Which Technology Isn’t Living Up to the Hype for Climate Change

The International Energy Agency (IEA) recently updated its road map for the global energy sector’s transition towards net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. One significant takeaway? High-tech and emerging Climate change solutions might not be the silver bullets we hoped for.

Source: DW Documentary/YouTube

Initially set up to monitor global oil supplies, the IEA first unveiled its road map in 2021. It warned against further investments in new oil, gas, and coal endeavors and provided guidelines every nation should follow to align with the Paris Climate Agreement. The aim? To curb global warming to approximately 1.5 degrees Celsius. Sadly, as the planet has warmed by 1.2 degrees Celsius already, this has prompted an updated roadmap to address new challenges.

The refreshed report places reduced emphasis on budding technologies previously hailed as climate saviors. Solutions like hydrogen fuel cells for heavy-duty vehicles and CO2 emission filtering tools now represent only 35% of emissions reductions, a decrease from nearly 50% in the 2021 prediction.

So, what changed? According to the report, these innovations just haven’t delivered as anticipated. Dave Jones from the energy think tank, Ember, remarks, “There’s a newfound realism from this report that might resonate with the industries.”

Hydrogen, while not new as a fuel, still predominantly derives from gas. Efforts are underway in countries, including the US, to render hydrogen greener, either through renewable energy or by combining fossil fuels with carbon capture. If successful, it could mean cleaner fuel for various modes of transport. However, developing the infrastructure for hydrogen distribution remains a significant hurdle, with electric charging networks showing much faster growth.

The report further reduces the anticipated contributions of carbon capture technologies by about 40%. Given the historical unmet expectations of carbon capture and its associated expenses, IEA executive director Fatih Birol emphasized prioritizing the reduction of carbon emissions from the onset. He noted, “Removing carbon from the atmosphere is very costly. We must stop putting it there in the first place.”

For genuine climate action, global renewable power capacity must triple by 2030. Investments in clean energy should escalate from $1.8 trillion currently to $4.5 trillion by the upcoming decade. Energy efficiency must double, and affluent nations should achieve net-zero emissions well before 2050.

This update is timely, following the United Nations report on global climate change progress (or the lack thereof). With increasing emissions and the pressing need to restrict warming to 1.5 degrees, the UN hosted a summit emphasizing stronger clean energy commitments. As the world anticipates another major UN climate conference in Dubai, the message is clear: prioritizing renewable energy is the real deal.

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