An International Study Highlights Morocco’s Great Potential in Renewable Energies
Although the use of coal as an energy source is still widespread in Morocco, the kingdom has great potential for the future in the development of renewable energies.
These are the main conclusions, as far as Morocco is concerned, of the report drawn up by the Climate Action Tracker (CAT), an international research group that monitors the actions taken by countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, in compliance with international agreements.
The report highlights the positive steps Morocco has taken on climate change, such as its commitment to halt the development of new coal-fired power plants; its efforts to decarbonise key sectors of the Moroccan economy, such as phosphates and agriculture; and the launch of the National Energy Efficiency Strategy, which envisages reductions in consumption in strategic sectors, such as 24% savings in transport.
Renewable energies
Climate Action Tracker also values the Moroccan government’s commitment to renewable energies as a means of reducing carbon emissions. The kingdom’s objective is to increase renewable energy generation capacity to 52% of the energy mix by 2030.
The study reveals that renewables currently provide around one-fifth of Morocco’s electricity, a share that should increase to around 90% by 2030.
According to the report, the Moroccan government supports the development of renewable energy and has set capacity targets for 2030 and 2050, although it has not been able to reach the 2020 capacity target. Even so, capacity targets would be “unlikely to reach the production levels needed to be compatible with a temperature threshold of 1.5°C”, it notes.
Coal and gas
According to the report, to be compatible with a temperature increase of 1.5°C, as a maximum threshold, Morocco should reduce coal-fired electricity production to one tenth by 2030, and eliminate it completely by 2040, with the support of the international community.
The document also notes that Morocco generates a tenth of its electricity from fossil gas. The objective is to phase out this dependence, eliminating most of it by 2030, and all of it by 2035.
The Climate Action Tracker study also analyses the situation in Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Turkey, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, the United States, Turkey, South Africa and the European Union, and concludes that “no country is on track to limit global warming to 1.5°C”.
Source : Atalayar
