WEC: Paris goals achievable with commitment
This week it was released report 'Phasing out Carbon' from World Energy Council Netherlands. Energy specialists from New Energy CoalitionEnergy analyst and Future Energy Leader Miralda van Schot and Professor Catrinus Jepma co-authored the report. Jepma also led a workshop introducing the report's strategic pillars to the relevant industry.
Northwestern Europe can make its economy carbon-free
According to the World Energy Council (WEC) NL, it is possible to sufficiently decarbonise the economy in Northwestern Europe while maintaining industrial production and providing safe and affordable energy.This will require significant efforts in the transition to green gas and sufficient green electricity generation. But Europe, with its infrastructure, ports, and industry, is uniquely positioned globally to lead by example and simultaneously create new jobs and a competitive edge.'
With its infrastructure, ports, and industry, Europe is uniquely positioned in the world to lead by example while creating new jobs and a competitive edge.
- Word Energy Council in 'Phasing out Carbon' report
Key points
The WEC, the international platform that broadly addresses the global energy challenges of today and the future, reported a year ago that Northwest Europe must fully commit to hydrogen if we want to meet the European climate targets in thirty years. The new report from the Netherlands contains a detailed scenario for achieving this.
The scenario contains three main pillars:
- Efficiency improvements and further electrification of energy consumption
- Further generation of green energy
- Production and import of carbon-free materials for fuel and raw material purposes
Pillar 1: Efficiency improvements in further electrification
Because electrical processes lose less heat, electrification of the economy easily increases efficiency. We need to save 1,3 percent energy annually. This will primarily be achieved in transport and agriculture. In industry, we can't produce much more efficiently. In the long term, we need to use much less fossil fuels there and replace them with green gas and/or hydrogen. Everything we can generate electrically, we must generate.
Pillar 2: Further generation of green energy
The North Sea plays a crucial role in the ongoing transition to green energy. Building more wind farms is one of the key ways we can make the transition to green energy.
Pillar 3: Carbon-free materials for fuel and feedstock purposes
While our electricity is becoming increasingly greener, decarbonizing our fuels hasn't really taken off yet. This is partly due to the high demand from industry for raw materials and electricity. To achieve the Paris Agreement targets, we will therefore need to immediately begin blending biogas and hydrogen into the natural gas supply. Building a significant hydrogen supply is particularly important in this regard.
Even if northwest Europe achieves energy efficiency, electrifies where possible, and decarbonizes all gases, a significant amount of (carbonized) energy will still need to be sourced from abroad. This will only reduce import dependency to a limited extent. This has political and strategic consequences.
More about the WEC report
It was created with contributions from the individual members of the World Energy Council, namely: DNV GL, EBN, Nouryon, Vattenfall, Port of Rotterdam, pwc, Rabobank, Shell, TNO, Vopak and our colleagues Miralda van Schot and professor Catrinus Jepma on behalf of New Energy Coalition.
