Decarbonisation faces challenges like increasing emissions and security risks, yet progress continues. The energy sector sees rapid growth in cheap solar and wind power, now over 40% of electricity. In transport, EV sales are soaring and infrastructure is improving. Energy efficiency and behaviour change are crucial, with businesses urged to prioritise resource efficiency.

Since writing on this topic in June 2022, progress has been challenged. Vulnerability and energy security risks have increased, as have trade restrictions that affect clean energy technologies. However, there is still some good news.

Decarbonisation, in terms of climate change, means reducing or eliminating greenhouse gas emissions. The previous article looked at three of the main areas directly relevant to printing: the energy sector, transport, and heating and cooling buildings. This article aims to give an idea of where we are now.

As greenhouse gas emissions are still increasing – they were up 1% in 2024 – reaching net zero by 2050 has become more challenging. Energy efficiency is critical to achieve the reductions needed, with behaviour change a big part of it. Good news is that energy consumption, while increasing overall, is decoupling from economic growth.

Further good news is progress on access to both electricity and clean cooking technology, which not only reduces climate change emissions but also improves health. In low-income countries, indoor air pollution is a leading cause of death.

The energy sector

The energy sector is responsible for around three-quarters of global emissions. While there has been little progress in terms of definite action at government level, renewable energy capacity has increased. Fossil fuels’ total share of global energy, which includes transport and heating, was down to 87% in 2024; global electricity generation from low carbon sources (which includes nuclear) increased to just over 40%, with the growth rate for renewables up on previous years.

Solar PV and wind power, the fastest growing renewables, are now the cheapest electricity sources, and technology is catching up with storage requirements. The research and development work on electric car batteries also benefits the energy sector, and smart charging or two-way charging of electric vehicles can even out loads on the electricity grid.

As renewable energy is more efficient than burning fossil fuels, which creates a lot of waste heat, the shift to renewables also improves the overall efficiency of the sector, making it easier to meet demand. According to the Energy Institute, in 2024 the global energy system was effectively 7% more efficient in terms of the total amount of energy that it needed to supply to meet end-use demand. There are also benefits in reduced price volatility: when the cost of the primary fuel for electricity generation goes up, so do electricity prices, whereas the cost of using existing renewable energy installations is not affected in this way.

What print businesses can do is to continue to embrace resource and energy efficiency.

Transport

Transport is unchanged at around 25% of global CO2 emissions, with road vehicles still around 75% of this. Although sales of electric cars are increasing rapidly, comprising more than one in five of new cars sold in 2024, cars are used for many years and car ownership is also increasing – it will take a while before the proportion of electric vehicles on the road matches the proportion of sales, so overall emissions from road transport are not yet reducing.

Even with the manufacturing impacts of both vehicles and batteries, EVs have substantially lower lifetime climate impacts than conventional vehicles. For anyone interested in working this out for where they are and what they need, the International Energy Agency have a handy electric vehicle life cycle assessment calculator: https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/data-tools/ev-life-cycle-assessment-calculator The IEA anticipate electric car sales reaching 40% of car sales by 2030.

Cost, range and charging infrastructure have improved: battery prices have reduced, helping with cost and, globally, public charging stations have doubled over the past two years. Europe now has fast-charging stations at least every 50 kilometres on three-quarters of all motorways. Charging times are now better – ultra-rapid chargers can add 62 miles of charge in eight minutes – and more public slow chargers are available in places suitable for overnight charging.

Electric heavy goods vehicle availability is also increasing, with 400 models now available, and sales in 2024 reached nearly 2% of market share. The required rest periods for drivers of HGVs work well as charging periods. Electric buses accounted for 16% of sales in the EU and UK in the first half of 2024, and almost half of new city buses were electric, which is good news for city dwellers and air pollution reduction.

Another form of transport that is growing fast is e-bikes, including cargo bikes, and IEA analysis shows they are reducing the demand for cars as well as public transport, with journey lengths typically from 3 – 24 kilometres.

Behaviour-change policies moving people away from cars, such as low emission zones, have generally been successful, and there is increasing evidence that they become popular where they have been linked to improvements in public transport. The benefits of reduced air pollution, less congestion and less noise improve quality of life.

What businesses can do is to continue rethinking our approach to travel and transport.

Energy in buildings

Energy demand in buildings has been going up, with electricity demand for space cooling increasing by around 4% in 2024, driven by high temperatures.

Sales of heat pumps have increased to the extent that in some areas they are overtaking sales of fossil-fuel based heating systems, but the rate of growth is erratic. The up-front costs are still high, particularly for households, and they are still not suitable for all building types. When looking at a system for both heating and cooling they are very cost-effective, and there are synergies in manufacture for businesses already producing air-conditioning systems, so this is an area set to change, especially in commercial buildings.

The best thing to do for businesses is still as previously – insulate! And don’t forget that you can reduce overheating from solar gain as well.

Sources: International Energy Agency, Energy Institute, Our World in Data

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