Funding in solar energy is anticipated to overhaul oil for the primary time this yr as clear vitality spending outpaces that for fossil fuels, the Worldwide Vitality Company (IEA) mentioned in a report on Thursday.
Whereas that may be a welcome improvement, the Worldwide Vitality Company warned that funding in fossil fuels is rising when it ought to be falling quick to realize internet zero emissions by 2050.
“Clear vitality is transferring quick – sooner than many individuals understand,” IEA Govt Director Fatih Birol mentioned in an announcement accompanying the discharge of the company’s newest report on vitality funding.
“That is clear within the funding developments, the place clear applied sciences are pulling away from fossil fuels,” he added.
Annual funding in clear vitality is anticipated to have risen by 24% from 2021 to greater than $1.7 trillion in 2023, in response to the IEA. The achieve for fossil fuels was 15% over the identical interval.
Funding in clear vitality and fossil fuels was equal solely 5 years in the past. However a mixture of things, specifically excessive oil and fuel costs and a fear about provides, has seen spending on renewables surge forward.
“One shining instance is funding in photo voltaic, which is about to overhaul the quantity of funding going into oil manufacturing for the primary time,” Birol mentioned.
The IEA expects funding in solar energy, basically photovoltaic panels, to hit $380 billion this yr, whereas funding in oil exploration and extraction ought to are available at $370 billion.
Solar King
“This crowns photo voltaic as a real vitality superpower,” mentioned Dave Jones, head of knowledge insights on the vitality assume tank Ember.
The low worth of solar energy technology will assist propel decarbonisation efforts as electrical automobile adoption gathers tempo.
However the rebound in oil and fuel funding, which is anticipated to return to 2019 ranges this yr, places the trade additional away from the IEA’s 2050 internet zero trajectory.
The IEA says general 2023 fossil gas funding is anticipated to be greater than double the quantity the sector ought to be spending in 2030. For coal, it chilly hit six instances the quantity.
The IEA additionally famous that clear vitality funding was concentrated in superior nations and China, whereas the most important will increase in fossil gas funding are in Center Jap nations.
“The irony stays that a few of the sunniest locations on this planet have the bottom ranges of photo voltaic funding, and it is a downside that wants consideration,” mentioned Jones.
The IEA additionally discovered that main vitality firms, for probably the most half, are usually not placing appreciable funds into the transition to inexperienced vitality.
Simply 5 p.c of their money move final yr went to low-carbon and renewable energies or carbon seize initiatives, solely a few quarter of the quantity that was paid out general to shareholders.