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A Chinese aircraft carrier sails past a wind turbine as it sails into Hong Kong on July 7, 2017 (AFP Photo/TENGKU Bahar) |
Abu Dhabi (AFP) - The rapid growth of renewable energy sources and the demise of fossil fuels are causing major changes in global politics, a special commission said in a report Friday.
The shift
"will alter the global distribution of power, relations between states,
the risk of conflict, and the social, economic and environmental drivers of
geopolitical instability," said a the commission set up by the
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
Solar, wind
and other renewables, which currently make up around a fifth of global energy
production, are growing faster than any other source, the report said.
Commission
chairman and former president of Iceland, Olafur Ragnar, said the shift will
likely cause China to eclipse the United States, place oil-dependent Gulf
states at risk and help impoverished African nations achieve energy
independence.
"It is
difficult to predict when, but this change is happening comprehensively and
fast," Ragnar told AFP.
The report,
entitled "A New World", was launched at IRENA's ninth general
assembly in Abu Dhabi.
"The
shift from fossil fuels to renewables is driven by new technologies and falling
costs, increasingly making renewables as competitive as conventional sources of
energy," the report said.
The cost of
electricity from solar sources has dropped by 75 percent since 2009 while the
price of wind turbines halved over the same period, it said.
IRENA
secretary general Adnan Amin said the body's analysis shows that "by 2020,
all commercially available renewable technologies will be on par with, or
cheaper than, fossil fuels competitors".
He said
that in 2017, a record 168 gigawatts of electricity were generated from
renewable sources -- double the previous year.
The IRENA
commission also warned that countries are heavily dependent on fossil fuel
exports would need to adapt to avoid "serious economic consequences".
But, it
said, renewables will be a powerful vehicle of democratisation because they
make it possible to decentralise the energy supply.
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“… 4 - Energy (again)
The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet; again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!
Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much…
Water
Water
We've told you that one of the greatest natural resources of the planet, which is going to shift and change and be mysterious to you, is fresh water. It's going to be the next gold, dear ones. So, we have also given you some hints and examples and again we plead: Even before the potentials of running out of it, learn how to desalinate water in real time without heat. It's there, it's doable, and some already have it in the lab. This will create inexpensive fresh water for the planet.
There is a change of attitude that is starting to occur. Slowly you're starting to see it and the only thing getting in the way of it are those companies with the big money who currently have the old system. That's starting to change as well. For the big money always wants to invest in what it knows is coming next, but it wants to create what is coming next within the framework of what it has "on the shelf." What is on the shelf is oil, coal, dams, and non-renewable resource usage. It hasn't changed much in the last 100 years, has it? Now you will see a change of free choice. You're going to see decisions made in the boardrooms that would have curled the toes of those two generations ago. Now "the worst thing they could do" might become "the best thing they could do." That, dear ones, is a change of free choice concept. When the thinkers of tomorrow see options that were never options before, that is a shift. That was number four.”
There is a change of attitude that is starting to occur. Slowly you're starting to see it and the only thing getting in the way of it are those companies with the big money who currently have the old system. That's starting to change as well. For the big money always wants to invest in what it knows is coming next, but it wants to create what is coming next within the framework of what it has "on the shelf." What is on the shelf is oil, coal, dams, and non-renewable resource usage. It hasn't changed much in the last 100 years, has it? Now you will see a change of free choice. You're going to see decisions made in the boardrooms that would have curled the toes of those two generations ago. Now "the worst thing they could do" might become "the best thing they could do." That, dear ones, is a change of free choice concept. When the thinkers of tomorrow see options that were never options before, that is a shift. That was number four.”