A screengrab of Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Francesco La Camera (top second right); GECF Secretary-General Dr. Yury Sentyurin (second row left) and other participants at the Monthly Gas Lecture Series on ‘The En
Doha: Exporting ‘green hydrogen’, which is described as transformative and one of the cheapest fuels, will be the real business of most energy-rich countries in the GCC and Middle East regions in the coming years, said the Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Francesco La Camera, at an event hosted by the Doha-based GECF, yesterday.
Green hydrogen is the alternative form of energy that reduces the emissions and cares for the planet earth. It is produced by using an electrolyser to run an electrical current through water, separating it into hydrogen and oxygen. Usually it is produced by using wind, solar and green gas to create hydrogen through a different process.
“The renewable energy capacity in the GCC countries is growing. We have seen impressive growth of renewable in most of the GCC countries. There are states already producing green hydrogen. And I am sure, for this part of the world, exporting green hydrogen is going to be an option in the years to come, and I have no doubt about it,” said the Director-General of IRENA in reply to a question during the Monthly Gas Lecture Series on ‘The Energy Transformation: the Way Forward’ organized by the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF).
La Camera, under whose leadership the agency (IRENA) has forged a series of new strategic partnerships with UN organisations including UNDP, UNFCCC and Green Climate Fund, added: “Germany and Morocco have reached to an agreement to sell green technologies and selling green hydrogen back. This will be a real business for future.”
Asked if the current gas and LNG prices will reduce the penetration of renewable in the power sector in the short term, he said: “No, it’s not true. The fall in emission level from the beginning of the pandemic shows just the opposite. The share of renewable to produce electricity and energy has grown. There is no doubt that the path to increase the share of renewable to the energy system is unstoppable, and the pandemic (COVID-19) will not affect that. The only concern we may have is how the governments are going to spend the huge amount of money as part of the economic stimulus package to overcome the impact of the COVID-19. A right policy framework, in line with the Paris Agreement, will only accelerate the share of renewable in the global energy mix.”
In reply to a question if the share of renewable can grow up to 100 percent of the global energy mix, he replied in affirmative, adding that it’s not just an aspiration but there are nations that are already working to have 100 percent renewable energy. “Yes it is possible. Naturally it is not for today, but there are countries that have already committed to achieve 100 percent renewable.”
He also added that going to that stage, in the large part of the world the use of natural gas and ‘greening of the gas’ will play an important role in the process of transition to 100 percent renewable energy mix. “Today nearly 95 percent of the hydrogen is produced using fossil fuels, which is called ‘dark hydrogen’. Blue hydrogen is more convenient today from green hydrogen. But both blue hydrogen and green hydrogen will compete each other until the middle of this century, and natural gas will play a critical role as transition fuel.”
La Camera, who earlier held number positions at the Italian Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea, reiterated that renewable energy is expected quintuple in the global energy mix from current levels to 10 percent by 2050.
He also said that renewable energy has so far been the energy source most resilient to the pandemic measures, and renewable electricity has been largely unaffected.
In the first quarter of this year, global use of renewable energy in all sector increased by about 1.5 percent compared to the same quarter previous year. According to IEA data, renewable electricity generation increased by nearly 3 percent during the period, mainly because of new wind and solar PV projects were completed over the year.
The GECF Secretary-General Dr. Yury Sentyurin provided a brief insight on the role of natural gas as a transition fuel. He also highlighted the significance of cooperation among different agencies and stakeholders in the filed of energy to achieve the climate change goals and sustainable development. The session was moderated by Nadezhda Lyubovskaya of the GECF.
