With an Energy Crisis Brewing, No Peak in Sight for Emissions

<p>EIA and IEA are out with projections for emissions and fossil fuel consumption. And they don’t look good.&nbsp;</p><p>On our current policy trajectory, there is no peak in sight, <a href="https://www.eia.gov/pressroom/releases/press487.php" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">according to EIA</a>&nbsp;By 2050, we will likely see a 50% increase in energy consumption. And even though renewables will be the fastest-growing new source of energy, hydrocarbon liquid fuels <a href="https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/oil/100621-global-energy-demand-to-grow-47-by-2050-with-oil-still-top-source-us-eia" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">will meet the majority of demand</a>.</p><p>That means emissions could rise through 2050, absent massive changes to policy.</p><p>In July, the International Energy Agency <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/20/co2-emissions-will-hit-record-levels-in-2023-iea-says.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">issued a similar analysis</a> showing that carbon emissions will hit record levels in the coming years. And that spending packages around the world — even at historic levels — are still not enough.&nbsp;</p><p>How do we make sense of this sobering analysis?</p><p>Plus, Wood Mackenzie is out <a href="https://www.woodmac.com/press-releases/global_energy_storage_report/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">with a new analysis</a> of global energy storage trends, showing that storage deployments are set to triple this year. Most of that growth is coming from America and China, which account for 70% of installations. What are the applications, technologies and markets <a href="https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2021/10/07/global-energy-storage-demand-is-accelerating-wood-mac-says/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">that will dominate this growth</a>?</p><p>Finally, Europe is in a crisis headed into winter. Natural gas is the second-most confused fuel in Europe — and prices are <a href="https://www.euronews.com/2021/10/05/europe-