“We must innovate faster”
It is a race being waged on multiple fronts, in which time is moving quickly and against us. The goal and deadline for achieving it are set: 26 years. Experts assure that there is very little time left, and the countdown is already underway. By then, the decarbonization of our economy should be complete. Those passing the baton in such a relay race include large energy companies, governments, consumers, scientists and researchers. They don’t always run at the same speed, in the same direction, or at the same speed. Nor do they do so in a collaborative manner, thereby optimizing resources or ensuring global efficiency.
Energy, science and technology must be great allies in meeting the 2050 challenge. That was the maxim that sums up what energy companies, researchers and experts were talking about yesterday at a conference organized by the Energy Foundation and the Council Graduate School. scientific research (CSIC). “If there are no technological and scientific developments that open up new paths for us, it will be very difficult to achieve our projections and goals regarding climate change,” admitted Rafael Villaseca, president of the Naturgy Foundation. Reviewing the state of technological advances and innovation in the energy sector, he assured that “we are stuck” in some developments.
The legal framework is one of them, but not the only one. Another issue is the need to improve cooperation between the public and private spheres, or the challenge of increasing investment in scientific and technological research to take action in the decarbonization process: “It is extremely difficult to think that the problems we face will be solved without a significant increase in science and technology.”
CSIC spokesman Sergio Rojas is also critical of the way this issue has been handled in many cases and is still being handled today. “We have to change our energy model,” he says: “These problems have been known since the 1960s and have been documented without much action taken.” Let’s remember that since the 90s, when measures to combat harmful emissions began, “CO2 emissions have increased by 60%, and the measures we have taken do not seem to be enough.” Rojas adds that “every year we break records, this year will be the hottest because there are records.”
Batteries and combined cycle
He addresses the need to speed up research processes, “we must develop faster, innovate” and do it in collaboration between institutions and companies: “Spain must become climate neutral by 2050, and we only have 26 years left, this is not so many”. hungry for the challenge we have.”
Jesús Cahapado, Naturgy’s chief innovation officer, assures that this challenging goal must be achieved “with technological efficiency.” He notes that the costs of the entire process must be “reasonable and logical” with the ultimate goal of guaranteeing the system’s energy supply. He notes that in recent years there have been calls to use renewable energy sources, photovoltaic and wind energy, “but the energy required by the system is also provided by nuclear, hydraulic and gas turbines…”. Therefore, he emphasizes that technological advances and research must be able to provide an effective and sufficient response.
In this sense, he points to two lines of progress that he considers important, such as the development of batteries capable of providing the system with characteristic power, and, on the other hand, the development of another line of work, such as the decarbonization of combined energy systems. cycling centers, “which “will be something important.”
Chapado assures that in the coming years, renewable energy will make significant progress through wind and photovoltaic installations, both offshore and onshore: “We are working a lot in these areas. For example, marine photovoltaic systems are a suitable solution for the decarbonization of ports.
Putting knowledge “in harmony”
He believes greater involvement and investment from administrations is needed. “They should take more proactive action on this issue,” he says. “I think we could have more money on the table. For example, regulation is very important. “We cannot develop certain technology areas if there is no regulatory and investment framework to support it.” He adds that technology investments must be ensured that, although they may not be profitable today, they will be profitable in the future: “We must align all the knowledge that exists in the technology ecosystem in this area.”
In this regard, he considers it necessary to combine the efforts of public administrations, companies and areas of expertise such as universities or research centers: “It is the administrations that must facilitate this work. There should not be competition between all of us, but cooperation. This way, efforts will not be duplicated and resources will be invested twice. If we put in all this effort, we will achieve more.”