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Driving deep decarbonisation across all sectors

The energy value chains of the future will look quite different, says Dietmar Siersdorfer, Middle East and UAE managing director at Siemens Energy 

Everything starts with renewable energy, which will increasingly become a major part of the overall energy mix. But the fight against climate change requires the decarbonisation of economic systems worldwide. This will not only affect the energy industry, which accounts for around 40 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions, but also the other sectors such as transport and industry, which account for the other 60 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions.

With more renewables, we will see a greater integration of industries that don’t traditionally work together. This ‘sector coupling’ is an efficient way to significantly increase the share of renewable energies used in other sectors, especially industries that are difficult to electrify, including industrial and transport. Against the background of low-cost electricity from solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind power in the region, there is huge potential to store excess generation, and even convert it into hydrogen and further into chemicals. 

In the long term, the regional exporters of oil and gas might change to become exporters of hydrogen and products based on hydrogen.

The energy value chains of the future will look quite different. Renewable energy producers will need to collaborate with technology providers, chemicals producers and end-product manufacturers to refine the value chain and enhance efficiency and reliability. 

It’s important to take a holistic view on the objectives and take the right steps at the right time. Technologies are available and will mature further over the years to come. The energy transition will not happen overnight. It’s a journey where the industry, governments and society have to work together, find the solutions and define the path to go there together. Read more here

MEED Business Review's Delivering Net-Zero issue includes:

> Read the January 2022 MEED Business Review
> Carving a path to net-zero
> Net-zero ambitions reshape the region
> Water sector could turbocharge net-zero