Sign up for the Morning Brief email newsletter to get weekday updates from The Weather Channel and our meteorologists.
Stalled spending on electrical grids worldwide is slowing the rollout of renewable energy and could put efforts to limit climate change at risk if millions of miles of power lines are not added or refurbished in the next few years, the International Energy Agency said.
(MORE: Earth On Track For Warmest Year In 2023 Following A Record Hot September)
The Paris-based organization said in the report Tuesday that the capacity to connect to and transmit electricity is not keeping pace with the rapid growth of clean energy technologies such as solar and wind power, electric cars and heat pumps being deployed to move away from fossil fuels.
IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol told The Associated Press in an interview that there is a long line of renewable projects waiting for the green light to connect to the grid. The stalled projects could generate 1,500 gigawatts of power, or five times the amount of solar and wind capacity that was added worldwide last year, he said.
"It's like you are manufacturing a very efficient, very speedy, very handsome car — but you forget to build the roads for it," Birol said.
Executive Director of the International Energy Agency Fatih Birol speaks during a media conference on energy at EU headquarters in Brussels, Monday, Dec. 12, 2022.
(AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)If spending on grids stayed at current levels, the chance of holding the global increase in average temperature to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial levels — the goal set by the 2015 Paris climate accords — "is going to be diminished substantially," he said.
The IEA assessment of electricity grids around the globe found that achieving the climate goals set by the world's governments would require adding or refurbishing 50 million miles of power lines by 2040 — an amount equal to the existing global grid in less than two decades.
Annual investment has been stagnant but needs to double to more than $600 billion a year by 2030, the agency said.
(MORE: Where Unchecked Global Warming Will Make It Too Hot To Live)
It's not uncommon for a single high-voltage overhead power line to take five to 13 years to get approved through bureaucracy in advanced economies, while lead times are significantly shorter in China and India, according to the IEA.
The report cited the South Link transmission project to carry wind power from northern to southern Germany. First planned in 2014, it was delayed after political opposition to an overhead line meant it was buried instead. Completion is expected in 2028 instead of 2022.
Other important projects that have been held up: the 250-mile Bay of Biscay connector between Spain and France, now expected for 2028 instead of 2025, and the SunZia high-voltage line to bring wind power from New Mexico to Arizona and California. Construction started only last month after years of delays.
Heavy machinery is used to cut trees to widen an existing Central Maine Power power line corridor to make way for new utility poles, April 26, 2021, near Bingham, Maine. The International Energy Agency said in a report Tuesday that the capacity to connect to and transmit electricity isn't keeping pace with the rapid growth of clean energy technology like solar and wind power, electric cars and heat pumps.
(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)On the East Coast, the Avangrid line to bring hydropower from Canada to New England was interrupted in 2021 following a referendum in Maine. A court overturned the statewide vote rejecting the project in April.
MORE FROM WEATHER.COM:
- Nearly Everyone Experienced Climate Change This Summer
- Amazon River Level Falls To Record Low During Drought
- Four New Climate Words Added To Dictionary
- Clean Energy Keeps Global Warming Limit Hope Alive
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
"electric" - Google News
October 18, 2023 at 08:31PM
https://ift.tt/f4UXYrT
Electrical Grids Need A Clean-Energy Overhaul | Weather.com - The Weather Channel
"electric" - Google News
https://ift.tt/SyZxGQW
https://ift.tt/LeGkHPR
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Electrical Grids Need A Clean-Energy Overhaul | Weather.com - The Weather Channel"
Post a Comment