Even though the majority of total world production of electricity is produced by the combustion of fossil fuels, clean energy is becoming more commonplace. Clean energies include wind, solar and hydroelectric energy, which are produced in a more sustainable way, causing less damage to the environment than the combustion of fossil fuels. The shift towards clean energy is evident by the fact that electricity generation from fossil fuels fell for the fifth consecutive year in 2017.
In addition, through the Paris Climate Agreement, countries across the world have pledged to keep global temperatures no more than two degrees above pre-industrial temperatures. Developed countries intend to continue their existing collective goal to mobilize 100 billion USD per year by 2020 and extend this until 2025. Negative emissions options, such as carbon capture and natural carbon sinks, must be prioritized to keep global temperatures lower. And on average, countries have improved on energy security indicators, determined by countries’ ability to ensure uninterrupted availability of energy sources at affordable prices.
With the Hong Kong government setting its goal on an energy intensity reduction of 40% by 2025 using 2005 as the base, the push towards clean energy can be seen locally as well. One of the main techniques the Hong Kong government will use is for new public housing and government buildings to achieve at least BEAM Plus Gold standards when being built and in use. Government buildings are expected to achieve the 5% electricity reduction target by 2020 (2014 as base) and further reduction from 2020-2025 will be determined in 2019-20.
With the growth of energy use worldwide, and greenhouse gas emissions from energy production seeing an extraordinary increase in 2018, the push for cleaner forms of energy is needed now more than ever. Luckily, production of clean energy from wind and solar sources saw a growth of 15% and 22% respectively between 2016 and 2017. But, more can be done commercially, especially within the hospitality industry. Visit our website later this week to see how hotels and other hospitality businesses are tackling the growth of electricity consumption.