Page 7 - AfrElec Week 26

AfrElec CLEAN TECH AfrElec

IEA calls for faster

innovation for clean tech

GLOBAL THE IEA has warned that governments and cor- “This report examines how quickly energy
porations need to focus on clean energy inno- innovation would have to move forward to bring
vation as a matter of urgency if they are to meet all parts of the economy – including challenging
their net-zero climate change targets by 2050. sectors like long-distance transport and heavy
The IEA’s Special Report on Clean Energy industry – to net-zero emissions by 2050 with-
Innovation found that there is a shortage of out drastic changes to how we go about our lives.
affordable and reliable technology capable of This analysis shows that getting there would
being harnessed and scaled up to meet climate hinge on technologies that have not yet even
goals. reached the market today. The message is very
Meanwhile, the report warned that the coro- clear: in the absence of much faster clean energy
navirus (COVID-19) crisis is threatening invest- innovation, achieving net-zero goals in 2050 will
ment commitments towards renewables and be all but impossible,” said IEA Executive Direc-
new energy technologies. tor Fatih Birol.
The IES stressed that new energy solutions
must be developed quickly, otherwise the slow, COVID-19
multi-decade investment cycles in many key The report stressed that as the world comes out of
industries will not be able to use them. lockdown, governments must maintain research
This is most clear in sectors such as shipping, and development funding at pre-COVID-19 lev-
trucking, aviation and heavy industries such as els until 2025, and consider raising it in strategic
steel, cement and chemicals. areas.
The report stressed that new technology must The IEA stressed that market-based policies
be brought to market quickly so that they can be and funding can help scale up value chains for
utilised. This would create huge markets for new small, modular technologies such as batteries
technologies and avoid locking in vast amounts and electrolysers.
of emissions for decades to come. “A recent IEA survey revealed that companies
If this is done, then new technologies coming that are developing net-zero emissions technol-
onto the market before 2030 could reduce heavy ogies consider it likely that their research and
industry’s CO2 emissions by 60 gigatonnes. development budgets will be reduced, a clear sign
Major examples of innovation include bat- of the damage that the COVID-19 crisis could do
tery designs, which are still at the prototype to clean energy innovation,” Birol warned.
stage. Rapid development is needed in order to In its report, the IEA put forward five key
shift long-distance transport from fossil fuels to principles for government to follow to drive for-
electricity. ward innovation.
Indeed, the report predicts that 75% of the These include reviewing the process of choos-
cumulative reductions in CO2 emissions that ing technology for public support and how to
would be needed to move the world onto a sus- foster private investment. Governments should
tainable path will be the result of technologies also ensure that all components of the technol-
that have not yet reached full maturity. ogy value chain are working in step.
In addition, existing clean technology, such as Fourthly, it should mobilise private finance
wind turbines, electric vehicles (EVs) and carbon to share investment risk. Finally, governments
capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), need to should collaborate with other governments to
be continually supported in order to bring down share best practice and technology challenges.™
costs and accelerate deployment.

Week 26 02•July•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P7