To Meet Paris Climate Target 8x Higher Solar, Wind Needed: DNV GL

Governments, businesses and society as a whole need to change the prevailing mindset from ‘business-as-usual’ to ‘business-as-unusual’ to fast-track the energy transition, says Ditlev Engel.

In order to meet the targets of the Paris climate pact, there’s a need for taking extraordinary policy actions to promote renewable energy, electric vehicles (EVs), energy efficiency, new decarbonization technologies and systems, said a report.

By the end of the century, global temperatures will surge by 2.4 degrees Celsius, according to the DNV GL’s Energy Transition Outlook: Power Supply and Use report.

As a precaution, a number of energy experts had suggested a combination of various technology measures such as – boosting solar energy ten times higher to 5 TW, wind energy by five times to 3 TW along with the rise in battery production by fifty-fold which are used in electric vehicles by 2030.

The report further added that, in order to limit global warming to below 2 degree Celsius and to meet Paris Agreement targets, energy transition will require ten times higher solar and over five times wind energy along with other technology measures.

However, the report finds that energy transition is gathering speed as compared to previously thought but the rate is still too slow to limit global temperatures.

Commenting on the report findings, DNV GL Energy, CEO, Ditlev Engel said “Governments, businesses and society as a whole need to change the prevailing mindset from ‘business-as-usual’ to ‘business-as-unusual’ to fast-track the energy transition.”

Here’re the following technology measures recommended by DNV GL:

1. Grow solar by 10x to 5TW and wind by 5x to 3TW by 2030, which would meet 50 percent of the global electricity use evergy year.
   2. Fifty-fold rise in battery production for 50 million EVs needed every year by 2030, alongside investments in new technology to store excess electric energy and solutions that allow our electricity grids to cope with the growing influx of solar and wind power.
   3. Create new infrastructure for EV charging on large scale.
   4. Over USD 1.5 trillion of annual investment needed for the expansion and reinforcement of power grids by 2030, including ultra-high-voltage transmission networks and extensive demand-response solutions to balance variable wind and solar power.
   5. Increase global energy efficiency improvements by 3.5 percent p.a. within the next decade.
   6. Green hydrogen to heat buildings and industry, fuel transport and make use of excess renewable energy in power grid.
   7. For heavy industry sector: increased electrification of manufacturing processes, including electrical heating. Onsite renewable sources combined with storage solutions.
   8. Heat-pump technologies and improved insulation.
   9. Massive rail expansion both for city commuting and long-distance passenger and cargo transport.
   10. Rapid and wide deployment of carbon capture, utilization and storage installations.