Green hydrogen is set to have a significant role in decarbonising the steel industry. Policies are essential to help close the cost gap with production methods relying on fossil fuels and ensure that green steel plants come online in the next few years. Emerging Power-to-X technologies, in particular iron ore electrolysis, could also play a part
Accounting for as much as one-fifth of overall CO2 emissions, industrial clusters are emerging as an attractive target for decarbonisation. With most of the focus on CCS and the hydrogen economy so far, industrial clusters are starting to see their ripples of impact spread further afield
The ability of consumers to adjust their electricity demand in response to price signals and system operator requirements has a fundamental role to play in the energy transition
Sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) acting as drop-in substitutes for the fossil fuel kerosene are expected to play a leading role in decarbonising aviation. They are currently produced with materials like used cooking oil and animal fat waste, but new low-carbon feedstocks are needed to scale up output and ensure future flights are truly sustainable
A country with significant renewables potential and one of the fastest-growing heat pump markets worldwide, Poland’s energy transition is being hampered by a stubborn coal fleet and grid limitations. A growing level of support and investment among the general public may help ease its path
Carbon prices at sufficiently high levels can push firms to internalise the costs of greenhouse gas emissions while providing a long-term price signal to drive investments needed for decarbonisation. Emission trading systems and carbon taxes feature in a growing number of climate strategies, but even the most well-designed instruments must be accompanied by other policy measures if emissions reductions goals are to be reached
The share of hydroelectric power in electricity generation is set to decrease as solar and wind come to dominate. Yet, hydropower has a crucial role to play in providing flexibility and storage for grids increasingly running on variable renewable energy resources
As the amount of traditional inertia on our grid systems decreases with the shift to inverter-based resources like wind and solar photovoltaics (PV), system operators are increasingly seeking carbon-free alternatives for stabilising frequency
The heavy industry sector has made significant progress in increasing energy efficiency in recent years and further gains are possible with greater electrification, digitalisation and changes in production processes. Meanwhile, material efficiency measures reducing demand for products like steel and cement offer major potential for energy savings for customers
The energy transition is not simply a matter of replacing fossil fuels with zero-carbon alternatives. It will also be marked by a radical change in our relationship with energy and the spread of technologies like heat pumps and electric vehicles that can yield significant efficiency gains even before traditional energy savings measures come into play
Venture capitalists are putting record amounts of money into climate tech, drawn by the opportunity to make money while fostering the innovation needed for decarbonisation. Digitalisation remains a focus, but investors are increasingly looking to tap into asset-heavy investment opportunities that are crucial to the energy transition
The expansion of distributed energy resources has precipitated the rise of advanced software platforms to manage them. Virtual power plants and distributed energy resource management systems can help integrate renewables and low-carbon assets more smoothly while allowing value from the flexibility that resources like rooftop solar, battery storage, electric vehicles and heat pumps can also provide to be extracted
Time-stamped certificates would allow customers to know where their power is coming from at any given time and could provide another signal for investors by driving up prices for green energy certificates when supply is short. Regulators are taking steps to ensure that consumers signing up for green tariffs are really helping to progress the energy transition
Offsetting emissions is fraught with problems and critics fear these programmes could distract from the real goal of keeping fossil fuels in the ground
Small businesses face a hard time decarbonising due to financial constraints, a lack of expertise and time, and technological hurdles. The rise of new business and financing models, plus a helping hand from larger companies, are helping them on the path to carbon neutrality
As economic activity declined under the pandemic so did demand for electricity. Fossil fuel generation was squeezed off the grid by renewable energy projects with lower marginal costs. Fears that the higher proportion of fluctuating supply would destabilise power systems proved unfounded and grids remained stable. If renewables are to be tasked with keeping the grid secure, alternative mechanisms, already available, must be introduced soon
The concept of transition bonds began as an idea to sell bonds that were difficult to market as green bonds, mainly natural gas bonds, but has evolved into an opportunity to accelerate decarbonisation efforts
Consumers will become more active market players as the amount of renewable energy in the grids increases, providing, for a fee, greater flexibility for power systems and increasing decarbonisation
Placing wind and solar photovoltaic facilities on the same site may sound attractive in theory, but the reality is more complicated and many experts suggest this will only make sense in a limited number of cases