COP28 was able to obtain a commitment from the leaders of 130 countries to triple the nuclear energy capacity by 2030. The good news is that countries’ clean energy transitions have been moving faster than expected in recent years.
What is happening to renewable energy?
Over the years, we’ve been burning coal for electricity and heating, and we’ve been experiencing the catastrophic effects of climate change. No significant steps have been taken to end the use of coal at this COP28 meeting. Fortunately, there are more energy sources that can replace coal, such as solar, wind, hydro, and nuclear.
For example
The consumption of solar and wind energy increased by 9 percentage points in 10 years and last year it made up 12% of the total energy. However, oil and coal still make up 80% of the total energy.
China
Although China is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, it is one of the leading countries in the field of renewable energy. In 2021, China provided ¼ of its electricity from renewable energy, and by 2025, the figure is expected to reach 33%.
America
The country’s solar energy capacity is expected to increase by 32 GW this year and set a record. This is a 52% increase compared to last year.
Coal to uranium!
Turning to the promise of tripling nuclear power capacity, there are currently 436 nuclear power reactors in the world, 93 of which are American. America leads the way in terms of numbers, but no country can keep up with China in terms of building new nuclear reactors. China is building 22 new reactors in addition to its 55 existing nuclear power reactors. With COP28 commitments, more nuclear power sources will be built in the future.
The future of commodities
If the transition to clean energy accelerates, raw materials such as uranium, copper, and lithium will probably climb even to Everest.
Finally…
The desire to reduce global coal consumption is bad news for Mongolia. But when we think that we have uranium and copper, if we don’t think about where the world is aspiring to, it’s like seeing a picture of a lot of things going on without a budget.
Source: lemonpress.mn
