In focus: Accelerating buildout of sustainable energy mix amid fossil fuel impasse

Last week’s G20 summit in India concluded with mixed progress on environmental issues. The leaders hailed the ambitious new renewable energy goal to “pursue and encourage efforts to triple renewable energy capacity globally” by 2030. However, the gathering was marked with lingering disagreements and weak wording about phasing out fossil fuels.

According to IRENA’s World Energy Transitions Outlook (WETO) 2023 released earlier this year, the world needs to triple global renewable power capacity to just over 11 000 GW by 2030 to maintain the possibility of limiting global warming to 1.5°C, and the agreement taken by G20 supports this objective.

To triple the total renewable energy capacity, mobilising at least $4 trillion per year by 2030 will be necessary to meet this goal.

While the renewable energy goal has been widely celebrated, green groups have urged a more decisive policy for reducing fossil fuels. The coexistence of renewables and fossil fuels was also the topic of the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) conference held in Norway.

The industry, public administration, and academia discussed whether the industries on the Norwegian Continental Shelf were “thriving” side-by-side, or whether they were devolving into “chaos and conflict.”

Monica Bjørkmann, chair of Offshore Norge and Vice President of Subsea 7 in Norway, argued that: “We need to work on renewables and oil and gas at the same time. Our members support this.”

Meanwhile, the European Parliament has voted to boost the deployment of renewable energy, setting the goal of increasing the share of renewables in the EU’s final energy consumption to 42.5% by 2030.

The members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have agreed on increasing the share of renewables in the final EU’s consumption, in line with the Green Deal and REPowerEU plans, as part of the update to the Renewable Energy Directive (RED).

In addition to the new target of 42.5%, it was agreed that the member states should aim to achieve 45% of renewable energy in their final consumption.

The legislation will also speed up procedures to grant permits for new renewable energy power plants, such as solar panels or wind turbines, or to adapt existing ones.

The leaders also secured that member states set an indicative target for innovative renewable energy technology of at least 5% of newly installed renewable energy capacity, as well as a binding framework for cross-border energy projects.

Yesterday, we saw the birth of the world’s first containership powered by green methanol. Laura Maersk, owned by Danish shipping giant A.P Moller Maersk, was christened in the picturesque city of Copenhagen, Denmark by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.

The 2,100 TEU container vessel, powered by green methanol, and classed by ABS, was built at South Korea’s Hyundai Mipo Dockyard. The boxship symbolizes a new era for the company which has become a first mover for the shipping industry as it enters a new chapter of a decarbonized future.

Maersk is well on its way to completing its ambitious newbuilding program comprising 25 ships powered by green methanol.

Speaking at the naming ceremony, Vincent Clerc, CEO of A.P. Moller Maersk, highlighted that “Neither we nor the climate can afford complacency or waiting for other solutions to emerge in the late 2020s. In the past two years, we have locked orders for 25 ships able to operate on green methanol. Nineteen of those are already in production and they will be in the sea by 2025.”

This week, we saw another eco-friendly vessel christened as part of a decarbonisation strategy. Dutch marine contractor Van Oord named the newest member of its fleet, a next-generation, custom-built cable-laying vessel in the Netherlands.

The hybrid vessel has future-ready engines with built-in flexibility to anticipate e-fuels aside from the ability to run on biofuel. In addition, it has a large battery pack, a shore supply connection, and an energy management system, which is expected to result in a more energy-efficient vessel, with significantly reduced CO2, NOx, and SOx emissions.

This vessel is seen as an important addition to the firm’s offshore wind fleet, pushing the energy transition story forward by adding new green energy chapters on the journey to net zero.

Join this year’s Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference, Europe’s leading event for the entire offshore energy industry, on 28 and 29 November at the RAI Convention Centre in Amsterdam.