If you look at Africa outside South Africa in itself, so much of the investment in in electricity has not been into coal. In South America, it's not far off that there is a little bit more complicated in in Columbia, Mexico and a few left in Brazil. But even where coal is rife, I think that when the wind has totally have really come into the mix now, people are getting that. So this isn't just a kind of European center, UK centric thing, but the coal is dirty. It's not the way forward.
Dave Jones is the Head of Data Insights at Ember, a think tank helping shift the world from coal to clean energy—rapidly.
Dave joined me to discuss the energy transition, going into detail about the impact of coal, gas and oil before comparing our renewable options. He reveals the nations around the world leading the renewable race, the supply chain weaknesses that need to be addressed, and, as ever, the necessity of energy demands vs desires.
“We need to get beyond just thinking about coal and gas power, and to be thinking about like the extra electrification of all the other sectors coming on, because that's gonna hit us really hard in the next few years….
“It's not hitting us at the moment, we’re seeing it fall at the moment. But we know that we’re going to get this big increase coming in the next few years, and trying to keep an eye on that, trying to make sure that we’re putting that into our calculations —Christ, we’re going to have to build an awful lot of clean electricity for all of this.”
Planet: Critical investigates why the world is in crisis—and what to do about it.
© Rachel Donald
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