Every year for the past 69 years, BP has released a report called the “Statistical Review of World Energy.” It is an analysis tracking energy growth, usage, and trends throughout the year. This time, the company has released the report about 2019 under a cloud of coronavirus pandemic. It reveals that renewables were the largest source of new energy, and global power provided by clean sources equaled coal and passed nuclear for the first time.
BP CEO Bernard Looney said in a statement:
Led by wind and solar power, renewable energy increased by a record amount, accounting for over 40% of the growth in primary energy in 2019. At the same time, coal consumption fell for the fourth time in the past six years, with its share in the global energy mix falling to its lowest level for 16 years.
Clean sources – which include nuclear, wind, solar, hydro, biomass, and geothermal sources – were able to match coal in power output due to a historic fall in coal-fired power worldwide. However, there were still record highs for gas, oil, and CO2 emissions. And, coal remains the largest single source of power generation.
In only the last twenty years, global energy demand has increased by 50%. Meanwhile, last year emissions continue to rise when they should be falling. They grew by 0.5%, which is, fortunately, less than the ten-year average growth of 1.1% but still a rise nonetheless.
BP is one of many firms calling for a “green recovery” and promoting the need to “build back better.” World leaders are as well. For example, Green Party peer Natalie Bennett has been pushing for people to take advantage of the current crisis as a way to make more robust gains in renewable energy. She told The Independent:
It is great to see renewables overtaking fossil fuels, but there is still a long way to go. Global CO2 emissions have continued to rise, meaning we are further away from our global climate goals than ever before. As countries across the world look to bounce back from the arrival of [the coronavirus], we are facing a pivotal moment in the climate emergency.
Either government bring back failed, outdated approaches, disastrous for the environment, which have produced societies riven with poverty and inequality, or they invest in and support low-carbon, equality-building technologies, and approaches that deliver a healthy, genuinely sustainable society.
Looney also mentioned the coronavirus crisis in a statement saying:
The disruption to our everyday lives caused by the lockdowns has provided a glimpse of a cleaner, lower carbon world: air quality in many of the world’s most polluted cities has improved; skies have become clearer. The IEA (International Energy Agency) estimates that global CO2 emissions may fall by as much as 2.6 gigatons this year. That has come at considerable cost and as economies restart and our lives return to normal there is a risk that these gains will be lost.
The technologies required to reach net-zero exist today – the challenge is to use them at pace and scale, and I remain optimistic that we can make this happen.
Switching to renewable energy is not only the healthier, necessary choice, but it’s increasingly the most attractive option for investors as well. Jess Ralston, an analyst at the Environment and Climate Intelligence Unit, said:
Investing in new renewables to replace outdated electricity sources like coal now makes financial sense as these projects have rapidly fallen in cost. So much so that, in 2019 almost 60% of all new, large-scale renewable electricity generation capacity beat the cheapest new fossil fuel plants on price.
The other remarkable part of this story is that about BP itself, as under new boss Bernard Looney it has seemingly become one of the first oil majors to be jolted to into the realization of the long-term unsustainability of its business. It appears they’ve seen the writing on the wall for fossil fuels, with some credible commentators even suggesting that coronavirus may have pushed us past peak demand for commodities like oil. Continuing and accelerating the shift away as we rebuild greener is now a win-win for forward-thinking companies like BP.
Air pollution is killing people. Global warming is destroying the planet. Both these things are caused by carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels burnt to power everything in our world. If climate change is not addressed, it will cause about 250,000 additional deaths per year between 2030 and 2050, says the World Health Organization. The outcome will depend on the choices people make today – to switch to clean sources or ignore the science and face our doom.
