (EJ), the report said, as emissions exceeded 40 gigatonnes of CO2 for the first time.

“In a year where we have seen the contribution of renewables reaching a new record high, ever increasing global energy demand means the share coming from fossil fuels has remained virtually unchanged,” Simon Virley of consultancy KPMG said.

The report recorded shifting trends in fossil fuel use in different regions. In Europe, for example, the fossil fuel share of energy fell below 70% for the first time since the industrial revolution.

“In advanced economies, we observe signs of demand for fossil fuels peaking, contrasting with economies in the Global South for whom economic development and improvements in quality of life continue to drive fossil growth,” Energy Institute Chief Executive Nick Wayth said.

Industry body the Energy Institute, together with consultancies KPMG and Kearney, has published the annual report since 2023. They took over from BP last year, which had authored the report, a benchmark for energy professionals, since the 1950s.

Fossil fuel accounted for almost all demand growth in India in 2023, the report said, while in China fossil fuel use rose 6% to a new high.

But China also accounted for over half of global additions in renewable energy generation last year.

“China adding more renewables than the rest of the world put together is remarkable,” KPMG’s Virley told reporters.

Here are some highlights from the report on 2023:

CONSUMPTION
* Global primary energy demand rose by 2% in 2023 from 2022,to 620 EJ. * Fossil fuel use rose 1.5% to 505 EJ, which accounted for81.5% of the overall energy mix, down by 0.5% from 2022. * Fossil fuel use did not increase in a single Europeancountry in 2023. * Electricity generation rose by 2.5% in 2023, up slightlyfrom 2.3% of growth the previous year. * Renewable fuel generation (excluding hydro) gained 13% toa new record high of 4,748 terawatt-hours (TWh). * Renewables’ share of the overall energy mix excludinghydro was 8%, up from 7.5% in the 2022 report. * Including hydro renewables accounted for 15% of the globalmix.

OIL
* Oil consumption exceeded 100 million bpd in 2023 for thefirst time ever, following a 2% year-on-year rise. * Oil supply growth was met by non-OPEC+ producers, withU.S. output gaining 9% on the year. * China overtook the U.S. as the country with the largestrefining capacity in the world last year at 18.5 million bpd,though refining volumes still lagged behind at 82% utilisationvs the U.S.’ 87%. * Global gasoline consumption hit 25 million bpd last year,just above its 2019 pre-pandemic level. * Biofuels production increased by 8% to 2.1 million bpd in2023, driven by gains in the U.S. and Brazil. * The U.S., Brazil, and Europe accounted for 80% of globalbiofuels consumption.

NATURAL GAS
* Global gas production and consumption remained relativelyflat on the year in 2023. * LNG supply rose by almost 2% to 549 billion cubic metres(bcm). * The U.S. overtook Qatar as the leading global supplier ofLNG after a 10% rise in production. * Overall European gas demand was down 7% on the year in2023. * Russia’s share of European gas supply was just 15% in2023, from 45% in 2021.

COAL
* Coal consumption hit a new high of 164 EJ in 2023, up 1.6%on the year, driven by China and India. * India’s coal consumption exceeded that of Europe and NorthAmerica combined. * U.S. coal consumption fell by 17% in 2023 and has halvedin the last decade.

RENEWABLES
* The record high in renewable generation was driven byhigher wind and solar capacity, with 67% more additions in thosetwo categories in 2023 than 2022. * As much as 74% of net growth in overall power generationcame from renewables. * China accounted for 55% of all renewable generationadditions in 2023, and was responsible for 63% of new globalwind and solar capacity.

EMISSIONS
* Emissions grew by 2% on the year to exceed 40 gigatonnes. * Emissions rose despite the slight drop in fossil fuels’share of the energy mix, because emissions within the fossilfuels category became more intense as oil and coal use rose andgas held steady. * The report notes that since 2000, emissions from energyhave increased by 50%.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Representational image of cargo ships at a harbour. Carbon tax on shipping will cut developing countries’ GDP by 0.13%
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The European Union, Canada, Japan and climate-vulnerable Pacific Island states are among 47 countries rallying support for a charge on the international shipping sector’s greenhouse gas emissions, documents reviewed by Reuters showed.

The documents, being discussed at an International Maritime Organization (IMO) meeting now entering a second week, outline four proposals with a combined 47 backers for imposing a fee on each tonne of greenhouse gas the industry produces.

ALSO READ | Understanding the EU’s carbon border tax 

Support for the idea has more than doubled from the 20 nations that publicly supported a carbon levy at a French climate finance summit last year.

Backers argue the policy could raise more than $80 billion a year in funding which could be reinvested to develop low-carbon shipping fuels and support poorer countries to transition. Opponents, including China and Brazil, say it would penalise trade-reliant emerging economies.

Those countries are competing to win over the dozens of others—including most African nations—that diplomats say have yet to take a firm stance on the issue. The IMO takes decisions by consensus, but can also do so by majority support.

The U.N. agency last year agreed to target a 20% emissions cut by 2030, and net zero emissions around 2050. While countries agreed in talks last week to continue negotiations on the emissions price, an official meeting summary noted they were “split on several issues” regarding the idea.

Albon Ishoda, IMO delegate for the low-lying Marshall Islands, said a levy was the only credible route to meet the IMO’s goals.

“If this does not get passed, what are the alternatives? Because we’ve already agreed to certain targets,” he said. “Are we going back to the drawing board?”

Shipping, which transports around 90% of world trade, accounts for nearly 3% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions—a share expected to expand in the coming decades without tougher anti-pollution measures.

A proposal tabled by the Marshall Islands, Vanuatu and others—which despite their high reliance on shipping have demanded an emissions levy for years—proposes a charge of $150 per tonne of CO2.

Researchers have said a $150 carbon price could make investments in low-carbon ammonia-fuelled systems economic compared with conventional ships.

Disagreement

China, Brazil and Argentina pushed back on the idea of a CO2 levy in IMO talks last year. A study by Brazil’s University of Sao Paulo found a carbon tax on shipping would cut GDP across developing countries by 0.13%, with Africa and South America among the hardest-hit regions.

A Brazilian negotiator said Brazil and other developing countries were seeking a swift energy transition with the least disruptive effects on their economies, especially for countries that rely on sea-borne trade.

A proposal by Argentina, Brazil, China, and others advocates a global fuel emissions intensity limit, with a financial penalty for breaches, as an alternative. That would mean if countries fully complied with the fuel standard, no emissions would face the fee.

“We will not be in favour of a flat levy likely to hurt developing countries, but we would be in favour of a good levy only applied to the emissions over a certain benchmark,” the Brazilian negotiator said.

Despite differences of opinion, member states are still attempting to agree on global measures to avoid more countries targeting the industry on a national level.

That would fragment the market with varying local standards, and cause a headache for companies shipping goods globally.

Union Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy R. K. Singh. File

Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy R. K. Singh on July 21 said that in order to achieve the net-zero carbon emission target, storing the renewable energy is necessary so that it becomes available round-the-clock.

Chairing the inaugural function of G20 14th Clean Energy Ministerial meeting and 8th Mission Innovation meeting in Goa, Mr. Singh also said that the governments will have to work on building storage capacities of renewable energy.

Also Read | Rich nations must achieve net zero carbon quicker, by 2040: U.N. chief Antonio Guterres

Minister Singh said, “If you want to get to net zero (carbon emission), then you will have to store the renewable energy so that it is available round-the-clock and that is a problem. The cost of storage is huge. The G20 Ministerial meeting will discuss the problems that lie on the path of climate action, energy transition and the strategies to achieve it.”

“We kept talking about how important energy transition is and how important climate change is. But if we were actually serious, we would have more capacity of batteries. We have only one country doing it,” he said, without naming the country.

Mr. Singh said that another challenge is that the reserves of lithium are limited and the bulk of the reserves are tied up by just one or two countries. “That is a major problem which we need to solve,” he said.

“We also need to address the question of chemistry – why only lithium and why not sodium-ion (in manufacturing batteries). I would request – let’s get together and crack this challenge of storage,” the Minister said.

Talking about India’s initiatives in this area, Mr. Singh said that the country plans to use green hydrogen and green ammonia as storage.

“We are huge on pumped storage. We have 33,000 MW of pumped storage under different approvals. We have established 1,500 MW of pumped storage,” he said.

The Minister said that the G20 countries also need to address supply chain issues which were exaggerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war. “India’s energy demand grew by 9.5% last year as the economy grew by 7.5%,” he said.

“The challenge is to add more capacity to the energy generation…We have added 1,82,000 circuit kilometres of transmission lines so that we can generate solar installations in Rajasthan and consume it anywhere. We have one grid-one market,” he pointed out. The Minister also cautioned about the use of low-carbon hydrogen.

“The problem with this one kilogram of hydrogen from natural gas will get you about 10 kilogram of carbon dioxide. How do we guarantee that it won’t leak out – that is a problem,” he said.