Page 6 - NorthAmOil Week 31 2021

NorthAmOil COMMENTARY NorthAmOil

Far more energy infrastructure

needed to reach net-zero

emissions in 2050

A new report showing that the pace of energy infrastructure investment will

have to accelerate fast to meet a net-zero goal

GLOBAL THE US Senate may be close to debating a are readying themselves for net-zero goals.
$550bn infrastructure bill that includes money In the US, infrastructure debate will continue
WHAT: set aside for the grid, but far more will likely have for some time. Democrats in Washington are
A new report showing to be invested to achieve President Joe Biden’s readying a $3.5 trillion budget infrastructure
how the pace of energy goal of net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emis- package that they hope to pass later this year
infrastructure investment sions by 2050. without support from Republicans. The package
would need to accelerate Researchers at Princeton University’s could include far more broad help for fighting
to meet net zero. Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environ- climate change than is available in the pared-
ment, backed by Australian engineering firm back bipartisan bill.
WHY: Worley, have released a new report showing
Net zero will not be that the pace of energy infrastructure invest- Key shifts
reached if energy ment will have to accelerate fast to meet a net- According to the report, the first shift necessary
infrastructure zero goal. is making it more attractive to invest in low-car-
development continues at “If we develop energy infrastructure the way bon than high-carbon energy. Investors need
its current pace. we always have, we won’t get to net zero by 2050. to feel motivated to commit and confident that
We might not even get half way,” said the report, environmental and social values will be pre-
WHAT NEXT: From Ambition to Reality: Weaving the Threads served, including making the energy sector a
The infrastructure debate of Net-zero Delivery. more attractive employer and training people
is expected to continue “To reach our target we need to dramatically from industries affected by the transition in the
for some time in the US. accelerate the pace and scale of how we work. roles required to deliver and operate net-zero
Everyone involved in creating infrastructure solutions.
needs to rethink their approach – from govern- Land needs to be earmarked, including cor- Democrats in
ments and investors, to construction companies ridors of land for pipelines and grid infrastruc-
and engineers,” the report continues. “We’ll ture, sites for terminals, ports and zero-carbon Washington are
need vast amounts of new infrastructure: from energy hubs, all zoned for large-scale devel- readying a $3.5
grids and wind farms, to nuclear power plants opment so that delays can be minimised
[NPPs] and facilities for sequestering carbon … once projects start and reduce disruption to trillion budget
But they demand infrastructure to be built at a communities.
speed we’ve never attempted before.” The report noted a PV project in the US that infrastructure
is often held up as an example of project delivery
Global push – yet it took 3.5 years to build. That is too long, package.
The research focuses on supply-side infrastruc- says the report. The US would need to build
ture, exploring five key shifts in thinking that it two 400-MW solar PV power stations – each
says are needed to deliver a net-zero transition roughly the land area of 130 Tokyo Olympic
globally: broadening how value is defined; keep- stadia – every week for the next 30 years to get
ing our technology options open; designing one, to net zero, it notes.
building many; communicating and collaborat- Resiliency in electrical infrastructure, grid
ing; and enabling and monitoring digitally. The reliability and protection against cyber-attacks
combination of all five is how we can go about must be assured. Communities must be involved
making net zero happen, says the report. in the transition to net-zero, while the defini-
The findings are crucial because of the need tion of value is broadened from beyond purely
to get to net-zero globally. About 100 countries, economic. Governments can create certainty in
according to the United Nations, now have or and for the clean-energy sector by underwriting

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 31 05•August•2021