A Renewables revolution
GS Paper 3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.
Important for:
Prelims exam level: Not Much
Mains exam Level: Renewable energy and climate crisis
Worrisome response of some nations
Nero was famously accused of fiddling while Rome burned. Today, some leaders are doing worse. They are throwing fuel on the fire. Literally. As the fallout of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ripples across the globe, the response of some nations to the growing energy crisis has been to double down on fossil fuels, pouring billions more dollars into the coal, oil and gas that are deepening the climate emergency.
Fossil fuels are not the answer
• All climate indicators continue to break records, forecasting a future of ferocious storms, floods, droughts, wildfires and unlivable temperatures in vast swathes of the planet.
• Fossil fuels are not the answer, nor will they ever be. We can see the damage we are doing to the planet and our societies.
• Fossil fuels are the cause of the climate crisis.
Abandoning fossil fuels
• Renewable energy can limit climate disruption and boost energy security.
• Renewables are the peace plan of the 21st century. But the battle for a rapid and just energy transition is not being fought on a level field.
• Investors are still backing fossil fuels, and governments still hand out billions in subsidies for coal, oil and gas — about $11 million every minute.
• The only true path to energy security, stable power prices, prosperity and a livable planet lies in abandoning polluting fossil fuels and accelerating the renewables-based energy transition.
A five-point plan to boost renewable energy
1. We must make renewable energy technology a global public good, including removing intellectual property barriers to technology transfer.
2. We must improve global access to supply chains for renewable energy technologies, components and raw materials.
3. We must cut the red tape that holds up solar and wind projects. We need fast-track approvals and more effort to modernise electricity grids.
4. The world must shift energy subsidies from fossil fuels to protect vulnerable people from energy shocks and invest in a just transition to a sustainable future.
5. We need to triple investments in renewables. This includes multilateral development banks and development finance institutions, as well as commercial banks.
What should be done?
• We need more urgency from all global leaders.
• We are already perilously close to hitting the 1.5°C limit that science tells us is the maximum level of warming to avoid the worst climate impacts.
• We must reduce emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by mid-century.
o But current national commitments will lead to an increase of almost 14 per cent this decade. That spells catastrophe.
The answer lies in renewables
• The answer lies in renewables — for climate action, energy security, and providing clean electricity to the hundreds of millions of people who currently lack it.
• There is no excuse for anyone to reject a renewables revolution.
• While oil and gas prices have reached record price levels, renewables are getting cheaper all the time.
• The cost of solar energy and batteries has plummeted 85 per cent over the past decade. The cost of wind power fell by 55 per cent.
• Investment in renewables creates three times more jobs than fossil fuels.
• As we wean ourselves off fossil fuels, the benefits will be vast, and not just to the climate. Energy prices will be lower and more predictable, with positive knock-on effects for food and economic security.
• When energy prices rise, so do the costs of food and all the goods we rely on. So, let us all agree that a rapid renewables revolution is necessary and stop fiddling while our future burns.
Conclusion
Renewables are not the only answer to the climate crisis. Nature-based solutions, such as reversing deforestation and land degradation, are essential. So too are efforts to promote energy efficiency. But a rapid renewable energy transition must be our ambition.