According to the International Energy Agency investment in clean technology will hit $2 trillion in 2024, almost twice the amount spent on fossil fuels. However, this is less than half of the $4.5 trillion of annual investment needed to achieve Net-Zero goals by 2030.
Although there has been a huge growth in wind and solar power, this is still failing to provide enough energy for economies such as China and India. A new report from The Energy Institute has found fossil fuels accounted for 81.5 percent of global energy consumption in 2023, which is slightly down from 82 percent in 2022 and 86 percent in 1995. Arguably, these figures indicate that the transition to Net-Zero hasn’t really started.
The 2015 Paris Agreement saw 193 countries plus the EU commit to curbing global warming, with 24 countries signing legally binding plans to cut their emissions to achieve Net-Zero by 2050. Some of the world’s biggest economies such as the US, China and India have committed to later targets or set out goals to meet these targets. However, the pace of change isn’t there and currently no major economy is on track to meet its emissions target, let alone reach Net-Zero.
Due to the rise in the tariff on goods such as electric cars from China, there has been increased concerns that the higher interest rates will slow down adoption or create problems in supply chains. The raised costs have also impacted the profitability of renewable projects and this has seen many economies pulling back from collaboration.
Clare Miszewska-Hall, Head of Global Sales and Marketing at AnTech, explains: “Many of the barriers that stand in the way of us reaching Net-Zero targets are made up of financial considerations.
“The cost of decarbonisation is truly staggering and as the figures have shown, progress has been slow due to a number of financial and political reasons. This is why nations across the world need to consider discarding the myth that a whole new set of technology is required in order to reach Net-Zero targets. The cost of designing and implementing new technology alone, makes it an almost impossible task.
“Even though investment in clean technology has gone up, in actual fact mass investment doesn’t need to be huge. The technology that can make a real difference in our Net-Zero journey in many cases already exists and could be implemented to allow us to move forward. Due to a lack of collaboration, current technology has either not been recognised or dismissed entirely because it is being implemented in the oil and gas industry.
“For example, hydrogen will play an important role in the energy transition and there will be a need for technology to be able to contain it. Drilling new underground storage for hydrogen and carbon capture is something that existing technology could easily adapt to and is in some cases already doing.
“Another key component on the journey to Net-Zero will be geothermal energy. Existing technology already used in the oil and gas sectors can help to monitor the extremely high temperatures needed in geothermal wells to produce electricity, helping to reduce both risk and cost.
“As the world struggles with its Net-Zero plan, by looking at the technology that already exists in the oil and gas industry there is an opportunity to make a tangible, positive move towards a sustainable, cost-conscious energy transition, that has a positive impact on the climate,” concluded Miszewska-Hall.
