Global warming: renewable energy needs to be twice as cheap as fossil fuels, Nobel laureate Steven Chu tells HKU forum

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More electrical grids that can manage intermittent generation and less stable sources needed globally, Nobel laureate in physics and former US secretary of energy says

Comments follow call by UN’s Antonio Guterres for phasing out coal by 2040 in all countries and ensuring net-zero electricity generation at the same time around the world

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Steven Chu during the President’s Forum event at HKU on Monday. Photo: May Tse

Yujie Xuein Shenzhen

Published: 9:00pm, 3 Apr 2023

Renewable energy costs need to be at least twice as cheap as those of fossil fuels to ensure a clean transition globally, Steven Chu, a Nobel laureate in physics and former US secretary of energy, told a forum in Hong Kong on Monday.

The costs of most renewable energy have been dropping rapidly in the past few decades, and have already reached parity with fossil fuels, he said during a speech at the inaugural President’s Forum hosted by the University of Hong Kong (HKU). But they need to be even cheaper, given the costs of relevant infrastructure.

The transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy will not be as easy as imagined, because of the costs of infrastructure such as energy storage and distribution, Chu said. “When you need more energy, you simply don’t turn on the switch [for renewable energy].”

Chu’s comments came two weeks after the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a landmark report underscoring the urgency of an energy transition amid a worsening climate crisis.

According to the report, the hurdles to keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2100 have become even higher due to a continued increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for a series of accelerated actions, including phasing out coal by 2040 in all countries and scaling up renewable energy to ensure net-zero electricity generation at the same time around the world.