Distributed generation

• [New] Demand will be particularly strong for liquefied natural gas, which offers supply security to developing and emerging economies in the Asia Pacific region as they seek to decarbonise while meeting growing demand for energy.
• [New] The reason fewer companies are aligned with 2 °C or below after 2030 is because the pace of decarbonisation required in the industrial sector really picks up next decade, requiring drastic falls in emissions between 2030 and 2050 to meet Paris Agreement goals.
• [New] Growing global momentum for global decarbonization could leave countries that largely depend on oil and gas revenues facing a $9 trillion drop in expected income over the next 20 years.
• [New] The global community can still not measure progress against 68% of the internationally agreed Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, although 10-20% of decarbonization goals could be met through digital technologies and ICT solutions can help cut 9.7 times more CO2 than they emit.
• [New] To really shift to a decarbonized energy system, the U.S. will need to adopt clear requirements combined with energy innovation policies that drive all sectors to net zero emissions Waltzer added.
• [New] Fleet electrification will make the biggest and fastest contribution to the decarbonisation of road transport and offer significant upside for the fastest movers.
• [New] Microsoft and Amazon have created $1 billion-plus venture funds to accelerate technology to help them decarbonize their operations and address the systemic risk of climate change.
• [New] Hydrogen in transport based on fuel cell-electric vehicles is in an early phase of commercialization worldwide and shows major potential for decarbonizing road transport after 2030, while sustainable liquid fuels can help decarbonize aviation, shipping, etc.
• [New] 96% of new HGVs, buses and coaches sales will be zero-emission vehicles by 2035 and almost 100% by 2040 under the Balanced Net Zero Pathway.
• [New] In Japan, policymakers could facilitate the transition to battery electric vehicles (EVs) by providing incentives and policies to help overcome EVs' higher up-front cost.
• [New] Even at companies that have already made significant environmental commitments, investors will be pushing for near-term evidence of progress in areas such as decarbonizing supply chains and transitioning away from natural gas and other fossil fuels.
• [New] Specialists have debated for several years whether there are adequate supplies of critical raw materials to meet the projected demand for global decarbonization.
• An overseas investment strategy that mixes foreign policy and economic aspirations, it will affect the decarbonisation prospects of countries around the world through infrastructure finance.
• The race to net-zero will unleash a new stage of energy and clean technology competition, especially between the United States and China-competition that could prove beneficial in moving decarbonization forward beyond their own borders.
• Much of the current policy at EU level on the future of cars and light-duty vehicles ignores important tools Europe can rely on to reduce transport emissions, and instead focuses on one driver of decarbonisation that will not realise its full potential for many years to come: electromobility.
• While gas is set to play a role in the global energy mix for decades, oil is expected to lose relevance as a result of decarbonization policies and technological developments in electric vehicles.
• President Biden has promised to make the decarbonization of other economies one of the highest priorities in American foreign policy (just as decarbonization of the US economy will be a high domestic priority).
• Even more importantly, the United States will use its foreign policy instruments to convince and cajole other countries to decarbonize their economies - an energy outcome Washington will increasingly see as in its national interests.
• In 2018, fossil energy accounted for 85% of global carbon dioxide emissions, but with the large-scale development of global onshore wind and photovoltaic power, renewable sources are likely to be more cost-competitive than fossil-fuel sources before 2025.
• The United States will use foreign policy to convince and cajole other countries to decarbonize their economies and, if through investment and innovation it should emerge as a major source of technology, it could further support a successful global energy transition.
• Hydrogen will play an important role in decarbonization if produced in an environmentally friendly way, and mentioned steel production and stationary fuel cells as promising future applications.
• Another thing that is clear is that decarbonizing the energy system does not mean the US will eliminate greenhouse gas emissions.
• The most abundant element on earth, hydrogen, already has industrial uses, but it could do much more to transform the global energy mix as industrialised economies and the global south decarbonise.

Last updated: 21 February 2021