BERLIN (AP) 鈥� Asia will for the first time use half of the world鈥檚 electricity by 2025, even as Africa continues to consume far less than its share of the global population, according to a new forecast released Wednesday by the International Energy Agency.
Much of Asia's electricity use will be in China, a nation of 1.4 billion people whose share of global consumption will rise from a quarter in 2015 to a third by the middle of this decade, the Paris-based body said.
鈥淐hina will be consuming more electricity than the European Union, United States and India combined,鈥� said Keisuke Sadamori, the IEA鈥檚 director of energy markets and security.
By contrast, Africa 鈥� home to almost a fifth of world's nearly 8 billion inhabitants 鈥� will account for just 3% of global electricity consumption in 2025.
"This and the rapidly growing population mean there is still a ,鈥� said Sadamori.
The IEA's annual report predicts that nuclear power and over the coming three years. This will prevent a significant rise in greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector, it said.
Scientists say sharp cuts in all sources of emissions are needed as soon as possible to keep average global temperatures from rising 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. That target, , as temperatures have already increased by more than 1.1 C since the reference period.
One hope for meeting the goal is a wholesale shift away from fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil toward low-carbon sources of energy. But while some regions are reducing their use of coal and gas for electricity production, in others consumption is increasing, the IEA said.
The 134-page also report warned that electricity demand and supply are becoming increasingly weather dependent, a problem it urged policymakers to address.
鈥淚n addition to drought in Europe, there were (last year)," said Sadamori. 鈥淪imilarly, . The , and all those events put massive strain on the power systems of these regions.鈥�
鈥淎s the clean energy transition gathers pace, the impact of weather events on electricity demand will intensify due to the increased electrification of heating, while the share of weather-dependent renewables will continue to grow in the generation mix,鈥� the IEA said. 鈥淚n such a world, increasing the flexibility of power systems while ensuring security of supply and resilience of networks will be crucial."
Frank Jordans, The Associated Press
