World governments must start a $45 trillion dollar “energy technology revolution” between now and 2050 or risk a 130 percent surge in carbon emissions, according to the IEA.
While that may sound like a frighteningly large figure to some, the investment required is “an average of some 1.1% of global GDP each year from now until 2050. This expenditure reflects a re-direction of economic activity and employment, and not necessarily a reduction of GDP.”
“We are very far from sustainable development, despite the widespread recognition of the long-term problem. In fact, CO2 emissions growth has accelerated considerably in recent years,” said Nobuo Tanaka, Executive Director of the IEA, the energy watchdog for industrialized nations.
The report also said that oil demand would rise by 70 percent if governments continued with current policies — an increase it said was equivalent to five times Saudi Arabia’s production.
Anyone got any ideas where that oil would come from?
Joe Romm posted a great blog on this the other day:
http://climateprogress.org/2008/06/08/must-read-iea-report-part-1-act-now-with-clean-energy-or-face-6°c-warming-cost-is-not-high-media-blows-the-story/