What is the Speed of Energy Transition

Authors : Barış ŞANLI

Pages : 64-74

View : 17 | Download : 9

Publication Date : 2017-05-01

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :The headlines like “coming age of renewables” or “phasing out of coal” seems likely  to happen in a matter of years. Despite having these changes already initiated, the speed  is a matter of question for investors as well as consumers. After Paris agreement, “stranded asset” discussions were widespread. The oil and coal  companies have been warned to be careful for having stranded assets. Making matter  worse, as the commodity prices plunged, it became an imminent threat for shareholders.  From the IPO of Saudi Aramco to the bankruptcy filing of coal powerhouse Peabody,  the economic fortunes of the fossil fuel companies are closely monitored and analyzed. In this article, the speed of energy transition within an analytical framework will be  investigated. By using data from IEA World Energy Balances database, historical energy  transition speeds will be examined for the world and different countries. A hypothetical  country’s energy transition to solar and electric cars is briefly introduced in the last part. The findings suggest that transition speed is constrained by technology in several parts  of the energy system insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(infrastructure, production, consumption);. One of the fastest transitions  in OECD countries happened in France. Even in Germany, pace is slower than  expected. The developmental stage is also affecting the speed.
Keywords : speed of energy transition, energy transition