Net zero feeds on innovation

Achieving net zero will require ramping up clean technology deployment while continuing to reduce costs through innovations in energy storage, hydrogen and other low carbon fuels, and carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS), says Abigail Dombey, Energy & Sustainability Engineer, Communities Director at Carbon13, and Chair of Hydrogen Sussex (UK).

Energy storage will play a crucial role in helping to decarbonise the power system, by balancing the grid in real-time and backing up renewable generation, allowing intermittent energy such as solar, wind or tidal power to be stored for later use when it is needed.

Meanwhile, hydrogen will be essential to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by the UK government’s target date of 2050, according to the latest National Grid future energy scenarios. These scenarios outline four different credible pathways for the future of energy over the next 30 years – Consumer Transformation, System Transformation, Leading the Way, and Steady Progression. In these scenarios, hydrogen could be the solution to many of the hardest parts of the transition to net zero, particularly for long-distance freight, shipping and heavy industry.

There is already a huge amount of innovation in and around hydrogen, with focus on a wide range of areas including membranes, electrolysis technologies, fuel cells and hydrogen direct reduction in steel making. Green hydrogen is produced from the electrolysis of water; improvements in efficiency of the electrolysis process and the membranes involved can significantly reduce process energy consumption and the cost of the hydrogen produced. Reducing fuel cell cost is the main challenge to fuel cell commercialisation, currently being addressed in a joint project by Bosch and the start-up PowerCell Sweden. Hydrogen direct reduction is a relatively unexplored process, whereby iron ore is reduced to iron without melting, and hydrogen is used as the reducing agent in steel manufacturing.

Start-ups such as Riversimple, Supercritical Solutions and Steamology are among those leading the way in the UK in hydrogen innovation. Riversimple is aiming to offer customers an affordable, ‘fun-to-drive’ eco car, with a hydrogen fuel cell car designed from scratch to deliver a step change in fuel efficiency and environmental performance. Supercritical Solutions is developing a highly efficient electrolyser for hydrogen production, claimed to require 20% less energy to produce hydrogen. Steamology produces hydrogen fuelled steam generators, delivering both hydraulic power and electric power.

Cost reductions from innovation and economies of scale in clean technologies, including green hydrogen and carbon capture, are emerging. BP, for example, is aiming to build the UK’s largest hydrogen plant in Teesside. The proposed facility will produce blue hydrogen, produced by converting natural gas into hydrogen and CO2 , which is then captured and permanently stored, supporting the development of the region as a hydrogen transport hub. By 2030 the plant at Teesside is expected to deliver 1GW of blue hydrogen, 20% of the UK's overall hydrogen target. Meanwhile, in northern Germany, a new project partnership is investing €1.3mn to create a ‘Clean hydrogen coastline’. Companies including ArcelorMittal Bremen (steel) and FAUN (hydrogen fuel cells) are working with utilities companies and grid operators to integrate up to 400 MW of electrolyser capacity, with the capacity to scale up to 2.2 GW of green hydrogen.

Entrepreneurship is key

As the Climate Change Committee set out in the UK’s Sixth Carbon Budget, greater contributions from innovation and societal/ behavioural change would reduce the challenges in achieving net zero emissions by 2050.

However, the future of energy depends somewhat on companies which do not yet exist.

While great work is being done by large corporates in the energy sector, certain aspects of the innovation that is required simply won’t be engineered from inside existing organisations.

Paul Eremenko, former Chief Technology Officer at both Airbus and United Technologies Corporation (UTC) found it challenging to significantly advance technical innovation in big companies. ‘I think my track record in both Airbus and UTC suggests that I tried very hard to make step changes,’ he said. ‘From within the aerospace [industry] it is very difficult to do things that are non-incremental.’ Eremenko has co-founded a start-up, Universal Hydrogen, that aims to bring hydrogen-fuel technology and a related supply system to regional airlines as soon as 2024.

The new business models, new industries, behaviour changes and value propositions needed to make net zero a reality will come from other equally globally ambitious entrepreneurs, and the economies which enable them to thrive.

This observation on the key role of entrepreneurship has come from my work with net zero entrepreneurs at Carbon13. Through the Venture Builder, founders form teams capable of building scalable ventures, with team mates such as serial entrepreneurs, engineers, data scientists, biochemists and people with deep experience and credibility in the carbon emitting sectors.

Carbon13 has grown out of Cambridge’s vibrant ecosystem of academia, tech and entrepreneurship and is supported by partners such as Arm, BP Ventures, Cambridge Cleantech and DLA Piper. Noted investors such as ex-Dragon* Nick Jenkins have participated in the Carbon13 SEIS Fund, which invests in ventures generated by the programme.

We intend to take 1,000 entrepreneurs through our programme over the next five years, supplying the enablers in terms of expertise and pre-seed investment to launch real emissions gamechangers.

The greatest opportunity for driving innovation forward is bringing together the best people from every part of the economy to work together on our shared challenge. Decarbonising the economy and dealing with past emissions offers many opportunities for building new companies. I believe we will never achieve net zero without innovators creating these new opportunities.

*Nick Jenkins was a ‘Dragon’ on the BBC Two series Dragons’ Den for budding entrepreneurs.