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A transition towards long-term sustainability in global energy systems based on renewable energy resources can mitigate several growing threats to human society simultaneously: greenhouse gas emissions, human-induced climate deviations, and the exceeding of critical planetary boundaries. However, the optimal structure of future systems and potential transition pathways are still open questions. This research describes a global, 100% renewable electricity system, which can be achieved by 2050, and the steps required to enable a realistic transition that prevents societal disruption. Modelling results show that a carbon neutral electricity system can be built in all regions of the world in an economically feasible manner. This radical transformation will require steady but evolutionary changes for the next 35 years, and will lead to sustainable and affordable power supply globally., The technical and economic viability of renewable energy (RE) based energy system is understudied. Here the authors utilized a LUT Energy System Transition Model to indicate that a carbon neutral electricity system can be built in all global regions in an economically feasible way but requires evolutionary changes for the following 35 years.

This is a discussion and response to “Global 100% energy transition by 2050: A fiction in developing economies?” authored by Anthony Afful-Dadzie and published in Joule 5 (2021) 1634–1643. The preview has raised concerns around the feasibility of energy transitions towards 100% renewable energy and sustainable technologies in developing economies, after examining the article Bogdanov et al. (2021) in Afful-Dadzie (2021). Although, the author has rightly pointed out the disparity in the recent growth of renewable energy across the developed and developing countries of the world, along with highlighting a pertinent issue of ‘availability of finance’ for energy transitions across developing countries, the preview fails to contextualise the issue of financing energy transitions, in particular across developing countries, and has trivialised complex and cumbersome cost optimal energy transition modelling with vague and unscientific illustrations. In response, the authors of Bogdanov et al. (2021) have contextualised, clarified and confuted the issues raised in Afful-Dadzie (2021). Publishers version

The power sector is faced with strict requirements in reducing harmful emissions and substantially increasing the level of sustainability. Renewable energy (RE) in general and solar photovoltaic (PV) in particular can offer societally beneficial solutions. The LUT energy system transition model is used to simulate a cost-optimised transition pathway towards 100% RE in the power sector by 2050. The model is based on hourly resolution for an entire year, the world structured in 145 regions, high spatial resolution of the input RE resource data, and transition steps of 5-year periods. The global average solar PV electricity generation contribution is found to be about 69% in 2050, the highest ever reported. Detailed energy transition results are presented for representative countries in the world, namely, Poland, Britain and Ireland, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Ethiopia, and Indonesia. The global average energy system levelised cost of electricity gradually declines from 70 €/MWh in 2015 to 52 €/MWh in 2050 throughout the transition period, while deep decarbonisation of more than 95% around 2040, referenced to 2015, would be possible. The targets of the Paris Agreement can be well achieved in the power sector, while increasing societal welfare, given strong policy leadership.

Climate change threats and the necessity to achieve global Sustainable Development Goals demand unprecedented economic and social shifts around the world, including a fundamental transformation of the global energy system. An energy transition is underway in most regions, predominantly in the power sector. This research highlights the technical feasibility and economic viability of 100% renewable energy systems including the power, heat, transport and desalination sectors. It presents a technology-rich, multi-sectoral, multi-regional and cost-optimal global energy transition pathway for 145 regional energy systems sectionalised into nine major regions of the world. This 1.5 °C target compatible scenario with rapid direct and indirect electrification via Power-to-X processes and massive defossilisation indicates substantial benefits: 50% energy savings, universal access to fresh water and low-cost energy supply. It also provides an energy transition pathway that could lead from the current fossil-based system to an affordable, efficient, sustainable and secure energy future for the world.

This article aims at the creation of a holistic and analytic function for describing the transmission and distribution (T&D) grid power loss for all countries globally based on economical, geographical, political and technical available data. The created function is the very first of its kind, it is statistically well validated, and several examples are discussed. The function based on empirical data describes the dependence of the T&D grid power loss level on widely available metrics, such as GDP per capita, corruption perception index, area of the country, temperature, grid organization parameter and level of urbanization. The same function can also be used by modellers to anticipate the development of the T&D grid power loss in the years and decades to come. The suggested methodology could be easily reproduced and tuned to precise environmental conditions, what can be helpful for research in countries without available data. Post-print / Final draft

Accordingly to the COP21 Paris Agreement a net zero greenhouse gas emission energy system must be built no later than 2050. Such a fast power system transition will be very challenging for the conditions of Northeast Asia, a region with a large and fast growing power demand. Power system transition modelling was performed in order to check the technical feasibility of such a transition. The results of the simulation show that the transition can be accomplished and a 100% renewable energy system is both technically feasible and economically viable in Northeast Asia with average electricity generation cost of around 55 €/MWh. Solar photovoltaic (PV) will become the major energy source in Northeast Asia with a generation share of more than 70%; wind energy will contribute to 18% of the generation. Decarbonisation of the system can be achieved quite fast: by 2035 CO2eq emissions in the power sector will decrease by 95 and 99% by 2045, respectively.