IEA: Global energy demand will drop by 6% in 2020

According to recent news from Arab Trade, data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) show that by 2020, total global energy demand will fall by 6%, which is seven times the decline after the 2008 global financial crisis.

A new report called "International Energy Agency Global Energy Assessment" stated that electricity demand will drop by 5%.

The report said that in an absolute sense, the decline is unprecedented, which is equivalent to the loss of the entire energy demand of India, the world ’s third largest energy consumer.

The decline in developed economies is expected to be the largest, and demand in the United States and the European Union will decline by 9% and 11%, respectively.

Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, said: “This is a historic impact on the entire energy world. In today ’s unprecedented healthy global public health crisis, the demand for almost all major fuels has fallen sharply, especially coal, oil and natural gas. Renewable energy will continue during the unprecedented decline in electricity consumption. "

Birol said: "It is too early to determine the long-term impact, but the energy industry after the crisis will be very different from the past."

The report shows that changes in power usage during the shutdown caused a substantial drop in overall power demand.

Meanwhile, the shutdown measures are driving a major shift to low-carbon electricity, including wind energy, solar photovoltaic power, hydropower and nuclear power.

The IEA report said that after surpassing coal for the first time in 2019, low-carbon energy will expand its leading position this year, reaching 40% of global power generation, which is 6 percentage points ahead of coal.

It added that due to the promotion of new projects completed in 2019 and early 2020, wind and solar photovoltaic power generation will continue to increase in 2020.