#Roadmap infographic update

Total electricity generation grows by 3.3% per year to 2050, which is faster than the global rate of economic growth across the period.

In the NZE Scenario, electricity becomes the new linchpin of the global energy system, providing more than half of total final consumption and two-thirds of useful energy by 2050.

By 2050, unabated fossil fuels for energy uses account for just 5% of total energy supply: adding fossil fuels used with CCUS and for non-energy uses raises this to slightly less than 20%. Over the period to 2050, however, the largest growth in low-emissions energy supply comes from solar and wind. Among low emissions sources, modern bioenergy and solar increase the most, rising by around 35 EJ and 28 EJ respectively to 2030. This is equivalent to the growth of world energy supply from all sources over the last fifteen years.

Between 20, low emissions sources of supply grow by around 125 EJ in the NZE Scenario.

#Roadmap infographic update

This update to the NZE Scenario offers a comprehensive account of how policymakers and others could respond coherently to the challenges of climate change, energy affordability and energy security. Despite these mostly discouraging developments, the pathway detailed in the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 (NZE) Scenario remains narrow but still achievable.Recent investment in fossil fuel infrastructure not included in our 2021 NZE Scenario would result in 25 Gt of emissions if run to the end of its lifetime (around 5% of the remaining carbon budget for 1.5 ☌). In 2021, emissions rose by a record 1.9 Gt to reach 36.6 Gt, driven by extraordinarily rapid post-pandemic economic growth, slow progress in improving energy intensity, and a surge in coal demand even as renewables capacity additions scaled record heights.The global economy has rebounded from the Covid-19 pandemic, and the first global energy crisis has seen world energy prices touching record levels in many markets, bringing energy security concerns to the fore. However, in the short time since then much has changed. In 2021, the IEA published its report Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector.Recent investment in fossil fuel infrastructure not included in the 2021 Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario would result in 25 Gt of emissions if run to the end of its lifetime (around 5% of the remaining carbon budget for 1.5 ☌). At the same time, 2021 also saw renewables-based electricity generation reach an all-time high, a record more than 500 terawatt-hours (TWh) above the level in 2020.

This brought total CO 2 emissions from the energy sector to 36.6 Gt in 2021. Surging energy demand was in part met by increased use of coal, resulting in a 1.9 gigatonnes (Gt) jump in emissions in 2021, the largest annual increase in global CO 2 emissions from the energy sector ever recorded. As energy intensity improvements stalled, global energy demand increased by 5.4%. The global economy rebounded at record speed in 2021 from the COVID-19 pandemic, with GDP growth reaching 5.9%.

However, much has changed in the short time since that report was published.

In 2021, the IEA published its Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector, which sets out a narrow but achievable pathway for the global energy sector to reach net zero emissions by 2050.