Updated: December 28, 2019 7:56:35 pm
At least 143 countries across the world can achieve 100 per cent clean, renewable energy by 2050, as per Stanford scientists. The roadmap, which was published in the journal One Earth, employs the latest energy data available in each country to provide more precise guidance on how to reach those commitments.
Stanford University scientists Mark Z. Jacobson and his team focussed on low-cost, stable grid solutions in 24 world regions, that comprise of 143 countries. According to their projections, transitioning to clean, renewable energy could reduce worldwide energy needs by at least 57 per cent, create 28.6 million more jobs, and reduce energy, health, and climate costs by 91 per cent compared with a business-as-usual analysis.
As per the new plan, the roadmap utlises updated data about how each country’s energy use is changing, acknowledges lower costs and greater availability of renewable energy and storage technology.
It includes new countries in its analysis and accounts for recently-built clean, renewable infrastructure in some countries. “There are a lot of countries that have committed to doing something to counteract the growing impacts of global warming, but they still don’t know exactly what to do,” said Jacobson to PTI.
According to the roadmap, to increase energy efficiency, electrification of all energy sectors is required which can reduce energy use, and for the development of wind, water, and solar infrastructure that can supply 80 per cent of all power by 2030 and 100 per cent of all power by 2050.
The new model also says that efficiency of electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles over fossil fuel vehicles, notably of the electrified industry over fossil fuel industry, could substantially decrease overall energy use.
The plan states that the “the efficiency of electric heat pumps over fossil heating and cooling, along with the elimination of energy needed for mining, transporting, and refining fossil fuels, will have the same effects.”
The researchers predict that while the eventual transition to wind, water, and solar requires an initial investment of USD 73 trillion worldwide, the cost-to-benefit ratio over time would pay for itself through energy sales.
In addition, clean, renewable energy is cheaper to generate over time than are fossil fuels, so the investment reduces annual energy costs significantly, they said.
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