West’s Energy Transition Narrative Ignores The Reality in Asia
By Tilak Doshi
BP released its annual “Statistical Review of World Energy” (70th edition) last week with updated global energy data for 2020. As usual, the publication — widely hailed as the “bible of the global energy industry” — was accompanied by widespread media coverage (here, here and here). The lead stories in newswires and major newspapers focused on two aspects: the impact of the Covid pandemic in drastically reducing energy demand (and hence carbon emissions) and on the continued “good news” of rapid growth in solar and wind energy capacity. The extensive coverage by the leading dailies were lacking in the far more consequential realities of the dominance of fossil fuels and the role of developing countries – which account for over 80% of the global population — in the growth of energy demand.
As energy demand collapsed with the adoption of Covid lockdowns around the world, 2020 registered the biggest fall in carbon dioxide emissions since the Second World War according to the report. Spencer Dale, BP’s Chief Economist, noted in remarks released ahead of the review that this puts the world closer to the path needed for “keeping global warming below 20C this century” but does not reflect the “decisive shift” needed to meet climate goals backed by the Biden administration, the EU and the whole host of multi-lateral agencies including the International Energy Agency, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/07/18/wests-energy-transition-narrative-ignores-the-reality-in-asia/
