If countries fully implement their announced energy and climate commitments, the global market for key mass-manufactured “clean” energy technologies - solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicle batteries, electrolysers and heat pumps - will be worth about $650 billion a year by 2030, more than triple the current level, says a report released by the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Thursday 12 January.
The IEA also anticipates a doubling of jobs related to “clean” energy production, from 6 million today to nearly 14 million by 2030.
For Fatih Birol, the Agency’s Executive Director, this shows that “we’re entering a new industrial age – the age of clean energy technology manufacturing”.
While this new era brings opportunities, it also presents risks, the report warns, particularly in terms of high geographical concentrations of resource extraction and processing and technology manufacturing.
The IEA points out that China accounts for 85% of the declared production capacity for solar photovoltaics, 75% for wind power, 70% for batteries and 25% for electrolysers.
At the same time, much of the mining of critical minerals is concentrated in a few countries. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example, produces more than 70% of the world’s cobalt, while just three countries - Australia, Chile and China - account for more than 90% of global lithium production.
The agency fears that these “tight” supply chains will drive up the price of clean energy technologies, making the energy transition more difficult and expensive.
See the report: https://aeur.eu/f/4vi (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)