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Covid-19 caused the biggest reduction in Greenhouse gas emissions since World War Two say new reports

Richard Simmonds • Nov 05, 2020

New reports released by Capgemini and BloombergNEF have shown that greenhouse gas emissions declined to the lowest level since World War Two due to the fall in electricity demand caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Lockdowns see demand for Electricity plummet

The Capgemini report titled The World Energy Markets Observatory report monitored the main indicators of the electricity and gas markets across Asia, Europe, and North America.

Despite the big decline recorded in 2020, the report suggests that emissions will likely recover and even push higher as the world tries to rebound by the economic damage caused by national lockdowns.

Global GDP has fallen in 2020 and as a result, energy demand growth slowed with it. Consumption rose by just 0.7% compared to the 2.2% increase seen in 2018.

Global emissions were shown to have increased by 0.6% in 2019 but declined by 0.4% in the energy sector. The drop was down to the shift away from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources and as efficiency improved.

“This 2020 emissions decrease is linked to the lockdown period and remaining mobility restrictions. Emissions will likely rise again as the world recovers from the pandemic. By way of illustration, it would take a similar restriction, every year for the next 10 years, to get on the right environmental trajectory, which is of course unviable. Profound changes are needed to reach climate change objectives,” said Capgemini Energy

and Utilities senior advisor Coletter Lewiner.

Also read: Is Green Energy really good for the environment?

Emissions from fuel combustion peaked in 2019

In a separate report from research company BNEF title New Energy Outlook 2020 the decline in energy demand will remove 2.5 years’ worth of energy sector emissions from now and 2050.

The report goes on to say that the emissions from fuel combustion peaked in 2019 and declined by 10% year on year in 2020 as a result of the lockdowns caused by the pandemic. It also forecasts that energy emissions will rise when the economy eventually begins to recover but does not expect the 2019 peak to ever be reached again.

Also read: Covid-19: Energy demand and prices rebounded in the third quarter

Optimistic future?

The BNEF report also paints a rather optimistic view of the future as it states that from 2027 emissions will fall by a rate of 0.7% per year to 2050. The cause of this decline it says is a result of the increasing competition in the wind and solar power sectors and the expected mass take-up of electric vehicles.

Wind and solar are predicted to account for 56% of global electricity generation by 2050 and with new battery storage technologies will see over $15.1 trillion worth of investment.

Also read: A brief history of Wind power

Lack of UK EV investment

A new report released by DevicePilot has put a potential dampener on the UK government’s NetZero goal as it reveals that over half of UK councils have so far received no government funding to implement much-needed EV charging infrastructure.

57% of councils have received no funding with councils across the UK so far receiving funding to the tune of £27,791,621.

Pilgrim Beart, co-founder and CEO of DevicePilot said: “We often hear about government initiatives aimed at reducing carbon emissions but wanted to see whether they are following through. With EV sales booming in 2020, improving charging infrastructure should be a key priority, but many councils – particularly in England – are crying out for more support. From our conversations with councils, many want to improve the situation, but don’t feel as though they have the budget to do so, or don’t know how to tap into government resources.”

Also read: Electric car ownership must rise 11,000% for the UK to hit Net zero target