In order to advance “a sustainable value chain,” the Global Alliance, of which EGP is also a member, presented two significant position papers at the ONU Climate Conference. On November 19, the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP) in Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt, came to an end with an agreement on a fund to compensate those hurt by climate change, but no new decisions were taken regarding reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Global Alliance for Sustainable Energy also attended the UN Climate Conference and brought a number of useful recommendations for the circular economy and carbon reduction.
With the release of the position paper “Circular Design Criteria” and the impending publication of another on “Net Zero/Decarbonization,” our CEO Salvatore Bernabei recently assumed the presidency of the Alliance, which lays out the objectives for hastening the sustainability of the international energy sector. It enables a just transition away from fossil fuels while ensuring entirely sustainable renewable energies for people and the environment. These papers “represent a significant accomplishment for the Global Alliance for Sustainable Energy only a year after its founding, demonstrating the efficacy of a collaborative approach which involves all the stakeholders in bringing about decarbonization and in guaranteeing the complete sustainability of the sector along the entire value chain,” said Bernabei.
Circular design
The circular economy and sustainability are the ideal tools for meeting the requirement that must be met by all manufacturing industries: minimizing the environmental and social impacts caused by the use of raw materials in equipment production, claims the position paper on “Circular Design Criteria.” In order to advance sustainable, circular, and innovative planning principles—which are essential for accelerating the energy transition—the study concentrates on the effects on the energy industry. According to Giovanni Tula, Head of Sustainability for Enel Green Power, “the circular economy mixed with sustainability is the fundamental option for reducing the risks of growth, with its purpose being to make the best use of natural working capital, in order to reduce the need to extract more.”
Raw materials and how to recover them
The energy shift will have positive effects on local communities’ health as well as on society and the environment as a whole, including, for example, increased employment and lower emissions globally. On the other hand, compared to the current energy system, this general dynamic causes a need for raw materials that is growing quantitatively but relatively different in terms of material type. Increased social, environmental, and geopolitical hazards associated with the availability of these minerals could result from pressure on natural resources. Four have been identified as being of the highest priority: aluminum, copper, steel, and polysilicon, which are crucial for the electricity sector in general, electric cables, wind turbines, and solar panels, respectively.
According to the position paper on circular design, the list of raw materials that impact the energy transition is very long, with at least 30 being of great significance. Tula continues, “These are raw minerals that are located in nations with shaky geopolitical situations and with significant concerns in terms of respect for human rights and the environment. The Alliance has created methods to lessen social and environmental repercussions because of this. These include the supply of certified sustainable raw materials, the transparency and visibility of the entire supply chain, the circularity of raw materials, the recyclable nature of power plants, the separation of materials at the end of their useful lives and their reuse in new products, the design of power plants that allows for an extended lifespan and makes maintenance and repair easier, and the recyclability of raw materials.
Common standards are required for the reduction of emissions
The soon-to-be-published position paper on “Net Zero/Decarbonization,” which emphasizes the urgent need to decarbonize the electric energy industry, addresses the issue of emissions. The path to reducing greenhouse gas emissions must be outlined and have widespread scientific foundations in order to meet the NetZero 2050 aim. It is necessary to establish a single standard for energy using an ecosystemic strategy that includes multiple energy system actors. The Global Alliance for Sustainable Energy seeks to fill the gap between its members and the market for the energy sector because sustainability and decarbonization are two challenges that are of equal importance. By implementing best practices and universal sustainability standards, it seeks to increase transparency, circularity, and the sector’s overall sustainability.
