Chapter 4: Provision of Goods and Services in a Climate-resilient Economy via Materials, Energy and Work

Several mitigation pathways are available after 2030 to reach net-zero CO2eq emissions in 2040 (medium evidence, high agreement). First, it is evident that the infrastructure necessary for energy storage, grids, and public transport will differ from the current infrastructure. This implies the need for swift and determined decisions today so that the necessary infrastructure is available in time, given the considerable construction time for energy and rail infrastructure. Second, the discrepancy in energy service demand, industrial output, and energy efficiency measures causes a large range of primary energy use (237 to 337 TWh) across the scenarios, underscoring the significance of measures reducing demand. Third, energy import dependency varies considerably (5 to 39 percent). Fourth, wind power and solar PV constitute the backbone of the power sector in all scenarios, satisfying demand, but the respective shares differ (wind: 5 to 25 percent; PV: 6 to 20 percent of gross domestic consumption). Fifth, biomass remains a highly important resource in the energy sector, but to varying degrees (ranging from 14 to 28 percent of gross domestic consumption).