Green energy is a new concept and it has a broad horizon. TheInternational Energy Agency noted that the capacity of renewableenergy expanded by 50 percent between 2019 and 2024. The sector isnew and promising. Day by day innovations are discovered orinvented in the sector which affects daily life. Currently, 26percent of electricity demands throughout the world are met byrenewable energy, and it is expected to expand in the nearfuture.

The more the sector expands, the more opportunity for peopleemerges. According to the information, in 2021, there were at least12.7 million people employed in the renewable energy sectorworldwide, both directly and in wider supply chains, with themajority of these jobs concentrated in China, Brazil, the EU, theUSA, and India.

But above all, the most important point is to join efforts toprevent a dangerous natural disaster like global warming that theworld is facing.

Speaking to Azernews on the issue, Dr. FrankMusmar noted that the Paris Agreement signed in December 2015during the COP has the ambition to limit the global temperatureincrease to 1.5 °C compared to the pre-industrial level. He saidthat the world has used over 65% of the carbon dioxide budget,allowing it to stay within the 2 °C limit.

“To stay within this limit, global carbon neutrality should beachieved between 2055 and 2070. Renewable energy helps mitigateclimate change, reduce air pollution, enhance energy supplyindependence, and stimulate employment in various sectors, the demand for skilled workers in the renewable energyindustry is rising. According to the International Renewable EnergyAgency, by 2030, the renewable energy sector could create up to 30million new jobs globally,” the expert emphasized.

Musmar pointed out that there is no doubt that China's GreenEconomy is a role model, with investment in research that propelledit to positive results and growth even in times of economic crisis said that green is an ethical investment avenue, and theeconomic impacts of green energy can be seen in creating new andmore jobs, lowering consumer expenses, facilitating universalenergy access, and reducing disaster recovery and rebuildingcosts.

“Azerbaijan has a vast solar and wind energy potential. Inaddition to the advantages in terms of contributing to cleaningambient air from pollutants with concomitant health benefits,especially in large cities, there is growing awareness by the localgovernment of the eventual finiteness of the national oil andnatural gas reserves. Azerbaijan has many reasons to go green, the country's average per capita gas emissions level is highdue to fossil fuel-intensive energy systems; with climate changemitigation efforts mounting worldwide, there is a growing desire tocurb emissions. Second, fuel requirements for electricity and freshwater supply consume a significant share of domestic oilproduction; especially with current high oil prices, retaining oilpredominantly for foreign exports is attractive. Third, over thecoming years, the government will likely attempt to enhance thenumber of jobs in the private sector to meet an imminentlyincreasing demand from new job market entrants in the rapidlygrowing young population.,” the expert said.

He added that Azerbaijan's currently installed renewable energycapacity is 4.5 MW. Azerbaijan began the installment of its firstprimary solar plant in 2023. The government of Azerbaijan aims toincrease the share of renewables in total electricity production to30% by 2030.

“Accordingly, switching to solar or green requires far lessinvestment into the power sector than building new coal or nuclearpower plants. That means a lower electricity price, which impactseverything in the economy. A lower electricity price reduces thecost of production and increases profit. Moreover, doubling theshare of renewables by 2030 would bring a range of positiveimpacts, including an increase in the gross domestic product (GDP)by up to 1.1 percent, an improvement of welfare by 3.7 percent, andover 1 million people working in the renewable energy sector,” Dr Musmar concluded.

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