Raphael ThysPhoto by Chris LeBoutillier on Unsplash
We Are Going Backwards
And it could cause a climate and a financial catastrophe.
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Published in
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5 min read
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2 days ago
Here’s a question: Do you think we are doing enough to save the planet? After all, everyone seems to be buying Teslas, and solar and wind farms are starting to crop up everywhere. Well, the simple answer is no, we aren’t doing enough. But the blame for that doesn’t lie on your shoulders. Instead, it is the misguided and ignorant actions of governments, institutions and massive corporate entities. This is why, despite the science, economics and public pressure, plans for new oil- and gas-fired power plants actually grew by 13% last year, pushing us even closer to climate oblivion. But it turns out there is more at stake here than our precious climate.
So, where did that 13% figure come from? Well, the Global Energy Monitor (GEM) recently released their latest report. They found that in the year to July 2023, the capacity of oil- and gas-fired power stations under development around the world grew by a massive 90GW, which works out to a 13% growth. This means there are now 783 gigawatts (GW) of new oil- and gas-power capacity under development. Once completed, these projects will increase the global oil and gas power fleet by a third!
That is massive growth for an industry that should be winding down to save the planet.
This vast expansion will have some dramatic knock-on effects. GEM estimates that these new oil and gas projects will emit a whopping 41 billion tonnes of CO2 over their lifetime. That is the same as the US emits every six years, and they are the second most polluting nation on Earth!
This is why, in 2021, the IEA found that in order for us to meet our climate goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and avoiding the carnage and chaos of climate hell, fossil fuel expansion had to stop immediately. New fossil fuel infrastructure can lock in tens of billions of tonnes of emissions and easily tip us past the point of no return.
What’s even more annoying is that renewables are as expensive or even cheaper than these new gas and oil power plants. They can even be built and connected to the grid quicker. So there is no real reason for this expansion other than just carrying on the way we used to. It is ignorant, misguided and plain dangerous.