Countries around the world have adopted net zero climate targets — including Canada. With catastrophic events caused by climate change continuing to pile up every year, policy makers and private organizations alike have noticed that despite the situation’s urgency, we actually have a long way to go before making ‘net zero’ a reality.
Boston Consulting Group (BCG) reviewed the current state of the world’s energy transition, reporting key findings — including investment gaps and required shifts needed to reach that goal — in their Blueprint for the Energy Transition.
Here are some highlights from the report:
Significantly higher solar power and wind energy investment needed to ween off fossil fuels
The world relies on fossil fuels for 80% of its energy. If we want to see anything close to net-zero by 2030, here’s what the BCG says we need:
- $20 to $30 trillion more invested in solar power and wind energy to 2050
- $21 to $27 trillion invested in the electrical grid to 2050
- Renewables to rise from 12% to 50-70% of the energy supply by 2050
- Solar and wind use to increase 10X
- Electrical grid to expand by 2.5X
“A significant acceleration of the green energy transition is essential to maintaining a livable planet for today and for future generations,” said Patrick Herhold, BCG managing director and senior partner.
Policymakers must deter non-green energy offerings financially
While energy transition requires action from both private and public agencies, BCG notes that only policymakers have the ability to “level the playing field.” A surprise to none, the method is always rooted in one thing that talks: money. This might look like carbon pricing, subsidy removal, and tax policy to make non-green energy more expensive.
As for accountability? That’s where the role of investors and financial institutions come in. BCG says they can work in tandem with government bodies to establish checks and balances to measure whether private companies are actually taking action to switch to more sustainable energy sources.
Climate tech will reduce emissions, especially tech to decarbonize the power supply
We’ve heard before that net zero won’t happen without support from climate tech. Some of those specific technologies include hydrogen, nuclear reactors, carbon capture, and grid-scale batteries. Here are the categories of tech that the BCG sees as reducing carbon emissions from highest to lowest impact:
Technology that:
- Decarbonizes the power supply: 26%
- Increases energy efficiency: 23%
- Electrifies end-uses: 22%
- Uses low-carbon fuels: 16%
- Deploys carbon capture: 13%
Read BCG’s full report here
