Understanding Decarbonization and Its Role in Energy Transition
By: Bishka Zareen Chand
Tags: Paris Agreement, Renewable Energy, Decarbonization, Energy Transition, Climate Change

Decarbonization refers to the efforts made to reduce or completely eliminate carbon dioxide emissions, particularly in the energy sector. The goal of decarbonization is to move towards carbon-neutrality or a zero-carbon economy with zero net emissions. Global decarbonization efforts have been propelled through intergovernmental organizations and collaborative initiatives. One prominent example would be the Paris Climate Agreement. This document sets targets for each of its signatories, which included 195 countries, through Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Within each NDC, countries can set their plans and targets to reduce carbon dioxide emissions according to their individual capabilities. For instance, Indonesia has set an unconditional reduction target of 29% (through its own efforts) and conditional reduction target up to 41 % (with international assistance) of the business as usual scenario by 2030 as part of its NDC within the Paris Climate Agreement. By meeting these targets, the signatories will then collaboratively achieve the overall goal of global decarbonization and its subsequent effects. A couple of these effects are the reduction of global temperature increases to below 1.5 degrees Celsius, and from an energy transition standpoint, to shift towards using renewable energy technologies.

Besides pressure from intergovernmental agreements, countries may also have their own motivations to implement decarbonization plans. For example, the Chilean decarbonization strategy is primarily driven by the urgency to solve their current social-environmental crises, which were the result of high carbon dioxide emissions that had gone unchecked for years. Chile has even developed dangerous zones near fossil fuel power plants where living conditions are deplorable for surrounding citizens, endangering their health. A different case would be China’s highly ambitious goal to halve their emissions from fossil fuels, which are currently at 88%, as early as 2060. This is in addition to their hopes of becoming a global leader in low carbon technologies and clean energy production. Unlike Chile, the reasons behind China’s plan to rapidly decarbonize its economy lies in the potential opportunity to monopolize the global clean energy industry. Both countries have contrasting motivations, one has framed this issue as a crisis to solve whereas the other sees an opportunity to increase its energy security and strengthen its economy. Despite this, both countries are working towards the same goal of global decarbonization and subsequently, global energy transition.

As demonstrated in the examples above, global decarbonization is a current priority due to a myriad of reasons. Of course, one of the reasons is that it propels the global shift towards developing and implementing innovative renewable energy technologies instead of perpetuating the reliance on fossil fuels to produce energy. This is especially important because a lot of regions around the world are actually better positioned to produce renewable energy rather than rely on fossil fuel imports, thereby increasing their energy security as well. For instance, tropical countries that are scarce in natural resources would be better off developing photovoltaics as a cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternative to importing fossil fuels to meet their energy demands.