Shipping is one of the most difficult industries to decarbonize due to its use of traditional fuels made of heavy oils. But one potential solution lies in the scaling up of biofuels and green hydrogen. Spain is betting big on this clean energy transition, aiming to become a European hub for green shipping fuels. Our correspondent Ken Browne reports.
#spain #green #climatechange #hydrogen #europe
#spain #green #climatechange #hydrogen #europe
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00:01International shipping carries around 90% of the world's trade.
00:07No surprise then that it accounts for a billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year,
00:13including 3% of the world's global CO2 emissions.
00:18That's more than Spain, France, Portugal and Greece combined.
00:23The International Monetary Fund has set a net zero shipping target by 2050,
00:29but how will this be achieved?
00:32Biofuels and green hydrogen, say insiders.
00:35When you use renewable energy, like wind or solar,
00:38to separate hydrogen from oxygen in water using an electrolyzer,
00:43you get green hydrogen.
00:45Think of it as electricity stored in liquid or gas form,
00:50and when burned, the only waste product is water.
00:53Spain's abundant sun, wind and key global shipping routes
00:57make it a prime candidate for green hydrogen production.
01:01Spanish petrol company Moeve, formerly Cepsa,
01:04is the country's leading supplier of marine fuels.
01:08So green hydrogen forms the base fuel in order to create more manageable fuels
01:14like green ammonia, green methanol, which can be used to decarbonise shipping.
01:18Energy transition is unstoppable.
01:20And we see it in line with our strategy to invest somewhere in the region of 8 billion euro
01:27to become the leading supplier of low carbon energy by 2030.
01:32Chinese companies are on board too.
01:34High Green Energy, a global electrolyzer maker,
01:37recently signed off on a $2.2 billion investment in the Andalusia region.
01:42And Envision announced another billion dollar deal to develop the first hydrogen net zero industrial park in Europe.
01:51Together, we are laying the foundation for Spain to become a European leader,
01:56as Leigh has said before, and a global player in the green hydrogen revolution.
02:02Experts predict that the hydrogen market could be worth as much as $2.5 trillion a year by 2050.
02:10And Spain wants to be a key player, particularly in green hydrogen
02:14and the fuels that are going to power more sustainable shipping.
02:19But is this the great green hope or just great green hype?
02:23Detractors say that it takes more energy to produce, store and transport hydrogen
02:28than it actually provides in useful energy.
02:32And one of the world's leading climate scientists, Robert Howarth,
02:35has called green hydrogen largely a marketing creation by the oil and gas industry.
02:42Despite the doubts, it's already scaling up with sustainable shipping and aviation in its sights.
02:49Ken Brown, CGTN, Madrid.