Global Energy Transformation: A New Energy Context for Business

Global energy transformation is underway

Fossil fuels still dominate energy systems. However, there are signals this will not always be the case in the future as pressure grows from governments and consumers for a change to business as usual.

The green energy landscape is positive

Renewable energy generation capacity and investment is on an upward trend. This is based on rapidly falling costs which has seen solar and wind become increasingly competitive with coal and natural gas for energy generation. A range of governments have ambitious targets to scale up solar and wind, in particular in emerging economies such as China which has billions of dollars of investment planned over the short-term.

Renewable energy has its challenges

Significant challenges remain such as the ability to use renewable energy to meet peak demand which is of particular concern to countries with large manufacturing sectors. The intermittent nature of renewable energies is an issue for centralised grids that cannot always use these unpredictable energy sources. This could be addressed through on-going developments in battery storage and smart grids.

Strong business case driving green energy boom

A growing number of major companies are embracing renewable energy as they see it can reduce costs while at the same time contribute positively towards their green branding. This is matched with the falling cost of renewable energy, thus providing a key incentive to adopting it as part of the total energy mix.