Full Title: Global Electricity Review 2023
Author(s): Malgorzata Wiatros-Motyka
Publisher(s): Ember
Publication Date: April 12, 2023
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Description (excerpt):
Ember’s fourth annual Global Electricity Review aims to provide the most transparent and up-to-date overview of changes in global electricity generation in 2022 and a realistic summary of how “on track” the electricity transition is for limiting global heating to 1.5 degrees. The report analyses electricity data from 78 countries representing 93% of global electricity demand and includes estimated changes in the remaining generation. It also dives deeper into the top ten CO2 emitting countries and regions, accounting for over 80% of global CO2 emissions.
As soon as 2023, wind and solar could push the world into a new era of falling fossil generation, and therefore of falling power sector emissions. The global electricity sector is the first sector that needs to be decarbonised, in parallel with electricity demand rising, as electrification unlocks emissions cuts throughout the entire economy. The IEA Net Zero Emissions scenario points to
a 2040 net zero power sector; ten years ahead of a net zero economy in 2050.
Tracking the electricity transition, therefore, is critical to assess our climate progress. The decarbonisation of the power sector is underway, as record growth in wind and solar drove the emissions intensity of the world’s electricity to its lowest ever level in 2022. It will be an impressive moment when power sector emissions begin to fall year-on-year, but the world is not there yet, and emissions need to be falling fast.