Growing greener in 2023

A great deal has happened since the COP 27 International Conference on Climate Change, which ended on 20th November. Traumatic global events, the continued pandemic and worldwide economic instability have since taken centre stage.?

Yet the challenges of climate change are still there, and many people were once again disappointed about this meeting. It seemed that world leaders and high and middle ranking international delegates from countries across the world had achieved very little. As with COP26 in Glasgow, COP 27 in Sharm el-Sheikh had not risen to expectations.

Impact of innovation

However, the need to tackle the issue of climate change has also been responsible for dramatic advances in green technology. In a post for Innovation & Tech Today, Emily Newton begins with the words:

“It’s a wonder humanity isn’t powered 100% by alternative energy technologies with just how many innovations there are. The green energy sector is booming, driven by demand and falling prices. It’s causing companies to think even bigger and more imaginatively to find creative solutions to power the world through a green lens.”

Bringing up the first places in the list of seven technologies that she identifies as those powering renewable growth in 2023 are solar panel innovations, improvements in carbon capture and storage (CCS) and the impact of green hydrogen electrolysers.

As Emily Newton describes, electrolysers are used to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen. She adds:

“They are a great alternative energy technology because wind turbines or other renewables power them, making them a net-zero option for helping create energy. Though this is a recent advancement, offshore green hydrogen electrolysers could change the sector, especially as further innovations continue to reduce manufacturing and operations costs.”?

Engineering for Net Zero

Former US President Ronald Regan once declared: “We have not inherited an easy world. If developments like the Industrial revolution, which began in England, and the gifts of science and technology have made life much easier for us, they have also made it more dangerous.”

However, science and technology, when driven towards delivering goals for carbon reduction, are making significant positive strides. In our field of precision engineering and electronics, ANR Manufacturing has been proactively involved in producing components for green technology. We have also been responsible for supporting advances in communication, which is vital for achieving international objectives in an increasingly interconnected world.

A press release from the Prime Minister’s Office published at the opening of COP 27 outlined a range of measures that Rishi Sunak pledged to deliver following on?from the previous year’s International Conference on Climate Change.

This stated that: “As we hand over the Presidency of COP, the Government is focused in particular on partnering with the private sector to facilitate green innovation and energy transition, at home and around the world…

“In support of this, the Prime Minister will announce a further ￡65.5 million for the Clean Energy Innovation Facility today, which provides grants to researchers and scientists in developing countries to accelerate the development of clean technology.?

“Since the BEIS-led fund was launched in 2019 it has supported the creation of biomass-powered refrigeration in India, prototype lithium-ion batteries in Nigeria and clean hydrogen-based fuels for steel production in Morocco, among other innovations.”

These are all steps in the right direction and it is hoped that momentum will gather internationally towards a greener future in 2023.