Governments and utilities need to add or replace the equivalent of virtually all the world’s power grids by 2040 to reliably keep the lights on while cleaning up pollution from the power sector. That’s 80 million kilometers of infrastructure that needs a major upgrade, according to a first-of-its-kind report released by the International Energy Agency today.
Countries need to adopt more ambitious plans to phase out the fossil fuels causing climate change and back those plans up with the policies and necessary funding to switch to clean energy. The IEA report emphasizes that power grids are a big part of that transition, and yet, grids don’t seem to be getting enough attention in that regard.