Why focus on energy?

Climate change has been identified as a core planetary boundary which, if sufficiently violated, can push the Earth into environmental instability. Given the volume of carbon dioxide ( emissions stemming from human activity and its role in the global greenhouse effect, atmospheric concentration is naturally a key variable of interest when examining climate change.

A 2018 Special Report published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) advocates for global warming to be limited to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, to prevent ‘irreversible loss of the most fragile ecosystems, and crisis after crisis for the most vulnerable people and societies’. International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) analysis proposed a “REmap” scenario where this would likely be achieved, but this necessitates a further 70% reduction in emissions from the “Reference Case” under Paris Agreement targets.

Source: IRENA, 2019

With approximately three-quarters of this further reduction being attributable to renewable energy and electrification, this blog aims to delve into some of the technologies involved which can make this possible, ranging from upstream sources like solar or hydroelectric plants to downstream sectors like electric vehicles (EVs) or hydrogen fuels. I would like to highlight upfront that energy and electricity are not equivalents – the latter is but a subset of the former! This would become more explicit in the later blog posts which discuss biofuels and hydrogen fuel cells, so stay tuned to find out!