Global Energy Outlook

The European Commission has adopted the EU Climate Action Progress Report, which reveals that the EU domestic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions rose by 4.8% in 2021 (reaching 3,524 MtCO₂eq according to preliminary estimates), after exceptionally low levels in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic (3,354 MtCO₂eq). The 2021 GHG emissions remain 4% below 2019 levels.

The battery storage capacity in the US more than tripled to reach 4.6 GW in 2021 (from 1.4 GW in 2020) and increasingly broadened out of ancillary services, according to the American Energy Information Administration (EIA). The amount of battery storage capacity grew 220%, driven by the commissioning of 106 utility-scale systems with 3.2 GW of capacity. About 78% of all storage capacity added 2021 was built in regional transmission organization (RTO) service territories.

South Korea’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions rebounded by 3.5% to 679 MtCO_2eq in 2021, after a 6.2% drop in 2020, according to the country’s Ministry of Environment. It represents a 6.5% decline compared to 2018 level. This increase was mostly driven by industry-related GHG emissions, which rose by 5.2% in 2021, followed by the energy sector (+3.6%), waste disposal (+1.6%) and agriculture (+0.9%).  In 2021, the energy sector accounted for 86.9% of South Korea’s total GHG emissions, followed by industry (7.5%), agriculture (3.1%) and waste disposal (2.5%). The country’s GHG emissions had been rising by an average of 1.1%/year between 2010 and 2018 and peaked at 727 MtCO_2eq in 2018, before experiencing a decrease of 3.6% in 2019. South Korea aims to cut its GHG emissions in 2030 by 40% compared to 2018 levels and to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

Australia's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions rose nearly 1% in 2021, as driving and travel increased and as manufacturing activity recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic. The Australian Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources estimates that Australia’s total GHG emissions in the year to December 2021 reached 488 MtCO₂eq, showing an increase of 4.1 MtCO₂eq (0.8%) compared to the previous year. These results reflect an ongoing reduction in emissions from electricity, as well as an increase in emissions from transport, stationary energy (excluding electricity), agriculture and fugitive emissions.