CHRISTIANS from many backgrounds celebrate the Advent season with reflections on hope, peace, love and joy. The overhang of several events makes it challenging for many. The global economy is still reeling from supply chain bottlenecks brought about by the two conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. Markets and geopolitics make everyone nervous and unsettled. The recovery from the pandemic could have been smoother without these conflicts. The business mood is downbeat, with high interest rates and high debt levels. The recession that many economists forecasted seemed to have been averted, though, and many industries actually flourished. One of these is the emergence of clean energy. This was led by solar energy and electric vehicles (EVs). These provide a glimmer of hope and good tidings for a year that was dominated by news of war.
According to the International Energy Agency's (IEA) recently released World Energy Outlook 2023, investments in clean energy have risen by 40 percent since 2020 with the strengthening of the economic case for mature clean energy technologies. Energy security also became an important factor because energy itself became a weapon of war. Although not all clean technologies are thriving, there are strong examples of an accelerating pace of change. In 2020, the IEA said one in 25 cars sold was electric; in 2023, this is now one in five. More than 500 gigawatts (GW) of renewable generation capacity are set to be added in 2023, which is a new record. More than $1 billion a day is being spent on solar deployment. Manufacturing capacity for key components of a clean energy system, including solar PV modules and EV batteries, is expanding fast. This momentum is why the IEA concluded in its Net Zero Roadmap that a pathway to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, though difficult, still remains achievable.
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