New developments in the energy sector are helping to turn ambitions into reality as sustainability remains top of the agenda. We take a look at the steps that need to be taken for sustainability goals to be met, according to Paul Sutcliffe, Global Founder, Evora, and how the UK and US have partnered to accelerate global fusion energy development.
Green investment must be ramped up for UN sustainability goals to be met
Greater investment in infrastructure is required if the world is to hit key climate targets by 2030, a sustainable assets expert has warned.
In light of Green Infrastructure Week (November 6-10), Paul Sutcliffe, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of sustainability assets company, Evora Global, said infrastructure investment must be in line with the United Nations’ sustainable development goals.
“The Paris Agreement, an international treaty on climate change, was adopted in 2015,” said Sutcliffe. “As of February 2023, 195 countries of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) had signed up.
“The Agreement’s goal is to keep the rise in mean global temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and preferably limit the increase to 1.5°C. To hit this ambitious 1.5°C goal, emissions need to be cut by 50% by 2030 – we’ve only got six years left.
“Infrastructure has a major role to play. It literally provides the foundation to our society, economies and built environment. So it has a direct contribution towards the achievement of climate goals.
“Many of the major economies have ageing infrastructure, so this is an opportunity to build with the future in mind. We need to upgrade our power generation, our transport and our digital infrastructures to create new, sustainable assets fit for the century ahead.”
Sutcliffe, focusing on energy infrastructure, added that world events are causing many to rethink how the global economy needs to be powered and that energy security and climate change are being talked about together.
“World events are driving a re-think in many sectors on how we manage our economy. Wars in Ukraine and now the Middle East are driving home the point that oil and gas based economies are very vulnerable to these kinds of events.
“But we are now witnessing the impact of climate change on our weather systems and its potential to disrupt our everyday life. Climate risk is real and happening. We need to make major changes now which are low carbon and more secure,” he concluded.
UK and US form major partnership to accelerate global fusion energy development
The UK and US have formed a major new partnership to develop fusion technology.
Agreed in Washington DC by the UK’s Minister for Nuclear and Networks, Andrew Bowie, and the US Deputy Undersecretary at the Department for Energy, David Turk, this represents an important step in the nations’ energy relationship and promotes further global collaboration – vital for innovation in this flourishing technology.
Fusion involves mixing two forms of hydrogen and heating them to extreme temperatures, causing them to combine and release energy which is then harnessed to generate electricity. This technology could generate a near unlimited supply of clean electricity in the long-term.
This will transform global efforts to reach net zero and deliver energy independence. As the government builds a more diverse and resilient energy mix, which will lower energy bills in the long term, this new technology will demand a skilled workforce – supporting well-paid jobs while growing the economy.
The energy generated from fusion is many million times more efficient than burning coal, oil or gas and could generate a near unlimited supply of clean electricity – transforming global efforts to reach net zero and deliver long-term energy independence.
It is the UK’s first formal international fusion collaboration since the launch of the £650 million Fusion Futures Programme, which is ensuring the UK remains at the cutting-edge of innovation – with training opportunities and dedicated funding for fusion companies. This is on top of the £700 million that has already been allocated to UK fusion energy programmes between 2022 and 2025.
From the MAST-U tokamak in Oxfordshire to the DIII-D tokamak in California, American and British institutions have been longstanding collaborators on fusion research. The new partnership goes further and builds on the UK’s Fusion Strategy. It will:
- Bring together scientists and engineers from the UK and US to address the technical challenges of delivering commercially viable fusion energy
- Allow shared access for facilities and stimulate new R&D opportunities
- Standardise international regulatory frameworks and codes of practice
- Develop resilient supply chains for fusion materials to support the industry long-term
- Promote skills development for a robust talent pool in the coming decade
“International collaboration is key for advancing fusion and achieving our ambition of getting a commercial fusion reactor grid-ready by 2040,” said Nuclear and Networks Minister, Andrew Bowie. “The UK and the US are world-leaders in this technology and pooling our resources will unlock new private sector investment. This bold new partnership will help turn our fusion ambitions into reality.”
This latest partnership reflects the unique and strong alliance between the two nations on issues of global importance. It follows a joint announcement earlier this year of the Atlantic Declaration, setting out the framework for a 21st-century US-UK Economic Partnership.
