Guterres calls for electrification

At his last Climate Summit as UN secretary-general, António Guterres told the audience in September that we are the first generation with tools to end the fossil fuel age.

“We are the first generation with the tools to end the fossil fuel age, and the last who can avert climate catastrophe.”

Türkiye pushes electrification pledge

COP31 host Türkiye will push for a voluntary pledge at the November conference to meet thirty five percent of global energy demand with electricity by twenty thirty five, up from twenty three percent today.

Renewables now lead electricity growth

Solar and wind together are now the largest sources of growth in global electricity generation, overtaking coal and gas to meet over half of new electricity demand.

Electric vehicles surge forty fold

Electric vehicle sales have increased forty fold since twenty fifteen, and dramatically falling costs have driven new stationary battery storage additions, which made up almost one hundred twenty gigawatts in twenty twenty five.

War turbocharged electrification push

The Iran war has left countries reeling from fuel shocks and volatility. A proposal to ban diesel exports in the United States is now prompting calls for rationing as the war looks set to stretch on into next year.

Energy security drives the shift

Jan Rosenow, a professor of energy and climate policy at Oxford University, said electrification is an energy security strategy, especially for Europe and Asian economies that rely heavily on imports.

“Perhaps the most prominent reason is that it's an energy security strategy.”

Twenty five countries adopt policies

Since March, about twenty five countries have introduced structural policies to boost electrification. Indonesia is making gas powered motorbikes electric, while Ethiopia has grown its EV fleet to more than fifteen times what it was three years ago.

Australia and Netherlands electrify

Australia is expanding a public EV kerbside charging program and has electrification incentives for both households and industry, while the Netherlands is replacing gas boilers with heat pumps.

China leads global electrification

China, which accounted for more than sixty percent of the global increase in electricity demand from twenty fifteen to twenty twenty five, is now electrifying heavy trucks and inland cargo ships.

Grid infrastructure falls behind

Wind and solar farms are being deployed faster than the infrastructure needed to connect and move that electricity, like high voltage transmission lines. The IEA estimates more than eighty million kilometres of grid infrastructure will need to be added or refurbished by twenty forty.

Renewable projects stuck in queues

More than two thousand five hundred gigawatts of renewable energy projects, nearly twice the entire US electricity generation capacity, are currently stalled in grid connection queues worldwide due to transmission bottlenecks.

Grid investment must double

The UN has launched a grid acceleration initiative to help build the arteries of the clean energy age. IRENA estimates that investment in the grid will need to double, to about one trillion dollars a year, to meet demand.

Türkiye will miss its own target

Data analysts from the Climate Action Tracker group estimate Türkiye will fail to reach its electrification target by twenty thirty five. Türkiye is also investing heavily in oil and fossil gas exploration, overtaking Germany in twenty twenty four as the largest producer of coal fired electricity in Europe.

Australia approves coal expansion

Australia, which will lead negotiations for COP31, has approved sixteen new or expanded coal mines since twenty twenty three. The NSW Independent Planning Commission approved the largest coal expansion in the state's history in the Hunter Valley, which will cause more than eight hundred million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions over the next two decades.

Rosenow sees hope in electrification

Professor Rosenow said electrification represents a fundamental reorganisation of the entire energy system. The vast efficiency gains and low economic cost of clean electricity generation give reason for hope in bending the emissions curve down.

“If we stand any chance of really bending the emissions curve down, then I think it is electrification because of these vast efficiency gains.”