Net-zero emissions, carbon neutral, sustainability, and renewable energy are a few more phrases heard, read, and projected through modern news reports and literature.
Governments and scientists are urging the world to undergo an energy transition that needs to mirror or surpass the pace of climate change. It’s said that only a rapid move from fossil fuels coupled with behavioral changes will save the Earth from human-made extreme weather events that will radically alter our existence.
These dire warnings now form part of global policy decisions — and decarbonization is one of the tools they hope to wield. We’ll explain why decarbonization is vital and how a global decarbonization effort can stop trillions of tons of harmful carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere.
What Does Decarbonization Mean?
Some 76% of all harmful greenhouse gas emissions are carbon dioxide. Decarbonization means reducing that level within the energy system.
Decarbonization is a catch-all term that describes the switch from using fossil fuels to renewable energy and many processes in between. This shift reduces or eliminates the carbon dioxide emissions created within the energy system.
A classic example would be generating electricity from solar power or wind farms instead of a natural gas-powered power plant. Renewable energy-created electricity produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) than its fossil fuel equivalent. That means the power generation process becomes less carbon intensive.
Why Do We Need Decarbonization?
Global warming will change the global climate enormously if left unchecked. Extreme heat waves, droughts, flooding, and sea level rises will become more intense. They will occur more frequently, bringing death and devastation.
That’s why, back in 2015, almost 200 countries signed the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly. The goal is to restrict the average global temperature increase to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit below pre-industrial levels. Many observers prefer the average increase to be no more than 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit.
Doing so requires a significant and rapid shift from fossil fuels as an energy source across every aspect of our lives. Multiple sustainability measures are the only way to achieve the necessary greenhouse gas emission reductions.
Decarbonization is a wide-arching term that describes many actions. It could cover the decarbonization of buildings, the power sector, or even farming, all of which produce greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, big ideas are needed.
For example, the United States has pledged to achieve 100% carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035 and net-zero emissions by 2050. More than 40% of the required investment must help disadvantaged communities. Those are big figures.
What Are the Main Sources of Carbon Emissions Globally?
The primary sources of global carbon emissions are:
- Electricity and heat production (25%)
- Agriculture, forestry, and other land use (24%)
- Industry (21%)
- Transportation (14%)
- Buildings (6%)
- Other energy (10%)
How Does Decarbonization Work?
“Decarbonization is a broad term incorporating a swathe of energy-saving and low-carbon power generation ideas.
There are four pillars of decarbonization. These are:
- Energy efficiency
- Electrification
- Carbon capture
- Decarbonization of electricity
Each pillar straddles various ideas and processes throughout our energy consumption behaviors, from within the home to new buildings and across industrial processes.
Energy Efficiency as Part of Decarbonization
Energy efficiency cuts across everyone’s lives, from home lifestyles to industrial processes. Indeed, the energy sector accounts for three-quarters of all GHGs. Some 40% of all necessary GHG reductions needed by 2040 could come just from the energy sector.
Energy efficiency is cost-effective, giving the energy industry and energy users many incentives. Running more efficient appliances at home and turning off unused lights are good practices. Heating and cooling are essential to energy efficiency, so reducing HVAC and air conditioning temperatures all help reduce household energy bills. For example, homeowners can switch from gas furnaces to energy-efficient heat pumps, improving the home’s insulation and reducing the heating and water heating carbon footprint.
Industrial processes could, for example, move to electricity-powered furnaces, add localized solar panels, or optimize the use of thermal heat released during factory work. Improving water and wastewater treatment counts as decarbonization, using less energy for the same purpose. Smart thermostats and real-time data bring data to show possible energy-saving areas.
There are living contradictions. In the U.S., it’s now cheaper to build large-scale solar and wind farms to power the grid than continue operating coal-powered power plants. Yet only 6% of American electricity came from solar in 2022.
Electrification as Part of Decarbonization
How we heat and cool our homes, offices, and industries must change under decarbonization. More than half a home’s energy is used for heating and air conditioning.
Homeowners may already see pushes to convert from oil, natural gas, or coal furnaces to electricity-based heating systems like heat pumps. The cost of solar panels is reducing, with incentives to generate electricity and push it back into the power grid. Electricity, especially that produced via renewable energy sources, is the prize.
Similarly, the crusade to switch drivers from gas-guzzling automobiles to electric vehicles (EVs) is in full swing. States offer varying subsidies to coax drivers into electric vehicles. California leads the way with almost a million EVs registered in 2022 alone, totaling more than 1.5 million. The state aims for a 100% EV fleet by 2035.
The transportation sector, from rail and subways to boats, can be electrified. The same is valid for aviation and shipping, with small electric-powered aircraft already taking flight and cargo ships powered by biofuels or green hydrogen rather than diesel.
Getting land-based industries to use more green energy from the grid for their processes is vital. Indeed, more than half of the U.S. industry’s manufacturing energy is used in thermal processes. Utilizing heat pumps and induction would help reduce the industry’s carbon emissions and be part of its decarbonization.
What Is the Decarbonization of Electricity?
“Power generation globally remains the domain of fossil fuels, with coal (35.8%) and natural gas (22.2%) leading the way. China, India, and the United States are the leading coal-for-electricity production countries in the world.
As governments urge people to use more electricity, how that power is generated becomes crucial. Decarbonization requires more electricity produced by clean sources such as:
- Solar panels
- Wind farms
- Hydropower and pumped hydro storage
- Nuclear power
- Bioenergy
- Thermal energy
- Nascent renewables like tidal energy or wave power
Another boost comes from increasing the amount of clean energy in the electricity grid and then converting more users to electricity — like changing from driving gas-powered cars to EVs.
Excess renewable energy needs to be stored in utility-scale batteries, home batteries, EV batteries, or pumped hydro storage systems for later use too. Storage systems reduce the need to switch on fossil fuel power plants once demand surges.
Electricity could also be created by burning low-carbon fuels like green hydrogen at natural gas power plants. Methane emitted by decomposing crops or animal waste can help produce electricity on farms or from civic garbage dumps. Biofuels, like ethanol, come from biomasses such as corn and can be burned to produce electricity or used to power vehicles.
In short, electricity generation’s carbon footprint can be dramatically reduced by using multiple renewable energy sources rather than relying on fossil fuels.
Carbon Capture’s Role in Decarbonization
This energy transition still depends on fossil fuels to feed our energy use. As fossil fuels spew greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, there’s a growing call to capture those emissions at the source.
Known as carbon capture, carbon produced at cement production lines or power plants is caught at its creation point. The CO2 is next transported via roads, pipelines, or ships to storage facilities. These vary from the carbon being injected deep underground, sometimes into areas from which oil or gas has already been extracted, or into sea beds.
Some advocate using captured carbon to create valuable materials like plastics, biofuels, or concrete. Ultimately, carbon has to go somewhere — and the idea is that it’s somewhere other than the atmosphere.
How Does Decarbonization Relate to Climate Change Mitigation?
Countries looking to mitigate their carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas footprint can use decarbonization as a tool. Successful implementation of energy efficiency, electrification, carbon capture, and decarbonization of electricity generation may create a low or net zero-emission economy.
What’s the Role of Carbon Pricing in Decarbonization?
Carbon pricing estimates the carbon cost of production lines and processes. This is measured as the price of effects like crop damage, pollution, and damage caused by floods or other extreme weather events.
Various countries have different carbon pricing projects, sometimes called carbon taxes. Essentially, companies have to pay for the carbon they produce to encourage them to clean up their acts. Some businesses can even trade their emissions as a stock with others. Other carbon pricing ideas see incentives offered to industry to encourage using green or clean energy technologies that reduce carbon emissions.
It’s a nascent industry with much work to do. In 2021, the International Monetary Fund estimated a ton of carbon emissions was valued at $3. In reality, a global price of $75 is required to hit the Paris Agreement targets. Furthermore, only a fifth of all emissions are covered by carbon pricing programs.
What Are the Potential Benefits of Decarbonization?
The potential benefits of decarbonization include:
- Lower electricity generation costs and utility bills
- Cleaner air and less pollution benefit people’s health outcomes and lifespans
- Create new jobs in the carbon capture and renewable energy sectors
- Help battle climate change and global warming
It’s believed that many countries need to invest less than 1% of national income to undertake a deep decarbonization route.
Which Countries Lead the Decarbonization Efforts?
There are clear decarbonization leaders almost a decade after the Paris Agreement was signed.
Using a purely financial metric, the decarbonization leader by investment in renewable energy is China ($758 billion). That’s almost double the second-placed United States ($356 billion). Japan ($202 billion), Germany ($179 billion), and the United Kingdom ($122 billion) follow.
However, the World Economic Forum’s Energy Transition Index (ETI) offers a broader overview of decarbonization as countries move towards zero carbon emissions. Small European countries take the lead, whereas countries like China plummet (down to 68th in the ETI) because of their colossal carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels.
The ETI Top Ten is:
- Sweden
- Norway
- Denmark
- Switzerland
- Austria
- Finland
- United Kingdom
- New Zealand
- France
- Iceland
The United States languishes in 24th position.
What Challenges and Obstacles Are Associated with Decarbonization?
Many businesses claim investment and start-up costs are prohibitive for decarbonization projects. Others say that electrification cannot meet their energy needs. People must also change their behaviors to save energy at home and be more energy efficient.
National grid operators may need help to balance their network when renewable energy sources fail, for example, on cloudy or windless days. Fossil fuel power plants often pick up the slack on these occasions. Energy security is a pressing issue, contributing to energy equity and economic stability.
Investors claim regulatory frameworks surrounding decarbonization are troubling. Predicted energy models are just that, so why invest a fortune in things that may not pass? Government support and subsidies for renewable energy projects may wane, affecting bottom lines.
Yet global investment in decarbonization is a red herring. In 2022, banks injected over $150 billion into so-called ‘carbon bomb’ programs. These projects could ruin net-zero emissions targets and rapidly induce climate change. Collectively, these initiatives blow the global carbon budget four times over.
Furthermore, predominantly U.S., Chinese, and European banks have sunk more than $1.8 trillion into carbon bomb projects between 2016 and 2022. The most significant stakeholders have been J.P. Morgan Chase, Citi, and Bank of America. There is plenty of money in the energy sector; decarbonization’s challenge is to divert it towards renewable energy and decarbonization projects.
Decarbonization and Emissions: Combating Climate Change
Decarbonization, taking carbon out of all aspects of the energy sector, is vital in the battle against climate change. The world won’t meet its net-zero emissions target for greenhouse gas emissions without accelerated decarbonization.
A focus on energy efficiency across all sectors must be accompanied by increased renewable energy and the electrification of heating, cooling, and transport systems. Carbon capture at the production source for storage or conversion into valuable products is also crucial.
In the U.S., petroleum and gasoline power the transport and automobile industries that dominate greenhouse gas emissions. For example, decarbonizing the American economy will require a considerable shift to electric vehicles, dramatically altering heating methods, and cleaning up the electricity power generation supply.
Most importantly, decarbonization requires a committed effort by the public, governments, and businesses to invest in taking carbon from the atmosphere.
Brought to you by justenergy.com
All images licensed from Adobe Stock.
