Global energy transition to 100% renewables by 2050: Not fiction, but much needed impetus for developing economies to leapfrog into a sustainable future

Abstract

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).