Reaching net-zero carbon

Are renewables up to the task set by the Paris Agreement?

When 195 nations approved the Paris Agreement in December 2015, they were setting a course for a long-term transformation of the world's energy systems, with the stated goal of achieving net-zero emissions by the second half of this century. Underpinning their confidence in the aims of the Agreement was the explosive growth of zero-carbon sources of energy, especially the spread of renewable power to most corners of the global economy. Indeed, energy headlines have been full of references to the shrinking costs and increasing competitiveness of solar and wind power; and recent evidence that in some parts of the world renewable electricity is now competitive with fossil fuel-fired power on a