Tim Gould, chief energy economist at the International Energy Agency, said the Russian-Ukrainian war provided the political impetus for the rapid deployment of a range of renewable energy technologies in the EU, the US and other countries.
He told about this in an interview with The World, adding that the most transformative long-term changes will be increased investment in RES.
Gould noted that the war affected fossil fuel consumption, particularly global demand:
- on oil reaches record levels;
- on gas returned to pre-crisis levels;
- on coal sets new highs.
He emphasized that such an increase was expected. If it were not for the increase in RES capacities (in some cases doubled) and the improvement of energy efficiency, carbon emissions related to the energy industry would have increased by 3 times.
The IEA believes that the peak of overall demand for fossil fuels will occur by the end of the decade, that is, by 2030.
"I believe that this is a very important moment in the history of energy. The general picture is that demand for fossil fuels starts to level off and then starts to fall," Gould said.
He added that this time will mark an important turning point in the world's response to climate change. After all, policies and implementation of important technologies have intensified.
According to him, without the war in Ukraine, the transition to RES would have been slower. This is evidenced by political reactions in Europe, the USA, in particular the IRA inflation reduction law, and in other countries.
Earlier, Ecopolitic wrote, that according to forecasts of the oil and gas giant BP (formerly British Petroleum), the Russian-Ukrainian war will affect the long-term demand for energy carriers and accelerate the global green transition.
As EcoPolitic previously reported, the head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, said that the world is at the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era.
