Electricity production requires a lot of water. But water, which is mostly omnipresent in this country, is becoming increasingly scarce around the world with climate change. The production of energy must therefore be switched much more radically to wind power and solar energy. That is the assessment of the World Weather Organization (WMO) in its new report on the impact of climate change on today’s energy sources.
The WMO warned in Geneva on Tuesday that increasingly frequent heat waves and drought are already lowering the water levels needed for hydroelectric power or to cool nuclear power plants. In addition, storms and other extreme weather conditions endanger the infrastructure in many places.
The energy sector is responsible for three quarters of the man-made greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate change, the report says. It is therefore essential to radically change production. But governments are doing too little, said WMO Secretary General Petteri Taalas. They failed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees as intended if electricity production from clean sources was not doubled in the next eight years.
Already today, 15 percent of the world’s nuclear power plants are located in regions where water is becoming scarcer. The proportion will probably rise to 25 percent in the next 20 years. Also, 33 percent of thermal power plants that require cooling water and 11 percent of hydroelectric capacity are in water-stressed areas. A good quarter of the existing dams for hydroelectric power plants and almost a quarter of the planned plants are on rivers with a medium to high risk of water shortage.
In order to achieve the 1.5 degree target, the world community is actually aiming to cause only as many carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 as can be offset (net zero emissions). However, the WMO warns that not enough is being done. According to current plans, only 30 percent of the emission reductions required to achieve the target by 2030 would be achieved.
In fact, by 2050 the demand for electricity will have to be largely covered by renewable energies, especially solar energy, writes the WMO. This also reduces the stress caused by growing water scarcity, because electricity from solar and wind energy requires significantly less water than electricity from plants that are operated with fossil fuels or from nuclear power plants.
Africa has great potential for solar energy. However, the investments there are far too low. Funding to help countries transition to clean energy has declined since 2018, from $14.2 billion to $10.9 billion a year later. In order to be able to supply clean energy everywhere in Africa, annual investments of 25 billion dollars are necessary.
