Jens Perner presents Power-to-X roadmap at COP24

Jens Perner presents Power-to-X roadmap at COP24

Today, Jens Perner, Associate Director at Frontier Economics, presented a roadmap for a future global Power-to-X industry at a side event organised by Morocco at the world climate conference, COP24, in Katowice.

The role of synthetic fuels (hydrogen, ammonia, methane, methanol, diesel, gasoline and kerosene) produced by Power-to-X (PtX) technologies based on renewable energies will be crucial in a post-fossil society. Without these carbon neutral energy carriers, it will be impossible for governments worldwide to realistically achieve their highly ambitious climate goals.  However, global markets for synthetic fuels will require scaling up of technologies, and PtX markets will only develop if both supply and demand mature at relatively similar rates over time. This needs early political action.

Countries that either import or export Power-to-X can benefit from the resulting international trade and co-operation.  Energy consuming countries can benefit from favourable PtX production conditions and the availability of sites for renewables in other regions of the world. Exporting countries can take advantage from investments and strong revenues from energy sales. This can especially be beneficial for those countries which currently don’t export energy, including developing countries. Growth and employment can be supported in these countries thereby reducing the need for migration due to economic reasons.  However, investments in Power-to-X technologies and infrastructure require an appropriate regulatory framework that incorporates relevant international sustainability criteria.

Jens commented “Power-to-X is crucial to achieve the ambitious climate change policy goals by 2050 and beyond. Therefore, Power-to-X should be part of the political climate change policy agenda in the decades to come. We need strategic industry-political decisions based on a clear roadmap, today.”

Frontier Economics regularly works on climate change policy and new energy technologies such as Power-to-X.

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