More expensive wind turbines, more renewable energy and yet another alarm bell: three climate reports not to miss

In recent weeks, three major climate studies have appeared in rapid succession. Change Inc. lists the most striking conclusions from them.

Even more expensive wind turbines?

First, an examination of the effects of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) on the European wind energy sector. CBAM is an EU legislation that makes importers pay a carbon tax on certain non-EU goods. This should prevent polluting practices from moving outside the EU. The WindEurope lobby organization commissioned a study by EY (among others) to investigate whether or not CBAM has a negative effect on the development of European wind farms. Indeed, the sector has been in dire straits for some time.

In the worst-case scenario, the study found, the CBAM could result in the development of a single wind turbine becoming as much as €910,000 more expensive from 2034. That calculation was made with the assumption that 24 percent of the components required for a wind turbine would be imported from outside the EU. The researchers call the increase of nearly a million euros "significant. Goods made more expensive to import by CBAM include aluminum, cement, fertilizer, hydrogen, iron, steel and electricity.

A march of renewable energy

The International Energy Agency (IEA) publishes an annual analysis of the global progress of renewable energy production. So does for the year 2024. The message is mostly positive: the IEA predicts that renewable energy capacity in 2030 will be about 2.7 times what it was in 2022. That's just short of tripling, as agreed at the last climate summit in Dubai, but a substantial increase nonetheless. The IEA expects 9,760 gigawatts of renewable capacity to be developed by then, and that half of the world's electricity used will be generated by renewable sources.

Leading the way is China, which is expected to account for 60 percent of the increase in renewable capacity. Both the EU and the United States are expected to start doubling their capacity, and India looks set to achieve the largest relative growth.

We will rely mainly on solar: according to the IEA, 80 percent of the global increase will be due to new solar farms. For the rest, the increase consists mainly of new wind turbines. The IEA predicts that the aforementioned growing pains in the wind sector will subside over the next few years.

Scientists sound alarm bells (again)

From the scientific community came less positive news. Some 15,000 researchers (re)confirmed in a publication that we are on the eve of an irreversible climate disaster. To prevent far-reaching, permanent damage to the planet and life on it, immediate action is needed. Scientists conduct annual surveys of 35 "vital signals from the Earth. These include the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, rising sea levels and loss of forests. Of those 35 signals, 25 reached record levels last year.

In themselves, those values are frightening enough, but the researchers also point out that they could trigger certain irreversible tipping points (in English, tipping points), which could have catastrophic consequences for the planet. Once those tipping points are reached, humanity is unable to halt climate change on its own; the damage is then permanent.

So the scientists are calling - again - for limiting our CO2 emissions, rebuilding our food system, reducing our consumption and stemming biodiversity loss.

Source: Change.Inc