Clean energy now employs more people than fossil fuels worldwide
Global employment in the energy sector has risen above its pre-pandemic levels, led by increased hiring in clean energy, according to a new IEA report that offers the first worldwide benchmark for employment across energy industries. The inaugural edition of the World Energy Employment Report, which will be published annually, maps energy sector employment by technology and value chain segment. The report provides a data-rich foundation for policy makers and industry decision makers to understand the labour-related impacts of clean energy transitions and shifts in energy supply chains following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The amount of energy jobs worldwide has recovered from disruptions due to Covid-19, increasing above its pre-pandemic level of over 65 million people, or around 2% of the total labour force. The growth has been driven by hiring in clean energy sectors. The oil and gas sector, meanwhile, saw some of the largest declines in employment at the start of the pandemic and has yet to fully recover.
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Study reveals beach erosion over 55-ha area in Raigad
Use of satellite imagery during a study has brought to light the submergence of a 55-hectare area — nearly ten times the size of Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium (which has an area of 5.4 ha) — near Devghar in Raigad district. The Srushti Conservation Foundation (SCF), a non-profit organisation based in Pune, conducted the study close to the mouth of Bankot Creek which has a 1.5-km beach area. It has said the findings of the study indicates coastal inundation and extreme shoreline erosion. Preliminary data show that between 1990 and 2022, there was a total loss of around 55 ha of coastal ecosystems, including mangrove, creeklets, mudflats and sandy coasts, and almost 300 metres of shore area was eroded, an official from the SCF said. In order to present a thorough report to assist policymakers on the subject of coastal inundation and land degradation, the SCF is continuing its overall study on coastal inundation by developing satellite datasets all along the Maharashtra coastline. Last year, the SCF released its assessment of the shrinking width of creeks and waterways along the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and succession of mangroves over 60 sq. kms of agricultural land along Karanja Creek. The latest study was prompted by information shared by Devghar residents on how beach had been steadily eroding since 1990s. The researchers ran a preliminary analysis to determine the degree of erosion since the 1990s and assembled Landsat (satellite) datasets using Google Earth Engine to look into the claim.
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The topographical view of the shoreline | Srushti Conservation Foundation (SCF)
Flood losses likely to slash Pakistan’s GDP to 3 per cent from 5 per cent
The massive losses from the catastrophic monsoon rains and floods in Pakistan, the war in Ukraine and other factors may force it to slash its GDP growth rate for the financial year 2022-2023 from five per cent to three per cent, according to media reports on Saturday. Chairman of the National Flood Response and Coordination Centre (NFRCC), Major General Zafar Iqbal, during the joint briefing for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said that at least one-third of Pakistan was inundated, while the overall damages would amount to over USD 30 billion. The state-run Associated Press of Pakistan news agency quoted Iqbal as saying that Pakistan expected a two per cent cut in the Gross Domestic Product growth figure due to a combination of crises, chief among which were the floods, the delayed approval of IMF funds, and the economic situation emerging in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war.
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Global Coal Demand set to return to its all-time high in 2022
The world’s consumption of coal is set to rise slightly in 2022, taking it back to the record level it reached nearly a decade ago, according to an IEA report published today, which notes that significant uncertainty hangs over the outlook for coal as a result of slowing economic growth and energy market turbulence. Based on current economic and market trends, global coal consumption is forecast to rise by 0.7% in 2022 to 8 billion tonnes, assuming the Chinese economy recovers as expected in the second half of the year, the IEA’s July 2022 Coal Market Update says. This global total would match the annual record set in 2013, and coal demand is likely to increase further next year to a new all-time high.
The new report highlights the significant turmoil in coal markets in recent months, which has important implications for many countries where coal remains a key fuel for electricity generation and a range of industrial processes. At the same time, the world’s continued burning of large amounts of coal is heightening climate concerns, as coal is the largest single source of energy-related CO2 emissions.
Worldwide coal consumption rebounded by about 6% in 2021 as the global economy recovered rapidly from the initial shock of the Covid pandemic. That sharp rise contributed significantly to the largest ever annual increase in global energy-related CO2 emissions in absolute terms, putting them at their highest level in history.
Global coal demand is being propped up this year by rising natural gas prices, which have intensified gas-to-coal switching in many countries, as well as economic growth in India. Those factors are being partly offset by slowing economic growth in China and by the inability of some major coal producers to ramp up production.
Demand for coal in India has been strong since the start of 2022 and is expected to rise by 7% for the full year as the country’s economy grows and the use of electricity expands. In China, coal demand is estimated to have declined by 3% in the first half of 2022 as renewed Covid lockdowns in some cities slowed economic growth, but an expected increase in the second half of the year is likely to bring coal consumption for the full year back to the same levels as last year. China and India together consume double the amount of coal as the rest of the world combined, with China alone accounting for more than half the world’s demand.
Coal consumption in the European Union is expected to rise by 7% in 2022 on top of last year’s 14% jump. This is being driven by demand from the electricity sector where coal is increasingly being used to replace gas, which is in short supply and has experienced huge price spikes following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Several EU countries are extending the life of coal plants scheduled for closure, reopening closed plants or raising caps on their operating hours to reduce gas consumption. However, Europe only accounts for about 5% of global coal consumption.
As soaring natural gas prices have made coal more competitive in many markets, international coal prices have risen in turn, hitting three all-time peaks between October 2021 and May 2022. Sanctions and bans on Russian coal following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have disrupted markets, and issues in other major exporters have contributed to supply shortages. With other coal producers facing constraints in replacing Russian output, prices on coal futures markets indicate that tight market conditions are expected to continue well into next year and beyond.