Net Zero Global CO2 Emission

Planet Earth is heating up. According to NASA, in 2019 the planet’s average temperature was 0.98 degrees higher than pre-industrial levels. Global warming, in addition to causing the polar ice caps to melt and sea levels to rise, is causing other climate changes like desertification and an increase in extreme weather events such as hurricanes, floods and fires: the distortion of the climate risks causing incalculable damage. 

Energy, water and food are three major elements to ensure human survival. World energy development is entering a new historical period, when clean and low-carbon energy is inevitably required. Unconventional oil and gas revolution made the 40-year strategic dream of energy independence in the United States come true. The US government proposed the great energy strategy of remaking America with green energy in 2008, and especially, provided the revolutionary four innovations in unconventional oil and gas represented by shale oil and gas and tight oil, i.e. innovation in geological theory centering round continuous oil/gas accumulation, innovation in technologies with volume fracturing of horizontal wells as core, innovation in production methods for platform-type factory exploitation, and innovation in management centering around market competition mechanism. The unconventional oil and gas revolution in the United States is now changing the pattern of global oil and gas and even energy, exerting a profound impact on global political and economic development. The Chinese government has recently proposed an energy revolution strategy of “promoting energy consumption revolution to curb irrational energy consumption, promoting energy supply revolution to establish a diverse supply system, promoting energy technology revolution to drive industry upgrade, and promoting energy system revolution to open up a fast lane for energy development. The authors first summarized the general trend of world energy development by reviewing its history. Then, they analyzed the challenges to the energy development of China, and proposed relevant countermeasures.

The energy transition is a pathway toward transformation of the global energy sector from fossil-based to zero-carbon by the second half of this century. At its heart is the need to reduce energy-related CO2 emissions to limit climate change. Decarbonisation of the energy sector requires urgent action on a global scale, and while a global energy transition is underway, further action is needed to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change. Renewable energy and energy efficiency measures can potentially achieve 90% of the required carbon reductions. 

Historically, energy transitions are not new. In the past we have seen huge epoch-marking shifts like the transition from using wood to using coal in the 19th century or from coal to oil in the 20th century. But what distinguishes this transition from its predecessors is the urgency of protecting the planet from the greatest threat it has ever had to face, and of doing so as quickly as possible. This impetus has accelerated the changes in the energy sector: in just one decade (2010-2019) the costs of renewable technologies have fallen by 80% in the case of solar photovoltaics and 60% for onshore wind power.

The energy transition, however, is not only limited to the gradual closure of coal-fired power stations and the development of clean energies: it is a paradigm shift that concerns the entire system. A huge contribution to decarbonization comes from electrification, which also makes other sectors such as transport cleaner, and from the digitalization of electricity grids, which improves energy efficiency.

This solution can provide benefits not only for the climate but also for the economy and for society. The digitalization of electricity grids can usher in the age of smart grids and open the way for new services for consumers. From the environmental perspective, renewable sources and electric mobility reduce pollution, while coal-fired power stations can be repurposed in line with the principles of the circular economy. 

A genuine paradigm shift is taking place. On the one hand, there is the replacement of fossil fuels with renewables. On the other hand, we have the development of new technologies such as energy storage and hydrogen, the electrification of certain sectors, and digitalization.

Developing renewable energies lies at the very core of the energy transition. In recent years, photovoltaic and wind energy have joined more mature technologies such as hydroelectric and geothermal power, quickly becoming the star performers of the transition that is underway. The result is a genuine paradigm shift focused on decarbonization, with a gradual move away from fossil fuels and the consequent decommissioning of coal-fueled power stations. Developments in new sectors such as tidal power and green hydrogen may soon contribute to the transition, while energy storage technologies, systems that can warehouse power to make up for the intermittent nature of sources such as solar and wind, will be decisive. The process of electrification of consumption and of certain sectors, and the digitalization of both industrial procedures and electricity grids, are all helping to improve energy efficiency and complete the energy transition. 

Energy storage systems will also play a decisive role because they are necessary to compensate for the intermittency of renewable energy sources such as the sun and wind. Historically, the most important form of storage was pumped hydroelectric power plants, but the current technological progress has seen the substantial development of batteries, in particular lithium ion batteries, which can be located independently in any place. The diffusion of energy storage plants is still limited but growing rapidly thanks, in this case as well, to advancements in technological innovation that are constantly improving the quality and performance of the batteries and reducing their production costs. When energy storage is fully integrated into the electricity grids, intermittent renewable power plants will be able to feed the energy they produce into the grid at any time, regardless of atmospheric conditions: it will then be possible to achieve an electricity generation mix that is completely free of emissions. A future that is not so far away.