This week has seen the launch of a landmark report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) that details how the world can transition to a net-zero energy system by 2050. It has generated a lot of headlines, mostly focused on the massive and rapid phase-out of coal, gas and oil for energy production.
A lot of this decline comes from drops in demand for fossil fuels. As Carbon Brief put it in its coverage of the report:
âThe precipitous decline of fossil fuel demand means that the NZE requires no new extraction of coal, oil or natural gas beyond 2021 … The IEA says that oil demand never returns to its 2019 peak and declines by nearly 75% from 2020 to 2050. This means continued investment in existing oil fields is sufficient to meet demand.â