Decarbonization — Tech Paves The Way For a Green Future
We can tackle the climate crisis by adopting technological inventions that can help us strike the right balance between economic advancements and sustainability.
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Environmentalists have long been sounding the alarm on the need for decarbonization. The pathway to meeting the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement — where several countries have pledged to bring down their carbon emissions — remains hinged on the industrial sector’s commitment to the cause. If industries like oil and gas, and aviation, among others do not cut down on their carbon emissions — the moralizing effort by grassroots activists would be ineffective in the long term.
To avert the climate change crisis, it is crucial to bring down our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from every sector of the modern industrial economy. Technological advancements are paving the way to a clean and low-carbon future. It is changing perceptions for those who believe that technology is destroying nature. But cutting down on carbon emissions to nearly zero cannot be achieved on will alone. It requires significant strategic and structural reforms in the private and public sectors. The real challenge involves decarbonizing industrial activities through policy-making or legislation and by providing incentives for governments and corporations.
The Intersection of Technology and Decarbonization
Slowing down the climate crisis can only be made possible by striking the right balance between economic stability and making a smooth transition into sustainable energy.
Decarbonizing the industrial sector means reducing its carbon intensity. Experts have identified certain major emitting sectors that need our urgent attention: electricity generation, cars, buildings, shipping, agriculture, aviation and steel. They account for about 80 percent of the world's emissions. And in order to decarbonize these sectors, we require technological intervention. Carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) is being touted as the means to achieve this. CCUS is described as the “methods and technologies to remove CO2 from the flue gas and from the atmosphere, followed by recycling the CO2 for utilization and determining safe and permanent storage options.” This process can arguably reduce global CO2 emissions by nearly one-fifth.
International Energy Agency (IEA), which consists of 30 member countries, 8 association countries and 2 accession countries, has stated that CCUS storage is required for carbon reduction even after a transition is made to alternative or renewable energy sources.
Before the slowdown of the economy due to the pandemic, 8 new CCUS-equipped power plants were announced in the United States. Funding schemes and incentives have helped in launching CCUS plants in Europe as well. CCUS plants are also under development in countries like Australia, China and the Middle East, bringing the global count to 20 in total.
Since CCUS is in its nascent stage of commercial application, government subsidies and incentives will only aid in its adoption.
In addition to CCUS, digital technologies like big data, machine learning and the Internet of Things have shown immense potential to help us meet the challenge of carbon reduction. International teams of researchers from countries like the U.K., U.S., Switzerland, and Singapore have concluded that while each technology individually is a good contributor to the reduction of CO2 — when combined — it gives an even better result. This combination of technologies is called Cyber-Physical System resulting in a 20 percent increase in the abatement of carbon. When included with AI, it has the potential to increase the abatement of carbon by up to 30 percent.
Cyber-physical systems are attracting more attention as they can aid the decarbonization process with limited investment. They further have the potential to provide synergistic effects that increase the efficiency of industrial production and the efficiency of energy provision. This is bound to have a two-way benefit of environmental impact with economic feasibility.
Moving to Other Industries
In agriculture, we are finding innovative and sustainable technologies to optimize the ability of crops to extract more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store the carbon underground. This technique of crop engineering has been touted as a viable solution to mitigate the climate crisis. In addition to the environmental benefit, this approach has also improved the quality and productivity of the crops.
Other techniques under regenerative agricultural practices include no-till agriculture — where farmers drill the seeds of a crop rather than plow the soils. Another approach includes diverse crop rotations — where farmers plant different crops over the years in rotation. Even a reduction in fertilizers and pesticides is considered to improve the health of the soil.
The state of California has set the ball rolling for decarbonization with its passage of a crucial global warming bill in 2006. Majority of the residential homes in the state now come equipped with all-electric space cooling systems. And heat pump technologies — which efficiently satisfy space cooling and heating loads while also producing domestic hot water — are also gaining widespread utilization in the residential and small commercial sectors. With these transitions, California is set to make its electricity carbon-free by 2045. The state is making this reality possible by relying on technological advancement, not least at the behest of carbon emissions.
But their adoption in the non-residential sector leaves much to be desired. Electric cooking technology is also lagging behind in adoption by those habituated by older electric cooking technologies.
Denmark is emerging as a leader in wind generation and integration. Besides having a population committed to the cause of climate change, the Danish turbine makers also believe this shift to wind power as a commercial opportunity. Not only that, they are sharing their knowledge and technology of clean energy transition with China, a major carbon emitter. The collaboration between Denmark and China is noteworthy and charts a path for other countries to follow suit.
Long Way to Go
The examples above showcase how different sectors have managed to walk the path of a sustainable future. But we need to accelerate our progress and make these efforts go mainstream. We have to make technological interventions for decarbonization a reality for the global economy. This effort requires significant collaboration by every stakeholder — from investment to research and development.
The transition towards a carbon neutral future has already been set in motion — by converting fossil fuels into electrically powered technologies. More and more industries, individuals and communities are joining the revolution by opting for low-cost and sustainable technologies.
But we require collaborative effort from all sectors. It’s time to wake up and do our bit.
