Decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors with renewables: Perspectives for the G7

DECARBONISING HARD-TO-ABATESECTORSWITHRENEWABLES PERSPECTIVESFORTHEG7 ©IRENA2024 Unlessotherwisestated,materialinthispublicationmaybefreelyused,shared,copied,reproduced,printedand/orstored,providedthatappropriateacknowledgementisgivenofIRENAasthesourceandcopyrightholder.Materialinthispublicationthatisattributedtothirdpartiesmaybesubjecttoseparatetermsofuseandrestrictions,andappropriatepermissionsfromthesethirdpartiesmayneedtobesecuredbeforeanyuseofsuchmaterial. ISBN:978-92-9260-601-5 Citation:IRENA(2024),Decarbonisinghard-to-abatesectorswithrenewables:PerspectivesfortheG7,InternationalRenewableEnergyAgency,AbuDhabi. AboutIRENA TheInternationalRenewableEnergyAgency(IRENA)isanintergovernmentalorganisationthatsupportscountriesintheirtransitiontoasustainableenergyfuture,andservesastheprincipalplatformforinternationalco-operation,acentreofexcellence,andarepositoryofpolicy,technology,resourceandfinancialknowledgeonrenewableenergy.IRENApromotesthewidespreadadoptionandsustainableuseofallformsofrenewableenergy,includingbioenergy,geothermal,hydropower,ocean,solarandwindenergyinthepursuitofsustainabledevelopment,energyaccess,energysecurityandlow-carboneconomicgrowthandprosperity.www.irena.org Acknowledgements ThisreportwasauthoredbyGayathriPrakash,CarlosRuiz,andLuisJaneiro,undertheguidanceofFranciscoBoshellandRolandRoesch(Director,IRENAInnovationandTechnologyCentre),withthesupportofthe2024ItalianG7Presidency,toinformdiscussionsduringmeetingsamongseniorofficialsaswelltheG7Ministers'MeetingonClimate,EnergyandEnvironmentinTorinoCityon29-30April2024. ValuableinputwasalsoprovidedbyIRENAcolleagues:SimonBenmarraze,EmanueleBianco,YongChen,AbdullahFahad,JinleiFeng,RicardoGorini,NolwaziKhumalo,DanielRusso,ZafarSamadov,ArnovandenBos,KaranKochharandDeeptiSiddhanti. Thedraftalsobenefittedfromtheinputsandcommentsofexternalexperts,includingPierpaoloCazzola(UniversityofCaliforniaDavisandColumbiaUniversity),DolfGielen(WorldBank),DegerSaygin(OECD),andAleksandraWaliszewska(E3G).Thereportwascopy-editedbyJonathanGorvettandatechnicalreviewwasprovidedbyPaulKomor.Editorialand communicationssupportwereprovidedbyFrancisField,StephanieClarkeandDariaGazzola.Thegraphicdesignwas providedbyNachoSanz. IRENAisgratefulforthesupportreceivedfromtheGovernmentofItalytoproducethisreport.Thereportusesinformationcollectedinthecontextofthe“InnovationForRenewableEnergyTransitions”(IFRET)projectfundedbytheEuropeanUnion. Forfurtherinformationortoprovidefeedback:publications@irena.org Thisreportisavailableat:www.irena.org/publications Disclaimer Thispublicationandthematerialhereinareprovided“asis”.AllreasonableprecautionshavebeentakenbyIRENAtoverifythereliabilityofthematerialinthispublication.However,neitherIRENAnoranyofitsofficials,agents,data,orotherthird-partycontentprovidersprovidesawarrantyofanykind,eitherexpressedorimplied,andtheyacceptnoresponsibilityorliabilityforanyconsequenceofuseofthepublicationormaterialherein. TheinformationcontainedhereindoesnotnecessarilyrepresenttheviewsofallMembersofIRENA,ortheG7Presidency.ThementionofspecificcompaniesorcertainprojectsorproductsdoesnotimplythattheyareendorsedorrecommendedbyIRENAortheG7Presidencyinpreferencetoothersofasimilarnaturethatarenotmentioned.ThedesignationsemployedandthepresentationofmaterialhereindonotimplytheexpressionofanyopiniononthepartofIRENAortheG7Presidencyconcerningthelegalstatusofanyregion,country,territory,cityorareaorofitsauthorities,orconcerningthedelimitationoffrontiersorboundaries. Coverphotos:©mykhailopavlenko/Shutterstock.com,©Studioconcept/Shutterstock.comand©motive56/Shutterstock.com FOREWORD IRENA'sWorldEnergyTransitionsOutlookpresentsacomprehensiveandcost-effectivepathwaytolimitglobalaveragesurfacetemperatureriseto1.5°Cabovepre-industriallevelsby2050.Toachievethis,itisnecessarytodecarboniseallsectorsoftheeconomybyaroundmid-century.However,therearecurrentlysectorsthatarehardtodecarbonise-namelyheavy-dutytrucks,shipping,aviation,ironandsteel,andchemicalsandpetrochemicals.Thesesectorsalonerepresentaquarteroftheworld'senergyconsumptionandafifthoftotalCO2emissions.Thisislikelytoincreaseinthecomingdecadesiftheycontinuetorelyonfossilfuels. Renewablescanplayacentralroleindecarbonisingthesehard-to-abatesectors,andsolutionsareincreasinglyavailabletoday;yetdespitepromisingprogressandincreasedattentionfrompolicymakers,noneofthehard-to-abatesectorsisontracktoreachnet-zeroemissionsbymid-century. Theaccelerationofdecarbonisationinthesehard-to-abatesectorsrequiresdecisiveactionfromgovernmentsandtheprivatesector,withfar-reachingimplicationsfornationalandinternationalpolicy,technologyandinfrastructureplanning,globalcommoditymarkets,internationalsupplychains,andbusinessmodels.TheG7canplayaninfluentialroleinspearheadingdecarbonisationeffortsbyadoptingthe11recommendationspresentedinthisreport.TheGroupcanalsoworkalongsidenon-G7countriesbysharingbestpractices,removingtradebarriers,andestablishingcommonstandardsanddefinitionsforlow-carboncommodities. Thisreport-preparedtoinformdiscussionsduringmeetingsamo