The UAE’s transition to a net-zero future

As the impacts of clime alteration similar desertification, biodiversity loss, pollution, and terrible upwind persist, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is approaching the greenish modulation and decarbonization with a large consciousness of urgency. Between its ratification of the 2015 Paris Agreement, its $160 cardinal concern successful renewables implicit the adjacent 30 years, and its greenish initiatives collaborations with different nations and backstage assemblage leaders, the UAE has made assertive efforts toward a net-zero future—leading its portion successful the process.  

While full-scale decarbonization volition necessitate a systemic displacement successful the UAE’s energy, manufacturing, and transport sectors, determination is an tremendous accidental for debased c sustainable economical development, says UAE Minister of State for Public Education and Advanced Technology, Her Excellency Sarah Bint Yousif Al Amiri.

Building the low-carbon  industries of the aboriginal means leveraging precocious and emerging technologies similar AI, IoT, and robotics to amended efficiency, incentivizing vigor ratio among manufacturers, and promoting scalable decarbonization champion practices.

As 1 of the world’s largest integrated energy companies, ADNOC, is faced with a generational situation of minimizing emissions portion maximizing vigor outputs, says ADNOC Executive Director of Low Carbon Solutions and International Growth, Musabbeh Al Kaabi.

Beyond implementing nature-based solutions specified arsenic mangrove planting, ADNOC is implementing and piloting caller exertion to permanently region c done mineralization, says Al Kaabi. Startups and players extracurricular the accepted vigor assemblage are besides emerging with caller innovations employing AI, supercomputing, and large information analytics that tin assistance accelerate the vigor transition.

By establishing a resilient subject and exertion ecosystem wrong the UAE and investing successful cleanable vigor projects and renewables worldwide, the federation looks to code clime alteration challenges regionally and globally, says Al Amiri. Looking forward, these investments and policies volition make caller greenish concern models and services that tin alteration the UAE to execute some c neutrality and beardown economical maturation done its pragmatic, resilient, and inclusive approach.

This occurrence of Business Lab is produced successful concern with the ADNOC Group.

Full Transcript

Musabbeh Al Kaabi: Thank you.

Her Excellency, Sarah Bint Yousif Al Amiri: Thank you, Laurel.

Laurel: Let maine commencement with you, Your Excellency. Advanced technologies are captious to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 crossed each economical sectors. What's your overarching attack to decarbonization and however are you leveraging precocious technologies to tackle clime change?

Her Excellency, Sarah Bint Yousif Al Amiri: Laurel, the attack towards decarbonization needs to beryllium a broad whole-of authorities knowing crossed respective cardinal sectors that requires some interaction and creating the indispensable opportunities to circumvent those challenges. Being capable to bash that requires not lone argumentation shifts and argumentation changes but requires a heavy knowing of utilization of technologies crossed antithetic sectors and improvement of caller methods of accumulation oregon caller methods of lowering our c footprint truthful that we're capable to execute the 1.5 degrees commitment.

As we are approaching it wrong the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, the absorption is, astatine the moment, connected the infusion of the close technologies crossed cardinal sectors. It is particularly hard to abate concern sectors, ensuring that c seizure methods and besides methods for accumulation of vigor and cleaner vigor and utilization of antithetic vigor sources becomes a cardinal pillar of improvement crossed antithetic sectors.

And, the state has invested rather heavy successful aboriginal signifier probe and besides successful deployment of antithetic vigor methodologies, concern successful decarbonization crossed cardinal concern sectors and the utilization of exertion wrong our existent concern sectors to summation efficiency. And arsenic you know, ratio is the archetypal measurement towards creating the indispensable interaction and outcome. We person besides looked astatine our probe and improvement priorities and incorporated clime alteration rather heavy into it. And the solution has ever been astir vigor production, transport systems, and a broad whole-of worth concatenation attack to importantly trim emissions and surely play a captious relation successful tipping the equation to the close broadside successful ensuring that we're c neutral.

Laurel: Thank you. And Mr. Al Kaabi, ADNOC is simply a diversified and integrated radical of vigor companies that are mostly state-owned by Abu Dhabi, the largest of 7 emirates, which marque up the UAE. ADNOC is traditionally known arsenic an lipid producing company, among the 10 largest successful the world. So with sustainability becoming a planetary imperative, and the UAE's extremity to chopped emissions, however is ADNOC moving to physique a caller vigor future?

Mr. Musabbeh Al Kaabi: When you look astatine the vigor trajectory going forward, astatine slightest the request side, it's wide that successful the short, medium, and agelong word determination is simply a important maturation successful the vigor request globally. Of course, determination volition beryllium antithetic sources of vigor and renewables volition instrumentality a increasing relation going forward, but determination is this overarching taxable which is vigor transition. But vigor transition, we cannot see vigor modulation without besides considering the affordability and vigor security. So the trilemma of the vigor transition, affordability, and information is going to beryllium a precise analyzable scenery going forward. Our occupation arsenic a liable vigor institution is to guarantee that we play our relation to guarantee that we proviso the energies of the future. So we started this travel of decarbonization a agelong clip ago, and fto maine instrumentality you backmost to the aboriginal days of ADNOC.

In the 1970s, astatine that time, we took a progressive attack to clasp sustainability successful our cognition by embracing caller technologies. And fto maine springiness you circumstantial examples of liquified earthy state (LNG). LNG exertion astatine that clip was precise nascent and it was not a communal signifier for lipid producing companies and countries to seizure emissions and clasp caller technologies. So the LNG astatine that clip had a affirmative interaction connected 2 sides. One successful the proviso broadside by reducing the flaring, capturing the earthy gas, and besides successful the user broadside wherever we offset a dense emitter powerfulness procreation similar coal. So it had a nett affirmative interaction connected some sides. ADNOC besides is embracing, of course, c seizure technologies. We’re precise arrogant that we established a c seizure task aboriginal successful 2016, the archetypal task successful the portion astatine commercialized scale: 800,000 tons per annum and with a program present to spell up to 5 cardinal tons by 2030.

We besides sent caller emerging vigor sources similar ammonia. Three cargos—test cargos—were sent to Asia and to Europe. Also, contiguous we are sourcing 100% of grid powerfulness from zero carbon, solar, and atomic energy, ensuring vigor ratio betterment crossed our operation. And we besides apply, of course, nature-based solutions with the planting of millions of mangrove trees. We besides precocious allocated $15 cardinal investments to advancement assorted projects crossed our diversified worth concatenation successful the debased c solutions. So arsenic I mentioned earlier, we're going to grow our CO2 seizure capableness by 500%. We are going to further electrification of our operation, $3.8 cardinal [allocated] to electrify offshore operation, representing up to 50% simplification successful CO2 intensity. We are implementing vigor ratio programs. We are besides taking the caller measures to physique connected ADNOC’s long-standing argumentation of zero regular state flaring. We're increasing our investments successful bluish hydrogen, a caller satellite scale, 1 cardinal ton per annum, debased c ammonia works astatine TA'ZIZ.

And we are besides a large shareholder successful the Abu Dhabi aboriginal vigor company, Masdar, which presently has a capableness of implicit 20 gigawatts of renewable energy, which is capable to powerfulness implicit 5 cardinal homes and plans to turn this to good implicit 100 gigawatts by 2030. On the R&D front, astir 80% of our projects are dedicated to sustainable growth. For example, we are exploring ways to harness the powerfulness of geothermal vigor and taking factual steps to mature the hydrogen worth concatenation and hydrogen technologies going forward. So determination are a batch of sets of technologies that we are optimistic to spot them maturing and addressing the decarbonization agenda.

Laurel: And Your Excellency, however is the United Arab Emirates decarbonizing and greening existing industries and proviso chains? For example, however important is the country's regulatory scenery and standards infrastructure?

Her Excellency, Sarah Bint Yousif Al Amiri: The UAE is tackling this from a antithetic position based connected the maturity of industries. So first, from the position of existing industries, mature industries and industries that are typically known to beryllium c producers. We've got antithetic methodologies to guarantee that this becomes a whole-of-supply concatenation effort. We're looking astatine each portion of the worth chain, and I tin springiness you an illustration of utilizing c seizure systems successful hard to abate industries wherever we person a precise bully and scalable programme to decarbonize our alloy accumulation with Emirates Steel partnered up with some ADNOC and Masdar to seizure and utilize up to 800,000 tons of c dioxide a year. And that's conscionable 1 mechanics by which we are approaching c capture. Another mechanics is to utilize and embed crossed our antithetic policies. So we've got the in-country worth programme on with our integrated exertion translation programme that includes an concern exertion translation scale that has sustainability arsenic 1 of the cardinal pillars of technological transformation.

And what it does is efficaciously looks astatine efficiencies, looks astatine mechanisms to chopped retired c production, re-utilize it wrong the system, guarantee that materials are being utilized to the maximum of their capacity, guarantee that discarded is being reduced and each of that is being utilized done some digitization mechanisms, Industry 4.0 technologies, amended informed accumulation processes. And from a argumentation perspective, we're besides going to the level of consumers to guarantee an end-to-end mechanics that not lone focuses connected accumulation and industries connected some upstream and downstreams, but besides looks astatine a broad utilization and proscription of cardinal industrial, some from a earthy materials position and besides from a accumulation position and extremity merchandise perspective.

From a argumentation position arsenic well, wrong our Operation 300 Billion, sustainability is embedded precise good crossed each pillars. And what this does is alteration decarbonization astatine standard from an economical load to a marketplace accidental and gives america a whole-of argumentation efforts to beryllium capable to thrust caller industries, past go the utilizers of a batch of the offtake that comes from existing industries and allows america to amended integrate our ecosystem towards creating the indispensable interaction and outcome. Then comes our policies that present look astatine what is beyond the existent technologies and existent industries and its advancement crossed antithetic sectors. And that ensures a whole-of federation holistic attack to the close policies, the close metrics, the close mechanisms to alteration our carbon-neutral docket and guarantee that industries are playing a captious relation successful this important transition.

Laurel: Thank you. Mr. Al Kaabi, beyond accepted emissions simplification efforts similar forestation, determination is simply a request for higher rates of CO2 removal. ADNOC precocious allocated $15 cardinal to projects, arsenic you mentioned, that volition assistance accelerate its debased c goals. What are immoderate of the latest probe and improvement investments into CO2 removal, similar c seizure and retention (CCS), that ADNOC is pursuing, and however bash they complement the UAE's wide sustainability goals?

Mr. Musabbeh Al Kaabi: The value of CO2 removal cannot beryllium understated. In January this year, a conjugation of researchers published a study urging a accelerated standard up of c dioxide removal technologies. It recovered that of the 2 cardinal tons of CO2 being removed from the ambiance each twelvemonth done quality intervention, lone 0.1% presently comes from c dioxide removal initiatives. In bid to debar the worst effects of warming, the survey said that we request to summation the complaint of c removal from the ambiance by a origin of 30 implicit this decennary and a origin of 1,300 by 2050. Across ADNOC, we are implementing and piloting assorted forms of CCS and c dioxide removal technologies. As mentioned, our installation captures up to 800,000 tons of CO2 per twelvemonth from the Emirates alloy industry. At Fertiglobe, we seizure CO2 and usage it to marque urea. Earlier this year, we announced that we volition besides instrumentality the excess c dioxide captured from Fertiglobe's UAE operations and inject 100% of it successful Abu Dhabi's onshore c aquifers. It'll beryllium the world's archetypal afloat sequestered CO2 injection pilot.

In Fujairah, which is 1 of our northernmost Emirates, we're partnering with a startup institution to aviator ways of mineralizing CO2 everlastingly wrong stone formations. The process involves extracting CO2 from the ambiance utilizing nonstop aerial seizure technology. We volition past premix it with the oversea h2o and inject it underground into stone formations. The full process volition beryllium powered by cleanable vigor from Masdar, which efficaciously makes the aviator c negative. It's inactive aboriginal stages, but if we are palmy successful utilizing exertion to accelerate this earthy process, it would pave the mode for america to mineralize billions of tons of CO2. There are precocious discussions underway with a scope of different CCS and CCUS [carbon, capture, utilization, and storage] companies too. We are looking astatine innovations that crook CO2 into usable products, specified arsenic sustainable aviation fuel. Nature-based solutions besides person a ample relation to play successful our strategy. We person an progressive programme to works 10 cardinal mangroves by 2030. Mangroves service arsenic a almighty c sink.

Laurel: Very bully points. Your Excellency, however is the UAE capitalizing connected the greenish transition? What is the UAE doing to pave the mode for gathering greenish industries of the future? For example, however is it promoting R&D successful greenish concern models?

Her Excellency, Sarah Bint Yousif Al Amiri: So Musabbeh conscionable spoke astir circumstantial examples of the utilization of carbon, the mechanics of capturing carbon, and besides looking astatine earthy processes that volition past alteration the full greening approach, particularly for industries and provides a indispensable instauration of industries that I spoke astir earlier and much importantly some the economical worth and the indispensable offset to beryllium capable to negociate this change. From an overarching argumentation perspective, however that translates is an concern into decarbonization focused astatine c seizure and utilization arsenic a main pillar. And that looks astatine some the subject down it and besides looks astatine the existent satellite implementation and impact, furthermore. 

UAE supports greenish infrastructure and cleanable vigor projects worldwide and is investing successful renewable vigor ventures worthy astir $16.8 cardinal successful implicit 70 countries. Now, however that translates into existent probe and improvement outcomes is an advancement and acceleration of greenish vigor accumulation and infrastructure that is perfectly indispensable for the close vigor modulation and the close mechanics to beryllium capable to make the indispensable impact.

In presumption of spearheading greenish and clime exertion development, we are looking astatine cutting borderline partnerships for probe and developments some to beforehand locally circumstantial needs for the UAE and its industries and besides look astatine the wider planetary ecosystem to beryllium capable to bash that. And we person taken a applicable measurement to guarantee enactment successful the abstraction by forming the Emirates Research and Development Council and committing to summation our probe and improvement walk to 2% of GDP by 2031, wherever we volition walk $160 cardinal successful the adjacent 30 years to further make and deploy greenish innovations successful the UAE and astir the world. In presumption of our priorities, hydrogen and it's the full worth concatenation from accumulation each the mode to utilization and transportation, from a position that is logical and usable by industries, c seizure technologies, desalination, and uncovering the close mechanics for h2o desalination, h2o accumulation that is not vigor intensive.

Digital technologies and astute mobility solutions volition beryllium capable to encapsulate a whole-of bundle attack towards decarbonizing and creating indispensable mechanisms to capitalize connected the greenish transition. That each encompasses unneurotic with the exertion translation programme that I spoke astir earlier that focuses besides connected our cardinal concern players and allows america to determination forward. 

So again, to reiterate from a argumentation perspective, you're looking astatine existent industries and decarbonization successful existent industries, instauration of caller industries that are focused connected the byproduct of the greenish modulation and being capable to besides summation economical worth and competitiveness there. And that's wherever the accidental comes in. And past astatine the extremity to propulsion things together, technological advancement cardinal towards each industry, probe and improvement that drives the indispensable opportunities guardant and develops the close mechanisms to lick the existent challenges and besides beryllium capable to make the indispensable opportunities. And that each past drives the interaction that we each foresee for some existing technologies and aboriginal technologies that volition thrust the vigor transition, the greenish transition, marque decarbonization a world and a information of improvement crossed industries.

Laurel: Thank you. And Mr. Al Kaabi, reaching those decarbonization goals requires exertion beyond renewable vigor and forestation. Artificial quality is present successful the speech crossed galore technological innovations and aboriginal reasoning solutions. How are information analytics, AI, and different emerging technologies shaping the vigor manufacture and helping to conscionable debased emissions and zero emanation goals?

Mr. Musabbeh Al Kaabi: Advances successful things similar AI, large information analytics, and supercomputing are possibly the astir breathtaking and important technological improvement of our era. The quality to cod and analyse specified immense volumes of information instantly gives america the quality to marque decisions that guarantee efficiency, sustainability, and information crossed our operation. Our Panorama Data Analytics Center has fixed america extended monitoring and measurement capableness crossed our cognition worth chain. In the past 5 years, we've achieved a 15% redeeming successful vigor expenditure and purpose to execute different 5% simplification wrong the adjacent 3 years. Advanced information analytics tools person helped america execute centralized productive maintenance, virtually eliminating flaring. We've besides successfully piloted AI exertion astatine our state facilities. By simultaneously crunching information from hundreds of IoT sensors, our AI emanation monitoring platforms to springiness america real-time guidance connected the optimum parameters to run facilities truthful that we make the astir vigor with the slightest emissions.

AI is besides helping to guarantee that activities similar drilling are arsenic vigor businesslike arsenic possible. By performing accelerated information analysis, the AI is capable to place challenges and find the optimum parameters to minimize vigor expenditure. These advances spell manus successful manus with different breathtaking field: automation and robotics. Robotic operations trim oregon wholly destruct the request for dense instrumentality utilized for things similar firefighting and the depletion of precocious c root material. For instance, 1 of our underwater inspection vehicles piloted past twelvemonth removed the request to instrumentality rigs to docks for maintenance. We calculated that this 1 instrumentality alone, the size of a tiny box, volition chopped greenhouse state emanation by up to 30,000 tons implicit 5 years. Elsewhere, robotics and drone inspection devices are ensuring that we supply astir the timepiece effectual safeguards against challenges specified arsenic methane leaks.

Laurel: One past question for you, Your Excellency. In being the archetypal successful the portion to acceptable these sustainability goals, the UAE is successful a unsocial enactment position. So starring up to COP28, what would you similar to spot from nationalist and backstage assemblage leaders successful presumption of driving sustainable concern development?

Her Excellency, Sarah Bint Yousif Al Amiri: We request to each commencement with the cardinal realization that the modulation that we're going to spot with our clime is an interaction connected each of us, careless of what assemblage you beryllium to, careless of what economy, what level, it volition impact immoderate much than others, and it volition make some a antagonistic interaction and volition person immoderate forms of damages crossed the board. To beryllium capable to signifier the close partnerships, we request to halt reasoning arsenic governments, nationalist sector, backstage sector, and much arsenic an overarching whole-of ecosystem approach. And what that truly means is that we are each stakeholders successful this. In the close vigor transition, successful the close greenish transition, successful the close mechanics for decarbonization, successful being capable to perpetrate and being capable to present connected our commitments, particularly with regards to decarbonization. And however bash you truly construe that into effectual mechanisms?

It's not astir partnerships first, it's astir the mindset and approach, decoupling enactment for decarbonization from growth. It could beryllium coupled and volition be. And we've spoken astatine antithetic examples wherever the Emirates has looked astatine fostering economical maturation unneurotic with creating the indispensable equilibrium to guarantee that it's not impacting our decarbonization drive. And we are not doing this successful silos. It's not a nationalist policy. It's not lone a regulations drive, it is simply a thrust of bringing partnerships connected board, of moving unneurotic with some the backstage and nationalist assemblage arsenic associated stakeholders, of uncovering the close mechanisms for exertion adoption crossed industries, gathering the close usage cases wherever antithetic concern players tin larn from it. And past driving that internationally.

And I privation to constituent to 1 illustration of multilateral planetary partnership, which is our signature connected the vigor information and concern accelerator statement with Germany successful 2022. That signaled our committedness to investing successful projects of vigor information decarbonization and c action—that's multilateral, multi-impact, broad, and does the indispensable alteration portion creating the indispensable interaction and overarching mechanism. And what we privation to work, arsenic a planetary assemblage that is arsenic impacted by the clime change, is pragmatism alternatively than governmental statement, alternatively than affectional overarching messages, but practical, real, on-the-ground enactment that creates the indispensable maturation that we privation to spot successful the satellite without impacting our clime and without impacting the wellbeing of everyone connected this planet.

Laurel: And for you, Mr. Al Kaabi What are immoderate innovations and emerging technologies (in decarbonization, hydrogen, renewable vigor sources) that you look guardant to seeing deployed arsenic the 2030 benchmark approaches?

Mr. Musabbeh Al Kaabi: Well, ADNOC is proactively processing the marketplace for hydrogen by pursuing a balanced strategy based connected low-carbon and renewable hydrogen. So fto maine commencement with low-carbon ammonia. It has an important relation arsenic a stepping chromatic successful the broader vigor modulation due to the fact that it is outgo competitive, tin beryllium scaled up rapidly and has little c strength than galore different substance successful the market. In addition, usage of debased c hydrogen present volition assistance to make request for this benignant of vigor astatine scale, supporting the longer word commercialization of renewable hydrogen, which is besides known arsenic a greenish hydrogen. So successful caller months, ADNOC has made a fig of announcements successful narration to cleanable ammonia and hydrogen that are helping to physique the hydrogen worth chain. We are a large shareholder successful Masdar, a cleanable vigor powerhouse that aims to nutrient 1 cardinal tons of greenish hydrogen by 2030, redeeming an equivalent of much than 6 cardinal tons of CO2 each year.

We person sold respective cargos of debased c ammonia to customers successful Europe and Asia. These trial cargos are a captious measurement to alteration our partners to trial a caller exertion of cleanable hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives portion besides supporting the commercialized maturation successful precedence markets. The objection cargos proved that determination is simply a increasing request for hydrogen and willingness to trial its application. The full communicative astir greenish hydrogen and ammonia tin beryllium traced backmost astir to akin aboriginal days of LNG. In this nascent and emerging root of energy, I deliberation determination is simply a stronger request to spot a collaboration betwixt customers and producers. And a agelong word concern is simply a precise important measurement to guarantee that we advancement and standard up the hydrogen applications.

We besides announced a caller satellite standard of 1,000,000 tons per annum debased c ammonia works astatine TA'ZIZ, which is present successful the plan signifier and volition see planetary partners. Similarly, we precocious began collaboration with Masdar successful the UAE to make up to 1 gigaton cleanable hydrogen hubs. Regarding renewables, we are a large shareholder successful Abu Dhabi aboriginal vigor company, Masdar, which presently has a capableness implicit 20 gigawatts of renewable energy, which is capable to power, arsenic I mentioned earlier, implicit 5 cardinal homes, and plans to turn this good implicit a 100 gigawatts by 2030.

Laurel: Thank you some precise overmuch for what has been a fantastic occurrence of the Business Lab.

Her Excellency, Sarah Bint Yousif Al Amiri: Thank you precise much, Laurel.

Mr. Musabbeh Al Kaabi: Thank you.

This contented was produced by Insights, the customized contented limb of MIT Technology Review. It was not written by MIT Technology Review’s editorial staff.