Simon Evans: The IEA just published two fascinating reports Here are some of the best charts 1/ Clean energy is growing twice as fast as fossil fuels

The IEA just published two fascinating reports Here are some of the best charts 1/ Clean energy is growing twice as fast as fossil fuels

2/ Global CO2 emissions rose again in 2023, but clean energy is slowing that growth like never before

3/ Clean energy deployment surged in 2023 (but nuclear and heat pumps stumbled) Deployment growth vs 2022 +85% solar +60% wind -30% nuclear +35% EVs -3% heat pumps +360% electrolysers

4/ Clean energy deployment over the past five years has offset… …coal demand equivalent to entire G7 demand …gas equiv pre-invasion EU imports from RU …oil equiv UK demand

5/ Clean energy deployment over the past 5yrs avoided 2.2bn tonnes of CO2 Without clean energy deployment, the increase in CO2 emissions in 2023 would have been 3x larger (!)

6/ Clean energy deployed in China has avoided (a lot) more emissions than in any other country

7/ Rich country coal use is now the lowest it’s been since around 1900, barring a brief dip for the Great Depression

I'd love to see this but done back as far as possible, to get a total picture of nuclear, hydro, wind and solar. I bet wind and solar are close to catching up in absolute terms

It is great to see clean energy making a tangible difference in the world. This graph gives a great visual depicting progress without taking away from our continued overconsumption of fossil fuels. Thank you for sharing this advancement of clean energy! #ENVSCOMM24

That fossil fuel consumption is growing at all is an unspeakable tragedy

Which explains why the pro-oil voices are getting so shrill and desperate.

The message from this thread is that we can AWAYS do something.

YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!! DEATH TO ALL FOSSIL FUELS FOREVER!!!

But Simon, isn't the real news here that fossil fuel consumption and demand is still growing? I mean, renewables can keep growing 3x as fast, but unless fossil fuel consumption is actually declining, it won't make any difference in reducing total emissions.

that was in tweet 2?

Yes, but here's the spin you put on it: "Global CO2 emissions rose again in 2023, but clean energy is slowing that growth like never before." My concern is that this kind of optimistic interpretation suggests that any day now, we're going to turn the corner ... but fossil fuels keep growing.

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