Post-COVID-19 Energy Transitions: Strategies for Global Recovery

The global calamity instigated by the novel coronavirus, identified as 2019-nCoV or COVID-19, represents the most severe international catastrophe experienced in recent decades. A comprehensive, inclusive examination of the short- and long-term effects of COVID-19 on the global energy and emission landscape over the upcoming years remains deficient, notably with reference to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and in providing an assessment of the renewable energy landscape. This article intends to portray the contemporary state of the energy market, projecting a forecast spanning up to the year 2050, achieved through the consolidation of reports from several esteemed institutions. The initial portion of this document explores the worldwide context of fossil fuel production and demand in parallel with GHG emissions. Subsequently, it addresses the environmental and health-related concerns associated with fossil fuel use. The following section discusses the international scenario of renewable energy. The final segment expounds post-COVID-19 recovery strategies and perspectives on future energy trends. A review of the presented data indicates that, in order to sustain the objective of restricting global temperature increase to a maximum of 1.5 °C, a robust reduction in global emissions is a compelling necessity. The rapid transition to clean energy sources is crucial for ensuring long-term energy stability, affordability, and national resilience, which can be achieved through various measures such as increasing renewable energy adoption, enhancing energy efficiency, utilising electric vehicles and heat pumps, incorporating clean hydrogen and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (CCS), and implementing CCS in the final stages of energy production.