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Planet Zero Carbon
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Is global 'net zero' pie-in-the-sky, or inevitable?
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I wrote my book 'Planet Zero Carbon: A Policy Playbook for the Energy Transition' as a practical alternative to all those other books I'd read regarding climate change and the various answers offered. None of them were optimistic or offered plausible solutions.
In fact, even the various net-zero pathways that are offered by the IEA, IRENA and other institutions are often off chart; mainly because they are still funded by fossil energy companies. The problem is difficult because many countries are so dependent on oil revenues. So we have net-zero scenarios that are impossible to achieve, eg 30% bioenergy by 2050! As I would argue, burning biomass to make steel and cement is not just impractical, it's impossible.
I like the concept of simple policy prescriptions that people will understand.
However the problem with the 'electrify everything' answer is that this is unfortunately not exactly correct. Put very simply, my book explains how we should and are switching from hydrocarbons to hydrogen. So there is a degree of technicality - but electrification unfortunately won't work. Even EU grid operators have had to state quite bluntly: “An all-electric scenario is not an option�.
And then what does OPEC or Russia do? What happens to those markets? Massive logistical problems arise without storable, transportable fuel.
The finance issue gets a bit tricky, as we've seen with the recent EU Taxonomy. However, the genuine answer remains quite simple: we must 'print the money', if it is strictly used to spend on renewables, which will return the investment over time. In fact, this is precisely what Europe's largest economy has just done - Germany has printed �200 billion which they will spend exclusively on 'renewables, hydrogen and climate protection'. I cover these issues in detail, but this basically proves my point - we should be using monetary policy (QE) - but not for war reparations as Germany has done in the past.
Basically, hydrogen will I think replace fossil fuels. The technical reasons are to do with energy storage, and energy transmission.
We are almost on track to net-zero as gas is decarbonised around the world, and all the investment is just about there.
I'd love to write the new edition, or 2023 edition with all these new developments, but the sheer scale and complexity of the task makes things difficult. Hopefully you will have a look!