© IEA
World Energy Outlook: Speeding up the energy transition even further
The World Energy Outlook 2024 (WEO), which was presented on 5 November at a joint event of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, the BDI (Federation of German Industries) and the World Energy Council Germany in Berlin is a further call for decisive political action by the global community in order to advance the global energy transition.
The WEO concluded that it would still be possible to achieve the targets agreed at the COP28 climate conference in Dubai. In mid-December 2023, the COP28 climate conference in Dubai ended with a historic declaration. For the first time, all countries had previously agreed to move away from fossil fuels and triple global renewable energy capacity. The WEO shows that the required production capacities are available. The costs of most technologies are also continuing to fall.
The World Energy Outlook therefore affirms that there is now a good basis for the energy transition and that it is making great progress worldwide. According to the report, it is advancing faster than ever before. With renewables currently accounting for a good 55 per cent of its electricity consumption, Germany is also contributing to this global development.
Further measures for greater energy efficiency
The WEO further states that the electrification efforts are continuing to pick up speed in all sectors. At the same time, however, obstacles to the expansion of renewable sources of energy must continue to be removed and additional efforts made to increase energy efficiency in order to move away from fossil fuels and limit the global temperature rise to the 1.5 degrees Celsius stipulated in the Paris Agreement. The countries should now ensure that even high shares of renewables can be reliably integrated into the grid.
In its analysis, the IEA assumes that emissions from fossil fuels will have peaked by 2030. It affirmed that it is a task of policy to further speed up the expansion of renewable energy. This is because more efficient and decarbonised energy systems that operate without fossil fuels also reduce energy security risks.
New energy technologies create greater security of supply
An electrolyser cell is made of two electrodes separated by an electrolyte and a separator. The electrodes are used to induce a chemical process that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. The electrolyte’s job is to enable the transfer of energy, with catalysts improve efficiency rates.
Industrial-type electrolysers are composed of stacks of many cells and come with additional components such as transformers, pumps, purification and cooling systems and safety technology.
At present, there are four technologies in the spotlight: the mature procedures of alkaline electrolysis (AEL) and proton exchange membrane electrolysis (PEM), and those of anion-exchange membrane electrolysis (AEM) and solid oxide electrolysis (SEOC).