REM: Global power sector emissions may have peaked – Ember

Emissions from the electricity sector may have peaked in 2022, says a new report from climate and energy think-tank Ember.

The power sector is the largest source of climate-contributing emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) globally.

Clean power growth is likely to exceed electricity demand growth in 2023; this would be the first year for this to happen outside a recession, said Ember.

“As soon as 2023, wind and solar could push the world into a new era of falling fossil generation, and therefore of falling power sector emissions,” said the report.

With average growth in electricity demand and clean power, Ember forecasts that 2023 will see a small fall in fossil generation (-47 TWh, -0.3%), with bigger falls in subsequent years as wind and solar grow further.

In short, wind and solar are slowing the rise in power sector emissions. If all the electricity from wind and solar instead were from fossil generation, power sector emissions would have been 20% higher in 2022.

But although electricity is cleaner than ever, the world is using more of it, noted Ember.