Fossil fuels should be ‘phased out by 2100’ says IPCC
The unrestricted use of fossil fuels must end soon if the world is to avoid dangerous climate change.
That is the central message of a stark new report from the UN-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The IPCC urges that by 2050, most of the world’s electricity must – and can – be produced from low carbon sources.
Fossil fuels, without carbon capture and storage (CCS), should be phased out “almost entirely” by 2100.
The short Synthesis Report was published on Sunday in Copenhagen, after a week of intense debate between scientists and government officials.
The report says the world faces “severe, pervasive and irreversible” impacts without effective action on carbon.
“It’s very clear from the report that fossil fuels have had their day,” said Prof Arthur Petersen from UCL and a member of the Dutch government’s team in Copenhagen.
“Of course it is up to politicians to decide which risks they want to take with climate change, so it is not policy prescriptive in saying that these reductions should take place, but it is absolutely clear that the reductions should take place if you want to limit (temperature increases) to 2C.”
Rapid phase out
For electricity production, this would mean a rapid move away from coal and into renewables and other low carbon forms, including nuclear.
The report suggests renewables will have to grow from their current 30% share to 80% of the power sector by 2050.
In the longer term the report states “fossil fuel power generation without CCS is phased out almost entirely by 2100”.
The chair of the IPCC Dr Rajendra Pachauri said that greener electricity is key.
