Three technologies – solar, wind and electric vehicles – are largely responsible for the improved projections of global warming since 2015.
OCED now estimates, “Solar PV is projected to reduce emissions by about three Gt in 2030,” which is roughly equal to the emissions from all the world’s cars on the road today.
Compared to scenarios before the Paris Agreement, wind power is expected to reduce emissions by two gigatons in 2030, and electric vehicles (EVs) by about one gigaton.
Photovoltaic (PV) and wind power are expected to represent about 15 percent of global electricity production in 2030 – seven times that of wind power and three times that of PV that the IEA predicted in 2015.
At the time, a fleet of electric vehicles seemed like a pipe dream. The IEA estimates that by 2030, the share of EVs in car sales will be less than two percent.
It is now estimated that by the end of the decade more than a third of purchases will be electric vehicles.
And the numbers are increasing. “The adoption of clean energy technologies has grown at an unprecedented pace over the past two years,” the IEA said, noting a 50 percent increase in solar PV capacity and a 240 percent increase in EV sales.
The IEA attributes this progress – unimaginable before the Paris Agreement – to falling costs and public policy initiatives from other countries, including China, the United States and Europe.
Five-year plans in China have raised ambitions for solar energy and driven down global costs.
Off-shore wind projects in Europe “sparked a global industry” and electric two-wheelers and buses “have seen significant growth in India and other emerging markets”, the agency said.