A report from the International Energy Agency lays out the challenge
The world has to do some stepping-up to prevent the most catastrophic version of climate change. A report from the International Energy Agency released Tuesday says that global commitments to building renewable energy capacity are nowhere near what’s necessary to keep temperatures to 2030 targets, and that includes goals set by the U.S. The focus of the report is the gap between ambitions in the sector and what’s actually happening.
“To meet national ambitions and spread progress more widely, the pace of deployment needs to accelerate in most regions and major countries – including the European Union, the United States and India,” the report says.
In the United States specifically, the IEA says that renewable energy infrastructure needs to increase 50% more quickly than it already is based on 2022 numbers.
“The amount of renewable energy capacity the United States and Canada aim to install by 2030 is close to 1,000 GW, twice as much as their current installed base and 13% of the global total,” the report says. But that masks where the burden lies between the two countries. In 2022, the IEA notes that more than 60% of American power came from fossil fuels. In Canada more than 80% of energy generation came from renewable sources.
Last week, the Biden administration said that tax credits usually applied to renewable sources like wind and solar will be expanded to include nuclear power projects.
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