Wind and solar power could prompt fossil fuel power production to fall for the first time outside of pandemic or recession this year, according to a report by think tank Ember.
Increasing uptake of wind and solar power is “slowing the rise” in sector emissions which may have peaked last year, Ember predicted, after the two renewable sources generated 12% of global power.
“We are entering the clean power era. The stage is set for wind and solar to achieve a meteoric rise to the top,” Ember analyst Małgorzata Wiatros-Motyka said.
Clean energy investments also matched those in fossil fuels for the first time, aided by government funds, such as the US$370bn US Inflation Reduction Act, subsidies in the EU and international support for developing countries.
“A new era of falling fossil emissions means the coal power phasedown will happen, and the end of gas power growth is now within sight,” Wiatros-Motyka added.
Just one coal power plant, operated by German firm RTE, remains online in the UK, after four other backup units were shut in late March as owners Drax Group (LSE:DRX) and EDF ruled out their use for another winter.
Gas still accounts for roughly 40% of the UK’s electricity though, according to National Grid PLC (LSE:NG.) system operating data, and is used to heat some 85% of British homes.
Ember added: “It will be an impressive moment when power sector emissions begin to fall year-on-year, but the world is not there yet, and emissions need to be falling fast.”