Energy Transition

Pace of energy transition slowing: World Economic Forum

The overall pace of the transition has slowed, with economic volatility, heightened geopolitical tensions and technological shifts all having an impact. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

The global energy transition to a more equitable, secure and sustainable energy has lost momentum in the face of increasing uncertainty worldwide, according to a new World Economic Forum report

While 107 of the 120 countries benchmarked in the report demonstrated progress on their energy transition journeys in the past decade, the overall pace of the transition has slowed, with economic volatility, heightened geopolitical tensions and technological shifts all having an impact. However, increasing global investments in renewables and significant growth in energy transition performance in sub-Saharan Africa over the past decade are positives.

Fostering Effective Energy Transition 2024, published in collaboration with Accenture, uses the Energy Transition Index (ETI) to benchmark 120 countries on the performance of their current energy systems, with a focus on balancing equity, environmental sustainability and energy security, and on their transition-readiness.

“We must ensure that the energy transition is equitable, in and across emerging and developed economies,” said Roberto Bocca, head of the Centre for Energy and Materials, World Economic Forum. “Transforming how we produce and consume energy is critical to success. We need to act on three key levers for the energy transition urgently: reforming the current energy system to reduce its emissions, deploying clean energy solutions at scale, and reducing energy intensity per unit of GDP.”

Europe leads the rankings

Europe continues to lead the ETI rankings, with the top 10 list for 2024 fully composed of countries from that region. Sweden comes top, followed by Denmark, Finland, Switzerland and France.These countries benefit from high political commitment, strong investments in research and development, expanded clean energy adoption – accelerated by the regional geopolitical situation, energy-efficiency policies and carbon pricing.
China and Brazil have advanced significantly in recent years, primarily driven by long-term efforts to increase the share of clean energy and enhance their grid reliability.

The gap in overall ETI scores has narrowed between advanced and developing economies, although clean energy investment continues to be concentrated in advanced economies and China. This underscores the need for financial support from advanced nations to facilitate an equitable energy transition in emerging and developing nations and forward-thinking policy-making in all nations to foster conducive investment conditions.

Over the past decade, the Middle East, Africa and Pakistan region has seen a 7% growth in its ETI score, which has stagnated in the last three years, according to the report, a significant barrier being the decline in finance and investment over this period. The region’s heavy reliance on oil revenues poses a challenge for a sustainable energy transition. Its regional score lags behind all regions except sub-Saharan Africa.

While the world remains off-track to meet net-zero ambitions by 2050 and limit global warming to no more than 1.5C, there has been notable progress in energy efficiency and an increase in the adoption of clean energy sources.

Innovation is a key enabling factor for the energy transition and can reduce costs, scale key technologies, renew and reskill the workforce and attract investments, the report stresses. Digital innovations, including generative AI, offer significant opportunities to reinvent the energy industry by enhancing productivity. Generative AI's ability to analyse vast quantities of data can provide innovative forecasts and solutions, or streamline existing operations to increase efficiencies, among other benefits. However, it will be crucial to responsibly and equitably address the risks and challenges posed by these technologies.

“C-suites consistently tell us a clear business case is a prerequisite for attracting investments in the energy transition, especially in the face of higher interest rates and the emerging talent shortage," said Muqsit Ashraf, group chief executive, Accenture Strategy. "We believe that a strong digital core, enabled by generative AI, can boost productivity, enhancing returns and talent availability and unlocking a new wave of investments.”

SLB and Aker Carbon Capture finalise joint venture

The joint venture aims to accelerate carbon capture for industrial decarbonisation at scale. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

SLB and Aker Carbon Capture have announced the closing of their joint venture designed to accelerate carbon capture adoption

The new company will combine ACC’s amine-based Advanced Carbon Capture technologies, including Just Catch and Big Catch modular plant technologies for medium- and large-scale facilities, and Just Catch Offshore for offshore gas turbines, with SLB’s portfolio of technology solutions, including non-aqueous solvent and emerging sorbent-based offerings. The company, of which SLB owns 80% with ACC ASA owning the remaining 20%, currently has seven technology installations in progress with the capacity to capture up to 1 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

“There is no credible pathway toward net zero without deploying carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) at scale,” said Gavin Rennick, president of SLB’s New Energy business. “In the next few decades, many industries that are crucial to our modern world must rapidly adopt CCS to decarbonise. Through the joint venture, we are excited to accelerate disruptive carbon capture technologies globally.”

“There is no business as usual in the push toward net zero – we will accelerate decarbonisation today and commercialise innovative technologies for the future,” said Egil Fagerland, newly appointed chief executive officer of the new joint venture.

“We are proud of the carbon capture plants we are delivering across various industries, with each customer being an important front-runner in its segment. Successful project deliveries are paving the way for other emitters to follow.”

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