World entering ‘new era’ of clean energy production: IEA

Paris (AFP) – The world is at the “beginning of a new industrial era” of clean energy technology manufacturing that will triple in value by 2030 and create millions of jobs, the International Energy Agency said Thursday.

The IEA predicted in a report that the global market for key mass-produced technologies, including solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicle batteries, heat pumps and electrolyzers for hydrogen, would be around $650 billion a year by the end of the decade. will be done

This figure is three times higher than current levels but is conditional on countries fully implementing their energy and climate commitments. The agency said jobs related to clean energy production would double from six million to about 14 million by 2030.

“The energy world is at the dawn of a new industrial era — an era of clean energy technology development,” the IEA said. But the Paris-based organization warned that resource outflows and the concentration of manufacturing pose risks to supply chains.

The three countries account for 70 percent of manufacturing capacity for solar, wind, battery, electrolyzer and heat pump technology, with China “dominating them all.” The Democratic Republic of Congo produces more than 70 percent of the world’s cobalt, and three countries — Australia, Chile and China — account for more than 90 percent of global production of lithium, a key source for electric vehicle batteries. .

Supply chain tensions threaten to make energy transitions more difficult and expensive, the report added. For the first time, the global price of electric vehicle batteries will increase by around 10% in 2022 due to rising cobalt, lithium and nickel prices.

The cost of building wind turbines outside of China has also risen after years of falling prices, while similar trends are affecting solar panels. IEA Executive Director Fateh Birol urged countries to diversify supply chains, citing Europe’s dependence on Russian gas as a prime example of the potential disruption caused by over-reliance on one commercial source. .

“As we’ve seen with Europe’s dependence on Russian gas, when you’re too dependent on one company, one country or one trade route — you risk paying a heavy price if there’s a disruption.” It is,” he said. Birol also stressed the importance of international cooperation, “since no country is an energy island and energy transitions will be more expensive and slower if countries do not work together.”