Carbon-neutrality

An announcement by GCL-Poly to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange yesterday about the company’s hydrogen plans made no mention of any intent to deploy carbon capture tech to mitigate the emissions of what would otherwise be considered a ‘grey’, fossil fuel version of the energy storage medium.

Analyst BloombergNEF has gazed into its crystal ball and predicted three routes to a net zero world. The ‘green’ scenario fleshed out in its latest New Energy Outlook is bound to appeal far more to the solar industry than the alternative, nuclear or fossil-fuel-powered outcomes.

Rooftops will have to supply a third of the 524 GW of solar generation capacity needed by 2045 to reach a zero-carbon economy by mid century, according to an academic paper. The researchers also suggested green hydrogen should not play a central role in the nation’s energy transition.

The inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States has brought hope the country will play a central role in the world’s energy transition and combating climate change. However, rather than teaching other countries lessons, the U.S. will need to catch up with the rest of the world, and it needs to do so quickly – the world won’t wait for the U.S.

The Japanese tech giant and German power company have followed the lead of General Electric by promising not to take on any new coal power station contracts.

To date Poland has only 486 MW of installed solar generation capacity and its government is dragging its heels on climate policy domestically and at EU level. But at some point the government will have to resolve the future of its coal industry with EU policymakers.

As part of its Paris Agreement obligations, the EU Commission has presented a carbon-neutral vision for 2050, which encompasses GDP growth through smart investments and public health savings.