They are solar, lighting, data centres and networks, and EVs. Particularly problematic is that energy efficiency improvements have slowed.
IEA on its Tracking Clean Energy Progress tool: “For the first time, TCEP includes a series of high-level indicators that provide an overall assessment of clean energy trends and highlight the most important actions needed for the complex energy sector transformation. These metrics help to unpack answers to the questions “where are we, where we need to go and how to get there”.
TCEP also includes a major enhancement on clean energy innovation with the most comprehensive and timely analysis ever of public and private clean energy R&D investment. In 2017, total public spending on low-carbon energy innovation rose 13%, to more than USD 20 billion; private sector investment saw a 4% increase. The new innovation feature also includes analysis of more than 100 key innovation gaps that need to be addressed to speed up the development of critical clean energy technologies.
TCEP is now using the IEA’s Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS) to benchmark progress. The SDS was first modelled in the World Energy Outlook 2017 and provides a pathway to keeping global average temperatures to “well below 2C,” reducing air pollution, and increasing energy access.
