The challenge of worldwide energy decarbonization is crucial to ensure sustainable development. The achievement of decarbonization encompasses not only a considerable exploitation of renewable energy sources, but also a paradigm shift in final energy uses towards their massive electrification. Electrification based on Global Energy Interconnections (GEI) is one of the possible pathways towards decarbonization in energy systems. In this paper, we critically discuss the idea of decarbonization through global interconnections in an 'electricity based' world, contrasting it against the typically desirable attributes for energy in terms of security, efficiency, sustainability, and affordability. We provide a comparative analysis of global interconnection with other internationally proposed visions of future energy scenarios. The analysis shows that the GEI option could be particularly beneficial from an environmental point of view; however, it requests deep and relevant modifications in the energy markets and regulations, in which a common framework based on the cooperation among different countries is needed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.