(Source: "China Petroleum Enterprise Magazine" 2024-11-14)
Dong Xiucheng
“Global energy technology innovation is turning to clean energy, especially renewable energy, to cope with climate change and achieve carbon neutrality. Countries have increased investment in research and development, achieved remarkable results in the field of clean energy, and the number of scientific research and patents has surged, leading the low-carbon green transformation of global energy.”
Science and technology determines the future, and science and technology creates the future. This is the historical law of the evolution of human civilization. At present, driven by the two wheels of energy transformation and digital transformation, a new round of energy technology innovation activities around the world are highly active. Technology research and development with clean energy technology, especially renewable energy technology as the core, is accelerating development and iteration, and has become the core driving force for the low-carbon green transformation of global energy. For a long time, global energy technology innovation has been mainly concentrated in the field of fossil energy, focusing on various aspects such as fossil energy exploration, development, processing, conversion, transportation, storage and utilization. Historically, the invention of the steam engine led to the first energy transition dominated by coal, while the invention of the internal combustion engine promoted the second energy transition dominated by oil. The shale technological revolution led to the large-scale development of shale oil and gas in the United States, allowing the United States to achieve energy independence and changing the global energy pattern. Based on historical experience, for the history of energy development, energy technology determines the future of energy, and technological innovation creates future energy. This is the practice of global energy development history and is also an objective law. However, as the response to global climate change has become mainstream and energy transformation is accelerating, the focus and emphasis of energy technology innovation in countries around the world has gradually begun to shift, gradually transitioning from traditional technology to high-tech, from the field of fossil energy to the field of non-fossil energy, especially to the field of clean energy technology research and development. In order to cope with global climate change, implement the energy transformation strategy, and achieve the goal of carbon neutrality, in addition to investing huge amounts of money, it is also necessary to achieve major technological breakthroughs, which objectively leads a new innovation trend in global energy technology.
As we all know, one of the keywords accompanying climate change is carbon neutrality, or net zero carbon emissions. Carbon neutrality is a perfect picture to solve the problem of global climate change, but how to draw this picture full of imagination is indeed a long-term and huge challenge for mankind. Faced with life and death, human beings can only respond head-on. The core of responding to global climate change is to achieve carbon neutrality. It is a matter of life and death for mankind and involves many industries or fields. It is not a national issue, but a major international issue, and no country can be immune to it.
In order to achieve carbon neutrality, human society must strengthen relevant technological innovation. At present, there are many technologies related to carbon neutrality. Some technologies are relatively mature, but there are still many technologies that are not yet mature, or not yet fully mature. Objectively, countries around the world need to continue to increase their innovation efforts. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) report, in order to achieve global carbon neutrality or net-zero emissions by 2050, human society must continue to achieve breakthroughs in key technologies. Although there are some mature key technologies, the overall technological maturity is not high enough. Currently, about 50% of the technologies are not yet mature. It can be seen that global energy technology innovation has a long way to go. Achieving the goal of carbon neutrality requires not only international cooperation among countries around the world, but also huge investment in capital and technology research and development, as well as strong policy guidance and support. It is foreseeable that in the process of achieving the goal of global carbon neutrality, mankind will inevitably face various obstacles and resistance. However, human society cannot be afraid of moving forward, but must forge ahead and meet challenges as it moves forward.
Clean energy technology has gradually become the focus of global energy technology innovation
Because clean energy occupies a key position in responding to climate change and realizing energy transformation, clean energy technological innovation has become the focus of energy technological innovation in countries around the world.
Developed countries formulate clean energy technology innovation strategies and policies
Strategy determines the direction, and policy guides behavior. Facing the challenge of global climate change, energy technology innovation has entered a new chapter. Countries around the world have focused their innovation efforts on clean energy technologies, and those developed economies have formulated relevant strategies and policies to vigorously promote the research and development of clean energy technologies in order to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality.
Although the United States has long-standing disputes about global climate change and energy transition, at the strategic and policy levels, its overall attitude has basically remained positive. With "science and energy" as the main axis, it actively promotes the development and utilization of advanced nuclear energy and renewable energy, as well as the research and development of conventional oil and gas exploration and development and other technologies. In the field of addressing global climate change and clean energy technology innovation, the EU has always regarded itself as a world leader. The concepts of green development and climateism are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and its technological innovation strategies and policies are particularly outstanding. It clearly places renewable energy as the mainstay of the energy supply system, proposes the strategic goal of building a carbon-neutral economy, greatly enhances the status of energy technology innovation, and formulates a framework plan for energy technology research and development and demonstration. Japan is also at the forefront of the world in the research and development of renewable energy technologies, setting goals for 2030 and 2050 for future energy technology innovation, emphasizing the need to focus on research and development of energy technologies. A comprehensive observation of the evolution of energy technology strategies in the United States, the European Union and Japan shows that the main goals of these strategies are to optimize and adjust the energy structure and implement energy transformation strategies. The core lies in the research and development of clean energy technologies, especially renewable energy technologies. This is undoubtedly a key step towards a green future.
Global investment in clean energy technology continues to increase
Since mankind entered the 21st century, mankind has been facing a global climate and ecological crisis. Environmental problems have become increasingly serious. The call for energy transformation has echoed around the world, and clean energy technology innovation and investment have also continued to grow. Today, the global energy R&D investment structure is undergoing a profound change. Countries around the world are placing more emphasis on clean energy technology R&D, especially renewable energy technology R&D. This is an obvious energy technology innovation trend. According to data from the International Energy Agency, during the period 2001-2009, the clean energy technology investment budget of the organization's member countries grew rapidly and reached US$24.6 billion in 2009. This is a clear signal that the world is moving towards the long-term goal of net zero emissions and driving innovation in low-carbon energy technologies.
Looking back on the past, IEA member countries have long focused on fossil energy technology research and development, and the proportion of investment even reached 13% in 1990. However, since the 1990s, clean energy R&D investment has gradually increased, member states have begun to adjust their technology R&D priorities, and the proportion of fossil energy technology R&D investment has begun to decline. By 2020, this proportion has dropped to 7%. At present, the global clean energy technology innovation trend is changing, from the past excessive focus on fossil energy and nuclear energy to the fields of renewable energy and nuclear energy, and emphasizing the coordinated development between the two. From the data point of view, in 1974, the proportion of nuclear energy R&D investment in the member countries of the International Energy Agency was as high as 75%, while the proportion of renewable energy R&D investment was only 3%. However, by 2020, this pattern has changed significantly. The proportion of R&D investment in nuclear energy technology has dropped to 21%, while the proportion of R&D investment in renewable energy technology (including hydrogen energy technology) has increased to 20%.
Global clean energy technology innovation achievements are very significant
In terms of global scientific research paper output, the number of papers published in the global clean energy field is growing rapidly. In the picture of global scientific research achievements, clean energy achievements are brightly colored. During the period from 2001 to 2020, the output of papers in the field of clean energy increased explosively, jumping from 400,000 to 1.6 million, with a compound annual growth rate of 13%. On the global stage, its presence has become increasingly clear, with its proportion increasing from 1% to 5%. Among them, research results in the field of renewable energy are booming, with the proportion of papers rising rapidly from 5% to 11%, while the proportion of papers in the field of nuclear energy has dropped from 8% to 1%. The focus of global scientific research is shifting. In the world of patents, renewable energy has also shown great vitality. The number of European Patent Office (EPO) patent applications in the global renewable energy field reached 948,385 in 2021, four times that of 2009. It can be seen from the above that global clean energy technological innovation is like the sunrise in the morning, shining brightly, allowing the world to see the huge power of technological innovation and the hope of future energy transformation.
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