Latest news with #InternationalRenewableEnergyAgency
Economic Times
2 hours ago
- Business
- Economic Times
AI should run on 100% renewable energy by 2030, UN Chief says
Synopsis UN Secretary-General António Guterres urges major tech firms to power data centers with renewable energy by 2030, highlighting the immense energy consumption of AI. The UN report reveals that while renewable energy is advancing, its adoption is unequal, with developing nations lagging. AP United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivers a speech on climate action "A Moment of Opportunity: Supercharging the New Energy Era" at the United Nations headquarters on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, in New York. Major tech firms should commit to fully powering data centers with renewable energy by 2030, said United Nations Secretary-General António tech also must be responsible in its use of water for cooling, Guterres said Tuesday in New York City as he presented the UN's new report on the energy transition, Seizing the Moment of Opportunity, together with the International Renewable Energy Agency. 'AI can boost efficiency, innovation and resilience in energy systems, but it is also energy hungry,' Guterres said. 'This is not sustainable — unless we make it so.'A typical AI data center consumes as much power as 100,000 homes, according to the UN, and the largest centers now being built will use 20 times that. By 2030, data centers could consume as much electricity as all of Japan today, the report renewable energy is advancing exponentially across the world as costs fall, the transition away from fossil fuels is highly concentrated in advanced economies like the US and Europe, as well as China, the UN says. Much of the developing world is falling behind. That means clean energy is not replacing fossil energy at the pace and scale needed. Emerging geopolitical risks — including tariffs — could raise clean-energy costs in the short term, the report says. Adding vast amounts of renewable capacity will also make grids more volatile, and addressing that could bump up costs for a long-term, the cost of clean power will continue to decline, the report predicts, as technology evolves and the supply chain matures. The energy transition has reached a point of no return, Guterres said in his speech. 'The clean energy future is no longer a promise, it's a fact,' he said. 'No government, no industry, no special interest can stop it.' Over 90% of new renewable projects produce electricity for less than the cheapest fossil-fuel alternative, according to new data from the International Renewable Energy Agency. Some $2 trillion was invested in clean energy in 2024, the UN says — about $800 billion more than went into fossil clean power adoption remains deeply unequal. Africa made up just 1.5% of global investment in renewables last year, despite accounting for 85% of the world's population without access to electricity. Less than one in every five dollars invested in clean power has gone to emerging markets outside China since the Paris Agreement came into force in leaders committed to try to limit global warming to 1.5C when they signed the Paris accord. A decade later, with that goal in grave peril, nations are due to present their new emissions plans ahead of the COP30 climate summit in Brazil in in the Group of 20 produce the bulk of emissions so must lead in ambition, Guterres said.'The race for the new must not be a race for the few,' he said. 'It must be a relay — shared, inclusive and resilient.'
Los Angeles Times
5 hours ago
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
U.N. leader calls on tech industry to run data centers on 100% renewable energy by 2030
Major tech firms should commit to fully powering data centers with renewable energy by 2030, said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. Big tech also must be responsible in its use of water for cooling, Guterres said in New York City this week as he presented the U.N.'s new report on the energy transition, Seizing the Moment of Opportunity, together with the International Renewable Energy Agency. 'AI can boost efficiency, innovation and resilience in energy systems, but it is also energy hungry,' Guterres said. 'This is not sustainable — unless we make it so.' A typical AI data center consumes as much power as 100,000 homes, according to the U.N., and the largest centers now being built will use 20 times that. By 2030, data centers could consume as much electricity as all of Japan today, the report finds. Although renewable energy is advancing exponentially across the world as costs fall, the transition away from fossil fuels is highly concentrated in advanced economies like the U.S. and Europe, as well as China, the U.N. says. Much of the developing world is falling behind. That means clean energy is not replacing fossil energy at the pace and scale needed. Emerging geopolitical risks — including tariffs — could raise clean-energy costs in the short term, the report says. Adding vast amounts of renewable capacity will also make grids more volatile, and addressing that could bump up costs for a time. But long-term, the cost of clean power will continue to decline, the report predicts, as technology evolves and the supply chain matures. The energy transition has reached a point of no return, Guterres said in his speech. 'The clean energy future is no longer a promise, it's a fact,' he said. 'No government, no industry, no special interest can stop it.' Over 90% of new renewable projects produce electricity for less than the cheapest fossil-fuel alternative, according to new data from the International Renewable Energy Agency. Some $2 trillion was invested in clean energy in 2024, the U.N. says — about $800 billion more than went into fossil fuels. But clean power adoption remains deeply unequal. Africa made up just 1.5% of global investment in renewables last year, despite accounting for 85% of the world's population without access to electricity. Less than one in every five dollars invested in clean power has gone to emerging markets outside China since the Paris Agreement came into force in 2016. World leaders committed to try to limit global warming to 1.5C when they signed the Paris accord. A decade later, with that goal in grave peril, nations are due to present their new emissions plans ahead of the COP30 climate summit in Brazil in November. Countries in the Group of 20 produce the bulk of emissions so must lead in ambition, Guterres said. 'The race for the new must not be a race for the few,' he said. 'It must be a relay — shared, inclusive and resilient.' Millan writes for Bloomberg.
Forbes
11 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
Trump Hostility To Wind And Solar Has Utilities Treading Softly
AT SEA - JULY 07: A wind turbine generates electricity at the Block Island Wind Farm on July 07, ... More 2022 near Block Island, Rhode Island. The first commercial offshore wind farm in the United States, five power generating structures are located 3.8 miles from Block Island, Rhode Island in the Atlantic Ocean. The five-turbine, 30 MW project was developed by Deepwater Wind and began operations in December, 2016 at a cost of nearly $300 million. (Photo by) President Donald Trump reiterated his hostility to wind generation when he arrived in Scotland for what was ostensibly a private visit. 'Stop the windmills,' he said. But the world isn't stopping its windmill development and neither is the United States, although it has become more difficult and has put U.S. electric utilities in an awkward position: It is a love that dare not speak its name, one might say. Utilities love that wind and solar can provide inexpensive electricity, offsetting the high expense of battery storage. It is believed that Trump's well-documented animus to wind turbines is rooted in his golf resort in Balmedie, near Aberdeen, Scotland. In 2013, Trump attempted to prevent the construction of a small offshore wind farm — just 11 turbines — located roughly 2.2 miles from his Trump International Golf Links, but was ultimately unsuccessful. He argued that the wind farm would spoil views from his golf course and negatively impact tourism in the area. Trump seemingly didn't just take against the local authorities, but against wind in general and offshore wind in particular. Yet fair winds are blowing in the world for renewables. Francesco La Camera, director general of the International Renewable Energy Agency, an official United Nations observer, told me that in 2024, an astounding 92 percent of new global generation was from wind and solar, with solar leading wind in new generation. We spoke recently when La Camera was in New York. My informal survey of U.S. utilities reveals they are pleased with the Trump administration's efforts to simplify licensing and its push to natural gas, but they are also keen advocates of wind and solar. Batteries Improve Usefulness Of Wind, Solar Simply, wind is cheap and as battery storage improves, so does its usefulness. Likewise, solar. However without the tax advantages that were in President Joe Biden's signature climate bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, the numbers will change, but not enough to rule out renewables, the utilities tell me. China leads the world in installed wind capacity of 561 gigawatts, followed by the United States with less than half that at 154 GW. The same goes for solar installations: China had 887 GW of solar capacity in 2024 and the United States had 239 GW. China is also the largest manufacturer of electric vehicles. This gives it market advantage globally and environmental bragging rights, even though it is still building coal-fired plants. While utilities applaud Trump's easing of restrictions, which might speed the use of fossil fuels, they aren't enthusiastic about installing new coal plants or encouraging new coal mines to open. Both, they believe, would become stranded assets. Utilities and their trade associations have been slow to criticize the administration's hostility to wind and solar, but they have been publicly cheering gas turbines. However, gas isn't an immediate solution to the urgent need for more power: There is a global shortage of gas turbines with waiting lists of five years and longer. So no matter how favorably utilities look on gas, new turbines, unless they are already on hand or have set delivery dates, may not arrive for many years. Another problem for utilities is those states that have scheduled phasing out fossil fuels in a given number of years. That issue – a clash between federal policy and state law — hasn't been settled. In this environment, utilities are either biding their time or cautiously seeking alternatives. For example, facing a virtual ban on new offshore wind farms, veteran journalist Robert Whitcomb wrote in his New England Diary that New England utilities are looking to wind power from Canada, delivered by undersea cable. Whitcomb wrote a book about offshore wind energy, 'Cape Wind: Money, Celebrity, Energy, Class, Politics and the Battle for Our Energy Future,' published in 2007. New England Frustrated By Pipeline Shortage New England is starved of gas as there isn't enough pipeline capacity to bring in more, so even if gas turbines were readily available, they wouldn't be an option. New pipelines take financing, licensing in many jurisdictions, and face public hostility. Emily Fisher, a former general counsel for the Edison Electric Institute, told me, 'Five years is just a blink of an eye in utility planning.' On July 7, Trump signed an executive order which states: 'For too long the Federal Government has forced American taxpayers to subsidize expensive and unreliable sources like wind and solar. 'The proliferation of these projects displaces affordable, reliable, dispatchable domestic energy resources, compromises our electric grid, and denigrates the beauty of our Nation's natural landscape.' The U.S. Energy Information Administration puts electricity consumption growth at 2 percent nationwide. In parts of the nation, as in some Texas cities, it is 3 percent.
Spectator
2 days ago
- Business
- Spectator
What Trump gets right about Britain's windfarms
Donald Trump is often treated in Britain as a know-nothing who speaks off the top of his head on subjects he does not understand. No one is keener to try to make this point than the BBC. Yet not for the first time, it turns out that he is bit more on the ball than some of his critics. After his game of golf at his Turnberry course in Ayrshire, western Scotland on Sunday, the president retorted: 'It's probably the best course in the world. And I look over the horizon and I see nine windmills at the end of the 18th. I said: 'Isn't that a shame?''. It was enough to provoke the BBC into providing what it saw as an explainer. Scottish environmental correspondent Kevin Keane was especially excited by Trump's comment suggesting that Britain 'get rid of the windmills and bring back the oil'. Protesting, somewhat pedantically, that there are no 'windmills' in the sea off Britain, just wind turbines which generate electricity rather than mill corn, Keane went on to assert that it isn't possible to 'bring back the oil' because North Sea oil in running out and will decline even were it not for the UK government's refusal to issue licenses for oil and gas extraction there. There are, in fact, several oil and gas companies which are very keen to invest in new exploration – but the government has made their lives near impossible. Not only has the search for new oil and gas fields there been effectively banned, but companies exploiting established fields are subject to a 'windfall' tax which increases the effective levies on their operations to nearly 80 per cent. The extra tax was introduced by the previous government in 2022 when there really were windfalls being made owing to high global prices following the end of the Covid pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Yet the tax has lived on in spite of prices falling back a long way. The BBC also ignores the potential for shale gas in Britain – a putative industry which has since been banned by the present and the previous governments. Various estimates have put the amount of shale gas available beneath Britain to be equivalent to between 10 and 50 years' current usage. That certainly could be a growing industry – if only it were allowed. Britain's energy sector, asserts the BBC, 'needs wind…to replace the jobs which are already being lost in oil and gas'. That overlooks two problems with the UK's wind industry. Firstly, it has been pretty feeble at creating jobs. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) the UK has 0.3 per cent of global jobs in renewable energy – yet it has one per cent of the Earth's population and has set itself tougher 'net zero' targets than all but a handful of other countries. Why hasn't it landed more jobs? One important factor is that Britain has the highest industrial energy prices in the world – thanks in large part to net zero targets, carbon levies and so on. It is just so much cheaper to produce wind turbines – and other manufactured goods – in China, where 60 percent of electricity generation still comes from cheap coal. Secondly, Britain does not have the grid infrastructure to support the large number of turbines which have been built in and around Scotland in recent years. On windy days, turbines there often have to be switched off because the transmission wires cannot cope. When this happens, owners of wind farms receive generous compensation in the form of what are known as 'constraint payments' – which cost energy consumers £1.5 billion last year. The wind farms which Trump feels are spoiling the view from his Scottish golf courses are not just unsightly – they are costing UK consumers a fortune and struggling to keep the lights on.
Perth Now
2 days ago
- Business
- Perth Now
UN urges Australia to lead global renewable energy race
The United Nations is urging Australia to set ambitious climate and renewable energy targets in its next net-zero update to secure future jobs and a rich vein of clean exports for the country. Falling short of expectations would come at a significant cost, the organisation warns, as natural disasters caused by climate change could "cripple" local food production and undermine Australians' living standards. United Nations climate change executive secretary Simon Stiell issued the warnings at an event in Sydney on Monday before he is due to meet with Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen. The call comes two months before the federal government is due to release 2035 climate goals, but also as former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce introduced a private member's bill to parliament to repeal Australia's 2050 net-zero target. The race to develop, sell and use clean energy products had already begun across the world, Mr Stiell told the Smart Energy Council event, with major renewable investments in countries including China and India. Australia's "defining moment" for the market could arrive in September with its 2035 climate plan, he said, which, could lay the foundation for future jobs and businesses, and send a clear message to investors worldwide. "(It's one shot) to strengthen Australia's economic security and regional influence, building an on-ramp to the Asian clean-tech boom," he said. "(It's one shot) to anchor future industries - green hydrogen, clean metals, critical minerals - in policies that give investors confidence, give communities certainty, create good jobs paying good wages, and a rising national tide that lifts living standards for all." His call comes less than a week after an International Renewable Energy Agency study found 91 per cent of renewable energy projects were more cost-effective than those using fossil fuel. Solar projects saved 41 per cent on average, while onshore wind projects cut costs by 53 per cent, the research found. Australia's existing renewable energy targets were effective, Mr Stiell said, but more ambitious goals could further reduce the costs of energy production and help Australians avoid costly climate risks. Allowing climate change to continue could "cripple Australia's food production", he said, as well as contributing to a loss in gross domestic product and lower living standards. "Climate disasters are already costing Australian home-owners $4 billion a year and that figure is only going one way," Mr Stiell said. "Australia has a strong economy and among the highest living standards in the world – if you want to keep them, doubling down on clean energy is an economic no-brainer." Under the Paris climate agreement, the Australian government must submit its 2035 climate targets by September this year. The Climate Change Authority, which will advise the government, is considering an emissions-reduction target between 65 and 75 per cent by 2035. Current Australian climate targets include a 43 per cent reduction in greenhouse gases and 82 per cent of electricity from renewable sources by 2030. The federal opposition is yet to release a climate policy.
