IEA: Greenhouse emissions in 2022 were significantly lower due to the growth of renewable energy use

Today the International Energy Agency (IEA) declaredthat in 2022, global energy carbon emissions increased by only 0.9%, by 321 million tons. Nevertheless, total emissions reached a new record of 36.8 billion tons.

The IEA notes that compared to previous years and especially 2021, when emissions growth jumped by 6% after many countries came out of lockdowns, emissions in 2022 increased slightly. This is largely due to the growing popularity of cleaner, including renewable energy sources (RES). According to the IEA, thanks to them, at least 550 million tons of greenhouse gases were avoided last year.

“Consequences of the energy crisis (last year.— “b”) did not lead to a significant increase in global emissions, as initially feared. This was largely due to the remarkable growth in the popularity of renewable energy, electrical technologies, heat pumps and the development of energy efficient technologies. Without clean energy, the growth in CO2 emissions would be three times higher, says IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. “However, we are still seeing an increase in emissions from fossil fuels, which reduces the effectiveness of our efforts to combat climate change. International and national fossil fuel companies are making record profits and must take some of the responsibility in the collective effort of society to fight climate change.”

Evgeniy Khvostik