Latest news with #Birol
Eyewitness News
a day ago
- General
- Eyewitness News
One billion Africans being harmed by cooking pollution
PARIS - One billion Africans have to cook on open fires or with fuel that is hazardous to their health and the environment, the International Energy Agency said on Friday. The problem, which its report says can be easily solved, causes as much greenhouse gas emissions every year as the aviation industry. Two billion people across the world still cook on open fires or with rudimentary stoves fed by wood, charcoal, agricultural waste or manure, the IEA report found. "It is one of the greatest injustices of our time, especially in Africa," IEA head Fatih Birol told AFP, where four out of five households rely on open fires and burning wood. These fuels pollute the air both indoors and outdoors with fine particles that penetrate the lungs and cause multiple respiratory and cardiovascular problems, the report said. It also adds to the destruction of forests, natural sinks that trap carbon and help fight global warming. The IEA estimates that 815,000 premature deaths occur each year in Africa alone due to poor indoor air quality, largely resulting from a lack of access to clean cooking methods. Women and children suffer the most, spending hours each day searching for fuel and keeping the fire going. This takes time away from paid employment or education, the report said. - 'CAN BE EASILY SOLVED' - A landmark IEA summit on the issue, held in Paris in May last year raised $2.2 billion in public and private sector commitments, as well as political pledges from 12 African governments. Since then $470 million has been distributed, with concrete results already being seen, Birol insisted, citing a stove factory under construction in Malawi and an affordable stove programme developed in Uganda and Ivory Coast. The IEA report assesses the progress made a year after the summit and sets out a roadmap for African countries to be able to use clean cooking methods at low cost before 2040. Since 2010, nearly 1.5 billion people in Asia and Latin America, particularly in Brazil, India, and Indonesia, have got access to modern cooking stoves and fuels. But the challenge remains immense in sub-Saharan Africa, where the number of people without access to clean cooking methods continues to grow. "For once and for ever this problem can be solved with an annual investment of $2 billion per year," Birol said. He stressed that the figure "is about 0.1 percent of global energy investment, which is nothing". Alternative solutions are well known: electricity from solar panels, renewable gas and especially liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), a fossil fuel, which, while not ideal, is preferable than the loss of carbon sinks due to tree felling, Birol said. The IEA said this would prevent 4.7 million premature deaths in sub-Saharan Africa by 2040 and reduce the continent's greenhouse gas emissions by 540 million tons per year, as much as the equivalent of the annual emissions of the global aviation sector.
Time of India
a day ago
- General
- Time of India
One billion Africans being harmed by cooking pollution
AI- Representative Image PARIS: One billion Africans have to cook on open fires or with fuel that is hazardous to their health and the environment, the international energy agency (IEA) said Friday. The problem, which its report says can be easily solved, causes as much greenhouse gas emissions every year as the aviation industry. Two billion people across the world still cook on open fires or with rudimentary stoves fed by wood, charcoal, agricultural waste or manure, the IEA report found. "It is one of the greatest injustices of our time, especially in Africa," by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Many Are Watching Tariffs - Few Are Watching What Nvidia Just Launched Seeking Alpha Read More Undo IEA head Fatih Birol told AFP, where four out of five households rely on open fires and burning wood. These fuels pollute the air both indoors and outdoors with fine particles that penetrate the lungs and cause multiple respiratory and cardiovascular problems, the report said. It also adds to the destruction of forests, natural sinks that trap carbon and help fight global warming. The IEA estimates that 815,000 premature deaths occur each year in Africa alone due to poor indoor air quality, largely resulting from a lack of access to clean cooking methods. Women and children suffer the most, spending hours each day searching for fuel and keeping the fire going. This takes time away from paid employment or education, the report said. 'Can be easily solved' A landmark IEA summit on the issue, held in Paris in May last year raised $2.2 billion in public and private sector commitments, as well as political pledges from 12 African governments. Since then $470 million has been distributed, with concrete results already being seen, Birol insisted, citing a stove factory under construction in Malawi and an affordable stove programme developed in Uganda and Ivory Coast. The IEA report assesses the progress made a year after the summit and sets out a roadmap for African countries to be able to use clean cooking methods at low cost before 2040. Since 2010, nearly 1.5 billion people in Asia and Latin America, particularly in Brazil, India, and Indonesia, have got access to modern cooking stoves and fuels. But the challenge remains immense in sub-Saharan Africa, where the number of people without access to clean cooking methods continues to grow. "For once and for ever this problem can be solved with an annual investment of $2 billion per year," Birol said. He stressed that the figure "is about 0.1 percent of global energy investment, which is nothing". Alternative solutions are well known: electricity from solar panels, renewable gas and especially liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), a fossil fuel, which, while not ideal, is preferable than the loss of carbon sinks due to tree felling, Birol said. The IEA said this would prevent 4.7 million premature deaths in sub-Saharan Africa by 2040 and reduce the continent's greenhouse gas emissions by 540 million tons per year, as much as the equivalent of the annual emissions of the global aviation sector.
Time of India
03-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
IEA throws weight behind India's digital energy stack
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills The International Energy Agency (IEA) is backing the India Energy Stack , a key digital public infrastructure aimed at standardising and enhancing interoperability across the power sector, said the IEA executive director Fatih an exclusive interview to ET, he said India's efforts are timely and aligned with the overall plan of the IEA for a digital energy grid (DEG), signalling deeper collaboration between the international energy watchdog and the country.'Digitalisation is a powerful tool that can undoubtedly support the evolution of the electricity sector through grid optimisation, demand-side management and even weather forecasting,' Birol February, the Foundation for Interoperability in Digital Economy (FIDE) and the IEA had published a white paper on DEG, whose foreword was co-authored by Nandan Nilekani, non-executive chairman of Infosys , and Birol. The report proposed a future where every home with a solar panel, or an electric vehicle (EV) battery, would be generating, storing and trading energy instead of just consuming it. ET reported on June 28 that the government is working to launch a digital platform to enhance coordination, data sharing and innovation in the power sector. A 17-member task force set up for the purpose comprises Nilekani; former director general of the Unique Identification Authority of India Ram Sewak Sharma as the chairperson and former power secretary PK Pujari as the vice IEA chief also commented on the critical link between artificial intelligence (AI) and energy. With India's rapidly expanding digital economy and efforts to harness the power of AI, he emphasised the need for a "sustainable, affordable and uninterrupted supply of electricity for data centres'.Birol said the data centres themselves will need to deploy the most efficient technologies and practices. 'Doing so will ensure that the energy and tech sector are partners in the growth of this critical technology," he said, indicating the need for proactive policymaking to foster this IEA views India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) as a prime example of successful digital public infrastructure thinking. Birol said the UPI success story, "driven by public infrastructure principles, offers valuable lessons on innovation and interoperability".While acknowledging the unique challenges of the energy sector, such as balancing a variable and decentralised grid, he suggested that applying lessons from UPI would require 'sector-specific solutions and understanding the potential and limitations of direct replication'.On the practical application of the DEG, Birol highlighted its potential to address challenges such as frictionless subsidy distribution and effective solarisation, a critical issue in countries like India which have high agricultural electricity use.'Digital public infrastructure can play a critical role in improving transparency, targeting and efficiency in areas like rooftop solar adoption,' Birol said, adding that the IEA would support India's efforts as it considers improving rooftop solar penetration and broader digitalisation for energy access a priority.A pilot DEG project is expected to be shortly launched in Lucknow, ET had reported on June 18 . It will be based on Unified Energy Interface, a digital architecture similar to the UPI. Sector watchers had said this project and lowering manual intervention in the power sector was expected to reduce costs to the end IEA's strong endorsement and offer of support for the India Energy Stack underscores the growing recognition of digital infrastructure as a cornerstone for future energy security, efficiency and sustainability, particularly as India navigates its rapid energy India Energy Stack will aim to tackle key challenges such as fragmented systems, and support India's push towards a $5 trillion economy and net zero targets, the power ministry had said last growth in renewable energy, electric vehicles and consumer participation in energy markets is transforming the sector, but fragmented systems and a lack of seamless digital integration remain key barriers, it had Nilekani-led task force will be supported from funds allocated under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme of the power ministry.'A correction of up to 25% in generation, transmission and distribution costs is the desired outcome of this exercise,' an official aware of the project had told ET on June 18.
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Global oil demand to dip in 2030, first drop since Covid: IEA
Global oil demand will fall slightly in 2030, its first drop since the 2020 Covid pandemic, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday. In an annual outlook for the oil market, the Paris-based agency cited sluggish economic growth, global trade tensions, the rise of electric cars and the shift away from crude to produce power. Annual demand growth will slow from around 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2025 and 2026 "to just a trickle over the next several years, with a small decline expected in 2030", the IEA said. Total demand is forecast to reach 105.5 million bpd in 2030 after peaking at 105.6 million bpd in 2029. Oil demand dropped dramatically in 2020, when countries locked down and shut their borders during the Covid pandemic, falling to 91.7 million bpd before steadily growing again in the following years. Demand in the world's top consumer, the United States, is expected to peak this year and start to decline in 2026 while consumption in China, the top importer of crude, will fall from 2028, according to the "Oil 2025" report. Demand in the Middle East will also peak in 2027 and decline the following year. Saudi Arabia will post the "single largest decline in oil demand for any country" in absolute terms through 2030 as the kingdom replaces crude with gas and renewable energy to produce power, the IEA said. - US and Saudis to lead output - The report comes as oil prices have surged since Israel launched air strikes against Iran last week, prompting Tehran to fire missiles back at its arch foe. The price increases "are not driven by the fundamentals", IEA executive director Fatih Birol said in a news conference. "We have a lot of supply oil in the market. Demand is much weaker than the supply." "We don't expect high oil prices to be with us for a very long time," Birol said, adding that the IEA stood ready to act if there are any supply disruptions. While the conflict "focuses attention on immediate energy security risks", the IEA said oil supply growth will "far outpace" the increase in demand in coming years. World oil production capacity is forecast to rise by 5.1 million bpd -- double the pace of demand -- to 114.7 million bpd by 2030, the report found. "Combined, Saudi Arabia and the United States will contribute 40 percent to total global oil capacity growth in the forecast period," it said. nal-lth/cw Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
France 24
17-06-2025
- Business
- France 24
Global oil demand to dip in 2030, first drop since Covid: IEA
In an annual outlook for the oil market, the Paris-based agency cited sluggish economic growth, global trade tensions, the rise of electric cars and the shift away from crude to produce power. Annual demand growth will slow from around 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2025 and 2026 "to just a trickle over the next several years, with a small decline expected in 2030", the IEA said. Total demand is forecast to reach 105.5 million bpd in 2030 after peaking at 105.6 million bpd in 2029. Oil demand dropped dramatically in 2020, when countries locked down and shut their borders during the Covid pandemic, falling to 91.7 million bpd before steadily growing again in the following years. Demand in the world's top consumer, the United States, is expected to peak this year and start to decline in 2026 while consumption in China, the top importer of crude, will fall from 2028, according to the "Oil 2025" report. Demand in the Middle East will also peak in 2027 and decline the following year. Saudi Arabia will post the "single largest decline in oil demand for any country" in absolute terms through 2030 as the kingdom replaces crude with gas and renewable energy to produce power, the IEA said. US and Saudis to lead output The report comes as oil prices have surged since Israel launched air strikes against Iran last week, prompting Tehran to fire missiles back at its arch foe. The price increases "are not driven by the fundamentals", IEA executive director Fatih Birol said in a news conference. "We have a lot of supply oil in the market. Demand is much weaker than the supply." "We don't expect high oil prices to be with us for a very long time," Birol said, adding that the IEA stood ready to act if there are any supply disruptions. While the conflict "focuses attention on immediate energy security risks", the IEA said oil supply growth will "far outpace" the increase in demand in coming years. World oil production capacity is forecast to rise by 5.1 million bpd -- double the pace of demand -- to 114.7 million bpd by 2030, the report found. "Combined, Saudi Arabia and the United States will contribute 40 percent to total global oil capacity growth in the forecast period," it said.
