Burning fossil fuels accounts for 75 per cent of global greenhouse emissions: the “poisoned root of the climate crisis”, according to António Guterres, secretary-general of the UN. But quitting them is far from easy. Global investment in clean technologies is on track to hit $2tn this year, according to the International Energy Agency, which is almost twice the amount being spent on fossil fuels. Even so, this is still less than half the estimated $4.
For the first time since the industrial revolution, fossil fuels last year accounted for less than 70 per cent of primary energy consumption in the EU, according to the Energy Institute’s analysis. The continent had moved to cut its reliance on gas in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, in the US, fossil fuels usage fell by 2 per cent, to make up 80 per cent of primary energy consumption, with coal use down 17 per cent over the past year.