The International Energy Agency estimates that investment in clean energy will outpace fossil fuels, although progress is most noticeable in some markets. File photo by Pat Benic/ UPI | License photo
May 25 (UPI) — Global capital investment in clean energy is growing at a brisk 24%, compared with a 15% increase in fossil fuels, the International Energy Agency reported Thursday.
The IEA estimates that $2.8 trillion will be invested in the energy sector worldwide this year, with about $1.7 trillion going to cleaner technologies such as nuclear power, renewable energy and electric vehicles. The rest, about $1 trillion, will go to traditional forms of energy like coal and crude oil.
Fatih Birol, head of the Paris-based agency, said investments in clean energy are accelerating faster than most people realize.
“For every dollar invested in fossil fuels, about $1.7 is now spent on clean energy. He said. – Five years ago, this ratio was one to one.
Just solar He added that investment is growing rapidly and for the first time is overtaking capital expenditure on oil production.
In the U.S. economy, the stimulus contained in last year’s Deinflation Act offers lucrative tax credits for everything from materials used in wind turbines to electric vehicles, as long as they are based in North America.
But progress was slow. Nuclear power is actually declining from 2021. level and remains unchanged until 2024, while the share of renewable energy will increase from 20% to 26% next year.
Although the U.S. economy is the world’s largest, the IEA said more than 90% of spending on renewables comes from other advanced economies, including China. This, the IEA said, could lead to volatile developments around the world if other economies do not follow suit.
Meanwhile, in fossil fuels, the IEA expects spending on exploration and production to rise to levels not seen since the pandemic, but even there progress is seen in only a few select markets.
“The few oil companies that are investing more than before during the COVID-19 pandemic are mainly large national oil companies in the Middle East,” the IEA said.
The rest return more value to their shareholders. After reporting a record first-quarter profit, British supermajor BP announced a 1.75 billion share buyback quarterly offer and increased dividends investors will receive 21% to 6.61 cents per share.
“The expected recovery of investment in fossil fuels means that in 2023 they will increase to more than double what is needed by 2030. under the IEA’s net-zero emissions scenario by 2050,” the agency said.
