Infographic: 41% of global carbon dioxide emissions come from power

CAIRO – 4 February 2021: The power sector currently accounts for up to 41 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, GE Gas Power revealed in an infographic issued during its virtual roundtable.

It added that there are up to 1 billion people around the world who still lack access to reliable energy and the demand for electricity is expected to continue to grow, including in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), where population growth, industrialization and urbanization continue to fuel the need for more power.

“To address sustainability concerns, the world is transitioning towards a lower carbon energy mix at a pace unseen before,” it stated, noting that this is reflected in the total global value of energy transition investment – including spend on new renewable energy capacity, electric vehicles and associated charging infrastructure, energy storage technologies, and more - reaching over US$500 billion for the first time in 2020.

This was an increase of 9 percent over the previous year, despite the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, while renewables are growing rapidly, increases are not occurring fast enough, and they are still projected to provide less than half of global electricity supply by 2040.

“As this transition plays out, the accelerated and strategic deployment of renewable and gas power together can deliver a no-regrets path to make substantive reductions in emissions quickly, while delivering dependable, affordable power,” says Joseph Anis, President & CEO of GE Gas Power Europe, Middle East, and Africa. 

A recent white paper by GE titled ‘Accelerated Growth of Renewables and Gas Power Can Rapidly Change the Trajectory on Climate Change’ outlines how gas power can complement renewables to offer decarbonization at scale in the near-term, with pathways to near-zero in the long term.

These solutions were discussed at a virtual media roundtable organized by GE Gas Power under the theme ‘Pathways to Faster Decarbonization with Gas and Renewables’. The following speakers addressed attendees: Brian Gutknecht, Marketing Leader, GE Gas Power; Jeffrey Goldmeer, Emergent Technologies Director - Decarbonization, External Programs & Partnerships, GE Gas Power; Deepesh Nanda, CEO, GE Gas Power South Asia; Abdurrahman Khalidi, Chief Technology Officer, GE Gas Power, MENA & South Asia; Michael Konadu, Commercial Growth Director, GE Gas Power Sub-Saharan Africa.
 

Infographic_Building Towards Zero