GOAL 7 : AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY

GOAL 7 : Affordable and Clean Energy

Adequate energy supply is necessary for well-lit, well-heated, and well-cooled schools and households which are essential for creating conducive learning spaces for children and adults. It is also needed for information and communication technologies that facilitate modern learning. Ensuring energy access in countries where reliable energy services may be lacking can therefore reinforce education methods. Science and technical education is needed now more than ever. To design, maintain and understand the need for sustainable and clean energy, high-level education is needed. Additionally, since renewable energy is the necessary path for sustainable energy production, and a growing domain, people in polluting energy industries, like coal, will need retraining to adapt to the changing employment opportunities. Within the decade between 2000 and 2020, more than 30,000 jobs were lost in the coal industry in the US, leaving approximately 86,000 coal miners still employed in the country in 2020. In contrast, in that same year, renewable energy accounted for about 175,000 US jobs. According to a recent US Department of Energy report, as of January 2020, that figure had grown to almost 800,000 workers employed in low carbon electricity generation, while the number of coal miners decreased further to 50,000. Therefore, it is evident that appropriate education and training is needed to meet the needs of growing energy industries such as solar and wind. So, while education is needed to achieve and maintain affordable clean energy, sustainable energy is required for the growing needs of education especially in the current technology-dependent society.

‘Energy is central to nearly every major challenge and opportunity the world faces today. Be it for jobs, security, climate change, food production or increasing incomes, access to energy for all is essential. Working towards this goal is especially important as it interlinks with other Sustainable Development Goals. Focusing on universal access to energy, increased energy efficiency and the increased use of renewable energy through new economic and job opportunities is crucial to creating more sustainable and inclusive communities and resilience to environmental issues like climate change. At the current time, there are approximately 3 billion people who lack access to clean-cooking solutions and are exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution. Additionally, slightly less than 1 billion people are functioning without electricity and 50% of them are found in Sub-Saharan Africa alone. Fortunately, progress has been made in the past decade regarding the use of renewable electricity from water, solar and wind power and the ratio of energy used per unit of GDP is also declining. However, the challenge is far from being solved and there needs to be more access to clean fuel and technology and more progress needs to be made regarding integrating renewable energy into end-use applications in buildings, transport and industry. Public and private investments in energy also need to be increased and there needs to be more focus on regulatory frameworks and innovative business models to transform the world’s energy systems.’

Strengthening Governance and energy systems

Policies enabled by changing economics and innovation are supporting decarbonization

The emission reduction pledges governments made as part of the Paris Agreement on climate change will not suffice to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. In addition, the decline in energy-related emissions resulting from COVID-19 lockdown measures is only expected to be temporary. However, as governments administer pandemic-related stimulus, there are opportunities to invest in clean energy infrastructure in ways that could shape the global energy system for years to come. Since the signing of the Paris Agreement, progress on climate and energy policy has primarily taken place at the federal, state, and local level – rather than at the international level. For example, the European Union aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050, and some member states have set even more ambitious net-zero targets. California, which boasts the world’s 5th-largest economy, has set 100% clean electricity standards together with nine other American states and territories; hundreds of cities and counties have followed suit. This progressive leadership is in part a response to delayed international action, and to increasing pressure from activists and political campaigns around the world.

Policies that spur innovation and reconfigure markets are needed to enable the widespread deployment of clean technologies – and to achieve long-term emissions-reduction targets. Policy-makers can build on an increasingly large body of successful efforts around the world, and send the right signals by removing fossil fuel subsidies, introducing carbon emission pricing schemes, and creating efficiency targets that can be reached using existing technologies. One example of policies that can reconfigure markets is support for renewable schemes; falling renewable costs have made these resources competitive with alternative technologies, and as a result, policies to procure renewables have evolved into more competitive, market-based mechanisms like auctions. “Green New Deal” plans that put economic development and distributional equity at the centre of climate policies have gained popularity in the US and Europe – while their ultimate success remains to be seen, it is clear now that any successful climate plan must consider related impacts on inequality and justice. In addition, the corporate world has not ignored the changing policy landscape. Corporate targets for decarbonization are becoming increasingly popular, and several oil and gas supermajors have pledged to reduce emissions in line with a 1.5°C warming target.

Designing the future of Power systems

Powerful trends are driving the transformation of global systems

Technology advances resulting from decades of investment in research and development, as well as supportive policies that encourage deployment and learning-by-doing, have led to dramatic cost declines for renewable resources – and increased power generation from renewables (the European Commission’s climate neutrality goals are an example of such a policy). Wind and solar power have started to outperform newly built, fossil fuel-based electricity generation in terms of cost – a trend that will continue. In addition, innovative financing approaches such as corporate power purchase agreements are helping organizations meet their 100% renewable commitments. Replacing existing fossil-fuel plants with cleaner alternatives while meeting growing demand will be a perennial challenge, however, particularly in markets with relatively new fossil-fuel-based plants – as is the case in many Asian markets. Green technologies can provide developing markets with innovative options to connect the unserved; in Africa, leveraging grid extensions, mini-grids, and stand-alone systems in a coordinated manner will be key to solving the energy access problem by 2030 with cleaner, smarter systems. Meanwhile in developed markets, electricity companies are trying to solve the challenge of integrating greater amounts of variable renewable power into their grids.

Grid reinforcements, increased interconnection, and new builds will be a priority for developed power markets in the coming years – amid growing public resistance to new infrastructure. A greater emphasis must therefore be placed on increasing grid flexibility, and on planning new infrastructure that can win public acceptance. Evolving power markets are creating new ways for utilities to buy and sell capacity or flexibility, and fostering business models centred on demand side management and digital offerings. A further restructuring of power markets will be necessary to facilitate more renewable power generation, and to encourage more efficient investment and operations. An increase in renewables could further enable the clean electrification of buildings, mobility, and industry. Systemic efficiency at the intersection of sectors (like ultra-efficient buildings integrated with smart energy infrastructure) will be necessary to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and to deliver on the Paris Agreement on climate change and the New Urban Agenda. Meanwhile grid resiliency is more important than ever, due to pandemics, increasingly severe natural disasters, and cyberattacks (managing major outage risks for utilities used to mean dealing with component failure or inclement weather, but must now mean carefully designing a cyber resilience strategy).

Driving Energy Technology Innovation

Innovation will be critical to complete the energy transition

The cost of solar and wind power technologies has been significantly reduced, and a similar trajectory is expected for lithium-ion battery technology. However, as these become more prominent, additional innovation supporting their integration into energy systems (including smart grids and storage) needs to advance. Continued innovation in clean technologies will be crucial for achieving a cost-effective transition to net-zero carbon emissions; many are far from being on track in terms of broad market deployment. In terms of buildings, for example, efficiency improvements and policy reforms are required, as energy demand from cooling, heating, and powered devices grows. Systemic efficiency and digitalization will be necessary to transition both buildings and the cities where they are built to a net-zero future. Faster progress is also required for applications in the manufacturing and transportation sectors, which have significant barriers to electrification – including high-temperature industrial processes, and the fuels still necessary for maritime shipping, aviation, and heavy-duty transportation. Hydrogen and advanced biofuels have shown promise for many of these applications, but related costs remain high. And, the search for hydrogen-based technical solutions means it will be necessary to deploy large-scale, clean hydrogen production and generation infrastructure in parallel.

Another technology recognized for its role in addressing the climate challenge is carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS). All credible energy decarbonization scenarios foresee a role for CCUS, due to the significant carbon lock-in associated with current infrastructure and the difficulty in decarbonizing some industrial sectors. However, CCUS has so far failed to progress beyond the demonstration stage. Its deployment will depend on sufficient carbon price signals and other support mechanisms to facilitate viable business models by bringing capital costs down. The idea of net-zero carbon industry clusters has gained some traction; these would co-locate energy- and emissions-intensive industries, and put CCUS in place with shared infrastructure. In terms of the subsequent use of captured carbon dioxide, more research is needed to find viable use cases that go beyond niche applications. Early-stage research and deployment is also occurring with direct air capture technologies (which would be able to extract CO2 from ambient air), and biomass-based solutions for negative emissions (also known as bioenergy CCS). Taking a more holistic approach to the carbon cycle and developing a “circular carbon economy” that treats carbon as a valuable resource – and not just waste – may be required.

Energy & Buildings

Buildings are responsible for more emissions than you might think – 60% on average, and up to 80% in some cities. This means that the transition away from fossil fuels and into renewable energy and green buildings solutions must be an essential part of all climate action.

GOAL 7 : AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY