The clean energy technological transformation.

 

 A global sustainable energy transition needs to be achieved within four decades, a significantly faster rate than in the past. 

 Global sustainable energy policy must take into special consideration the 3 billion poor people who aspire to gaining access to electricity and modern energy services. 

 The scope of current national and global policies and programmes does not “add up” to the scale of actions needed to meet global emission reduction targets. Paradoxically, they are also overly ambitious in terms of their expected outcomes and are inconsiderate of certain biophysical, techno-economic and socio-political limits to scaling up known technologies. A reality check of current plans is needed so that realistic and well-targeted initiatives can be devised at a far greater scale.

  There is a need for comprehensive, strategic and systemic approaches that emphasize performance goals, niche markets and technology portfolios, especially those related to end-use. In order to take pressure off the technological innovation imperative, individual limits of 70 gigajoules (GJ) primary energy use per capita and 3 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per capita by 2050 may need to be considered. Such energy-use and emissions caps would not affect the developmentrelated aspirations of developing countries. 

 The sustainable energy transition offers significant economic opportunities for both developed and emerging market economies, but poses additional development challenges for poorer and more vulnerable countries, which would therefore require enhanced support from the international community