Scaling clean technology: Perspectives from COP29

Climate finance for developing countries and building better carbon markets grabbed the headlines at the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29).

But away from the main spotlight, experts from across industries were discussing other important energy transition topics. Among these was how to scale clean technologies to create a stable and resilient power supply — an issue increasingly featuring in the climate conversation.

What needs to be done to make this happen? At COP29, a Sustainable Innovation Forum (SIF) panel session titled ‘Powering the Future: Rapid scaling of clean energy for stability and resilience’ discussed answers to that question.

An always-on demand for power

The growing need for continuous power was central to the conversation. There are over 6.8 billion smartphones in operation today, noted Takajiro Ishikawa, President and CEO of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) America, and this number is on an upward trajectory.

Asking Google or ChatGPT a question uses power – and that power has to be continuous. “You expect to get a response in 0.5 seconds,” Ishikawa said. “You are going to be very angry if Google says, ‘Oh, we can’t provide that service anymore because the wind isn’t blowing, or the sun isn’t shining’.”

The panel agreed that “electrifying everything” is vital to the energy transition. But, Ishikawa continued, with the technology we have today there are two routes that can guarantee the clean and reliable baseload power we will need during the transition: nuclear power and gas turbines with CO₂ capture.

With large-scale CO₂ capture technology from MHI, it is possible to remove more than 95% of CO₂ emissions from flue gases. Ishikawa acknowledged that while this is still a nascent solution, government incentives and adoption by commercial-scale operations will help push it forward.

Countries and regions from the US to the EU have issued billions in funding for CO₂ capture. And projects such as Eni's Casalborsetti natural gas plant in Italy, which is using MHI technology to remove approximately 25,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually, are paving the way for the technology’s future use across industries.

Ensuring clean power progress is tracked and visible

For Mike Train, Chief Sustainability Officer at global engineering technology firm Emerson, the key to advancing clean technologies is making progress as visible as possible.

He is energized by the innovation he sees in his job, he told the panel. Train cited the example of companies that are creating a clean hydrogen value chain, turning renewable electricity into hydrogen, then ammonia, and then ‘cracking’ that ammonia to be used as fuel.

“It’s fun to be a part of enabling that,” he said. “But I think we have got to keep bringing this to people like it’s happening. They need to see it. We need to report on it … we’ve got to figure out a way to break the barriers down.”

Tackling emissions from industry

MHI’s Ishikawa said collaboration and government support will be central to making progress. Another focus for the company, he told delegates, is decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors, for example through providing technology to make green steel.

This issue was also discussed by a United Nations Industrial Development Organization panel titled ‘De-Risking Investments in Hydrogen Technologies to Accelerate the Decarbonization of Industrial Value Chains’. Here, Hiroshi Matsuda, Chief Regional Officer for EMEA at MHI, highlighted the critical role of hydrogen in decarbonizing industries that cannot easily transition to electrification.

“We see hydrogen demand picking up first in sectors like fertilizer, refining, steel and chemicals,” he explained. “These industries are already familiar with hydrogen or require solutions where electrification isn't feasible. Scaling hydrogen value chains will require collaboration across regions, underpinned by mandates, subsidies, and robust market mechanisms such as Europe’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.”

Matsuda also pointed to ongoing projects in regions like Mauritania, where MHI Group company Primetals Technologies and its partners are exploring hydrogen infrastructure coupled with large-scale development of renewables to enable green steel production.

Scaling the production of clean hydrogen requires new infrastructure, such as the Advanced Clean Energy Storage Hub in Utah, US. This site, a joint venture between Mitsubishi Power Americas and Chevron, produces and stores clean hydrogen to fuel gas turbines at a nearby power plant.

It’s an example of the kind of innovation needed to provide clean and stable power in the future. And government support, such as the US allocating $7 billion in federal grants to regional hydrogen hubs, will help reduce costs and drive adoption of solutions for hard-to-abate or carbon-intensive industries.

“The energy transition is going to take a long time,” Ishikawa said. “I think the usage of fossil fuels was at a record high in 2023 and the world has been using this fossil fuel for the last 200 years … To change that, it’s expensive. So, for private enterprise to really adopt the investment and continue with R&D, they really do need government help.”

Governments and private enterprise must work in tandem to make this happen, he added, while policy support from government is needed to act as a catalyst to advance clean technologies at scale.

Policy support is vital

This was echoed in another session, Accelerating credible net-zero transitions: From planning to action, held in COP29’s Japan Pavilion.

Speaking of MHI’s declaration to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040, panelist Kimiyo Hirowatari, Manager, Financial Planning Division and Project Director, Growth Strategy Office, MHI, said: “We can be technology-ready by 2040, but all the other support systems, policy support systems, may not be entirely available.”

Targeted policy support for specific industries and customers is needed, she added.

For another speaker on the SIF panel, Liz Bronder, Managing Director at RELP, a non-profit with a mission to bring “renewables to all”, government support will be crucial to bringing more private sector investment into the energy transition, especially in emerging markets.

She called for clarity around regulations, and for governments to ensure they are making both contractual obligations and regulatory issues clear to those making long-term investments.

The SIF panel concluded that realizing the energy transition will be among the biggest challenges of the 21^st century – but with the right innovation, collaboration and government support, it is one that can be met.