Decarbonisation Technology - February 2025 Issue

The International Meteorological Office has confirmed 2024 as the warmest year on record. It also noted that 2024 was the first year when the annual global average approached 1.5ºC. This followed a run of increasing temperatures over the last decade. The human and economic cost of climate change continued to mount in 2024, with floods in South and Southeast Asia, China, and Europe and, most recently in 2025, the wildfires in Los Angeles. Even given a sense of urgency, it will take decades to achieve the scale necessary to transition to a lower carbon energy system with a measurable reduction in global emissions. An ongoing focus on energy efficiency during production processes will continue to reduce the emissions per unit of product or fuel. In the longer term, design initiatives to improve energy efficiency are expected to reduce the consumption of fuels and consequential emissions from aviation and shipping. Actions to reduce methane from coal, oil, and gas operations are the most expedient ways to reduce overall emissions in the near term. In this regard, it is heartening that methane emissions have fallen in some countries, and the International Energy Agency (IEA) believes these can be reduced by 50% by 2030. Much of this can be done through wider deployment of known and existing technologies, as demonstrated by the best-performing countries and companies. Extending the use of recycled materials in energy-intensive industries such as concrete, steel, and aluminium production offers economically attractive opportunities for near-term reductions in energy use and overall emissions. However, forecast growth in global demand for these materials will only be met by increased extraction and production. Installing carbon capture technology to capture the carbon from industrial flues offers a medium-term opportunity to reduce emissions from these energy-intensive industries on a meaningful scale. The IEA global hydrogen review for 2024 reports that low- emission hydrogen capacity (both electrolysis and fossil fuels with CCS) is currently only 1% of total hydrogen production at 97 Mt. Should all announced projects proceed, an additional 49 Mt of low-emission hydrogen capacity could be added by 2030. In 2024, the European Emissions Trading System (ETS) came into effect for ships trading in the EU, followed at the start of 2025 by the FuelEU maritime regulation. Bunker suppliers for shipping in the EU are now required to provide documentation to show the fuels meet the EU greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity standards. However, a challenging market for biofuels led to the introduction of anti-dumping measures in the EU, but not before several projects to build domestic capacity were cancelled in 2024. There is a need to develop robust certification systems for all forms of renewable energy, hydrogen, low-carbon fuels, chemicals, and materials. The emergence of globally aligned certification systems is vital to reduce the risk of fraud and, just as importantly, to provide assurance throughout the supply chain. Dr Robin Nelson

Managing Editor Rachel Storry

rachel.storry@emap.com tel +44 (0)7786 136440

Consulting Editor Robin Nelson robin.nelson@ decarbonisationtechnology.com

Editorial Assistant Lisa Harrison lisa.harrison@emap.com

Graphics Peter Harper

Business Development Director Paul Mason info@decarbonisationtechnology.com tel +44 844 5888 771

Managing Director Richard Watts richard.watts@emap.com

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Cover Story Parkland’s Burnaby Refinery Courtesy: Parkland