Technology is key to meeting clean energy goals

We all want to live in a greener world, and the question constantly being asked is how to live more sustainably. Our belief is that technology holds the key to reducing our carbon emissions. And we need to focus on making electricity cleaner and greener. Electricity is the only energy that can be decarbonized. And that matters if we’re going to meet our climate targets. If we’re going to avoid a climate disaster we need to limit the rise in global temperature to 1.5⁰C. It is imperative that we utilize electricity in parallel with other technologies to solve the issue of climate change.

Electricity isn’t obviously new – it’s been in use for over 100 years – but the way electricity is produced and consumed is changing. Electricity is increasingly being produced by renewables, making it both clean and green. Right now, just one fifth of our energy usage is electric, and that’s going to change quickly over the coming decade. We’ll be driving more electric vehicles and using electric transportation. We’ll also be using electricity to heat and cool our buildings. The world will invest more in electricity in the coming 20 years than it has from its creation over a century back.

Increasing electrification and shifting generation to renewables will help us focus on decarbonization. Analysts at the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) expect that the percentage of electricity which will be generated will increase from 6% today to 40% by 2030. Rather than using hydrocarbons, tomorrow’s electricity must be made from clean sources such as solar or wind. The good news is that in most parts of the world, including in the Middle East, renewables are already the cheapest sources of energy generation.

Why Our Buildings’ Energy Efficiency Will Decide Whether We Meet Global Climate Targets

It goes without saying, CO2 emissions have to be reduced in all sectors – heat/energy generation, industry, and transportation — if we want to become climate-neutral. The greatest savings potential, however, lies in buildings, and above all in the existing building stock! Let’s take a look at the bare facts:

As three-quarters of building’s energy consumption comes from fossil fuels (gas, oil, coal), they contribute significantly to global CO2 emissions: The building and construction sectors together account for more than one third of end energy consumption and nearly 40 % of all direct and indirect CO2 emissions worldwide.

So, one thing quickly becomes clear: A 55-percent reduction of CO2 emissions by 2030 will only be feasible if end-use sectors such as buildings reduce their dependence on fossil fuels, integrate renewable energy through direct electrification, and thus radically increase their energy efficiency.

In the UAE, there are clearly specified targets that support sustainable development including the reduction of energy and water consumption in Dubai by 30% and increase the share of solar in the energy mix to 25% – both by 2030.

Dubai also has a Clean Energy Strategy to achieve 75% clean energy by 2050. Across the UAE, green targets include 50% clean energy in the total energy mix by 2050 and treatment of 75% waste by 2021.

Integrated digital renovation of buildings, combining on-site energy generation from renewable sources, electric heat pumps, networked systems and EV charging stations are at the heart of stimulating systemic efficiency in end-use sectors.

Systemic efficiency – which describes the interaction of all parts of a solution by means of efficient buildings and smart energy infrastructure – will make a decarbonized, highly electrified, and resilient urban ecosystem possible.

 We Must Act Collectively to Reduce Climate Emissions

According to UNEP, emissions fell by an estimated 7% last year as economic activity and travel around the globe ground to a near halt. However, the fall in emissions only represented temporary relief during a year none of us ever want to repeat. To ensure the change is real, lasting, and of a magnitude great enough to stop global temperatures from rising even more, we need a fundamental and rapid change in the way we all live and work.

It also requires collective action, spanning the public and private sectors, policymakers, and ordinary citizens. Every one of us must change the way we think about our lives and how we produce and consume: in our homes, factories, transport and energy systems, and cities.

The good news is that the technologies that allow us to create a greener, smarter and fairer future exist, and are increasingly viable and economically competitive: think electric vehicles, and solar and wind power. Digital solutions allow us to be more efficient with our use of resources—lighting, heating or cooling—in warehouses, shopping malls, office high-rises and airport terminals.

Corporations such as ours have an important role to play here – both as developers of new solutions and as users of them. Our capacity to innovate, R&D and investment decisions, global footprint, and our commitments to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, are big enough to matter not just to ourselves, but to our wider economic and social ecosystems.

Schneider Electric’s aim is to empower all to make the most of our energy and resources, bridging progress and sustainability for all, connecting people across the globe to reliable energy and resources while cutting our emissions in half. Our mission is to be the digital partner of our customers for sustainability and efficiency.