The world is steadily reconsidering the use of environmentally destructive fossil fuels and is starting to move towards renewable sources of energy. The Kurdistan Region, with its abundance of high mountain winds and sunlight exposure, can make the shift, while its large deposit of natural gas can be used in the transitional period between fossil fuels and renewable energy.
In the span of four days, 15,000 academics and experts, 70 ministers, and government officials from 150 counties in the world discussed the latest changes in the world’s energy sector at the 24th International Energy Congress in Abu Dhabi. A Rudaw Media Network team covered this high profile event.
In the past 10 years, natural disasters, a rise in global temperatures, and climate changes have increased concerns over how to prevent a further deterioration of the weather and how to control the consequences of such an event.
To provide itself with energy, especially electricity, humanity has depended on energy sources such as coal, oil and natural gas for more than two centuries, leading to great pollution and changes in weather.
The use of these energy sources, known as fossil fuels, have had an impact so widespread that this year’s Congress has called for a decrease and control in their usage.
According to scientific studies, the use of fossil fuels to produce electricity is one of the main sources of the production of harmful carbon dioxide gas, of changes in weather, and of earth getting warmer.
The Paris Climate Accord
In 2015, 196 international countries and parties signed the Paris Climate Accord in a promise to put serious effort into curtailing harmful gas emissions to prevent the earth’s temperature rising by two degrees Celsius. Should that increase happen, the northern and southern ice caps would melt, increasing sea levels and submerging numerous coastline cities, among other consequences.
The main paradox within the Accord is that countries need to produce electricity, and that need increases by the day with the expansion in population and in economic growth. So how do we work on decreasing harmful gas release when the release of these gases runs parallel to industrial and economic growth?
The answer is to change our energy sources to those that have no or little polluting impact on the environment. This would be the outcome that the Accord has termed the “Great Revolution”.
The Great Energy Revolution
The use of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) is 78 percent responsible for the earth getting warmer. This percentage grows annually with increasing usage of these fuels. Changing our dependence on them, however, is not easy. Transforming the world’s current energy system will lead to a huge change in all aspects of life, as all aspects of modern life are energy dependent.
The reason why World Energy Council experts have labeled this era as one of huge transformation is because they say that by the year 2040, a great transitional period of energy from fossil fuels to cleaner sources will start.
The biggest challenge in this era will be how the current energy infrastructure, designed with fossil fuels in mind, will be adapted for new fuel sources. This great task will fall on the shoulders of industry, and on large, oil-producing companies, who have to prepare themselves for the transitional period and change the direction of their investment.
Renewable Energy
Non-fossil fuel energy sources including wind power, solar power, waves, hydrogen fuels and other sources, are known as renewable energy. Some years ago, the cost of electricity production using these renewable sources was many folds higher than that of fossil fuels.
However, with the help of technology and continuous innovation, there is currently great hope that electricity production through coal will come to an end - not only in America, but elsewhere in the world as well - to be replaced with renewables.
According to scientific reports, the use of renewables is no longer a mere environmentalist gesture; it also business-oriented, profitable. It is expected that the cost of electricity production using renewables will drop even further by 2020.
Currently, the cost of producing one kilowatt of electricity by burning fossil fuels is anywhere between $0.05 and $0.17 per hour. However, according to the latest estimates, the electricity production cost through renewables will be anywhere between $0.03 and $0.10 by 2020.
Another issue with renewable energy sources is that the amount of electricity produced varies seasonally. As such, the transmission and distribution of their electricity is not an easy task.
Again, however, industrial innovation in the sector has made it possible for surplus amounts of electricity to be stored in times of abundance, to be used when electricity production is at a lower rate.
Here, both the German giant Siemens and the American General Electric are leading the pack. Combining renewables with fossil fuels, they have been able to deliver a cleaner, stable electricity supply for users.
The Importance of Natural Gas
Natural gas is a type of fossil fuel. Interesting though, it does not pollute the environment as much as coal and oil do.
Significantly, harmful gas production is 20 percent lower with natural gas than with oil, and 50% less so compared to coal.
According to the International Energy Council, natural gas will have to replace coal and oil products such as gas oil.
It is in this transitional energy period that the Kurdistan Region will hold an important position, because it is rich in natural gas. Besides meeting domestic industrial demand energy, it can export to other countries too.
The Role of Technology
The transitional period of energy has started. Oil, gas and coal are no longer the only valuable and strategic assets from which countries produce electricity. Countries can now make use of the wind, sun, waves and other sources that are infinite to produce a considerable portion of their electricity.
This rapid change has been brought about because industry and technology have rendered electricity production through renewables cheaper, and their cost will drop even further, lower than that of current electricity generation sources, in the future.
Big international companies have already started making huge investment in renewables. Even the large banks and funds that used to make large investments in oil and gas are now shifting that investment towards renewables.
The holding of the International Energy Congress in the UAE, which produces over three million barrels of oil per day, indicates that even oil-rich countries have to prepare themselves for that truth. This is the reason why Gulf countries have made huge investments in this sector. They are currently leading the global pack in terms of renewables project size and investments.
The Kurdistan Region will also have to more seriously assess this matter and diversify its energy sources. We were told by the CEO of the Finnish company Kiwayt, Christo Boneo, that the Kurdistan Region’s good sun and wind exposure can be harnessed for solar and wind energy - if it has a good plan, prepares itself, and keeps aware of the latest changes.
Omer Ahmed is head of the Economy desk at Rudaw
