About the climate technologies needed for net zero

With quite a lot of recent developments related to nature-based solutions (NBS) and related carbon credits, it is important not to forget about new technologies, including new scietific discoveries that lead to new patents. By the way, these would be solutions for most countries in the World, specially those with smaller territories and far away from the areas of the globe more prone to wind and solar energy. About this we will have more posts early in 2023.

So, for now, we recall an article by McKinsey dealing with developing and deploying climate technologies. And businesses willing to innovate quickly and to collaborate across value chains.

Accelerate decarbonization. This is the effort.

Research suggests, for example, that annual production of clean hydrogen, a low-carbon energy carrier, would need to increase more than sevenfold for the world to hit net zero in 2050. And the global capacity of long-duration energy storage, which supports the use of renewable energy, must increase by a factor of 400 by 2040.

According to McKinsey, the following "ten families" of climate technologies can play important roles in mitigating carbon emissions:

1. Renewables: solar, wind (on- and offshore), grid innovation

2. Batteries and energy storage: electric-vehicle batteries, long-duration energy storage

3. Circular economy: battery recycling, chemical cellulosic recycling, heat recovery, plastics recycling

4. Building technologies: geothermal heating, heat pumps, electric equipment

5. Industrial-process innovation: electrification of heat sources, green steelmaking, green cement making

6. Hydrogen: electrolyzers, fuel cells, methane pyrolysis

7. Sustainable fuels: advanced biofuels, e-fuels

8. Nature-based solutions: monitoring and verification for forests, peatlands, mangroves

9. Carbon removal, capture and storage: point-source carbon capture, direct air capture

10. Agriculture and food: precision agriculture, crop preservation, regenerative tech, alternative proteins

And to give an idea how this transition is developing, here are some considerations:

- Climate technologies rarely stand alone

- Cooperation creates a competitive edge

- Fast followers might never catch first movers

Which is basically the structure of the McKinsey article you can read by clicking at the image below.