According to a 2016 report, the world needs to phase out coal completely by 2050 to meet global decarbonization targets ratified in the Paris Climate Agreement. But that’s not all. Rich countries must phase out the dirtiest fossil fuels by 2030, and China must phase out the dirtiest fossil fuels by 2030. To stay on a cost-effective and achievable path to limiting global warming to below 2°C by 2040.
These figures come from the European Climate Foundation (ECF)-funded report ‘Impacts of the Paris Agreement on Coal Use in the Power Sector’. “The easiest way to meet the Paris pledge to keep global warming below 2°C, and pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C as a first step, is to decarbonize the electricity sector by mid-century. That is scientifically proven.” Report author Bill Hare.
Although the world is not moving away from coal as quickly as Mr. Hare advocates, even in the United States, one of the richest countries expected to move away from coal by 2030, coal is finally in terminal decline. It seems there is. Coal production in the United States has been on the decline since 2009. Parallel to this change, employment in the coal sector has also declined over the years.
This is emblematic of a larger problem in the transition to green energy. The United States alone is home to 1.7 million fossil fuel workers, all of whom could lose their livelihoods as the global energy landscape changes. While the outlook for fossil fuel jobs is uncertain at best, the global market for clean energy and carbon-reducing technologies is expected to reach at least $23 trillion by 2030. This would create hundreds of thousands of clean energy jobs, but there is no guarantee that these jobs will fill the void in coal regions and other fossil fuel economies.
Many displaced fossil fuel workers will not be able to move directly into renewable energy jobs due to significant skills gaps. That said, not all clean energy jobs require novel skill sets that the average coal worker doesn’t already have. “There are also many traditional economic jobs such as construction, electrical work, and engineering that can easily transition to green jobs,” the Wall Street Journal writes, based on insights from Kenneth Gillingham, a professor of economics at the Yale School of the Environment. Reported. .
The U.S. government aims to capitalize on this overlap with a new initiative that will pump $428 million into 14 domestic clean energy projects in 15 coal communities across the country. “The 14 projects selected for award negotiations focus on manufacturing products and materials that address multiple needs in the domestic clean energy supply chain,” Mining.com reported earlier this week. “This selection will address five major supply chains: grid components, batteries, low carbon materials, clean power generation and energy efficient products.”
These 14 projects were selected by the Department of Energy’s Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chain Office (MESC) to address critical vulnerabilities in the energy supply chain. Both projects are led by small and medium-sized enterprises in areas where coal facilities have been decommissioned.
This is an important step toward a “just transition” in which fossil fuel-dependent workers and their communities are provided with a safety net to help them weather this major economic shift, but some experts argue that a stronger policy framework is needed at the federal level. To ensure that no American is left behind in the critical fight against climate change. So far, most efforts to protect such workers and communities have been driven at the grassroots level.
A 2022 report from the Brookings Institution states that to enable and support a just transition, the federal government will create a dedicated Just Transition Office to “address labor barriers to smooth transitions for workers across industries.” It argues that there is a need to “identify the key frictions in the market.” Targeted investments and programming, and most importantly, adequate funding for those efforts. “Federal funding must match the challenge and include funding for retraining, relocation, and public investments to create new sources of income for affected communities. Given the magnitude of this need, $428 million is just the first step.
Written by Haley Zaremba, Oilprice.com
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