Let's look at 4 sectors - power generation, transport, buildings and industrials - where technological innovation and energy efficiency can reduce major sources of CO2 emissions.
This is the highest carbon-emitting industry, given the need to burn fossil fuels such as coal to generate electricity.
However, solar, wind, and energy-storage solutions can propel decarbonisation, alongside other emerging alternatives, including green hydrogen and carbon capture and storage.
Continued expansion of these decarbonisation technologies in this sector will likely lead to a significant change in emissions.
Carbon-rich oil and its derivatives are the main components of fuel, meaning the transport sector is one of the largest consumers of fossil fuels.
Shipping and supply chain emissions still create a far larger footprint than personal vehicles. But the increasing availability of electric vehicles is driving the transport industry's overall energy transition. And stricter global regulations can reduce shipping and aviation emissions.
The transport sector is quickly evolving as more alternatives to petrol power and new laws and policies emerge. And every switch to an electric vehicle, even on an individual level, makes a small difference that adds up to create a bigger impact for good.
Fossil fuels heat and cool buildings across the world, which accounts for about 30% of primary energy consumption, according to the International Energy Agency[@sustainability-iea-fossilfuelsconsumption].
Using more energy-efficient construction techniques and new technologies like hydrogen gas can reduce energy consumption, alongside new building codes and retrofitting existing structures with green technology.
Mining, metal processing, and the production of gas and oil can be carbon intensive; electrifying these industries could make them cleaner.
Energy efficiency has been a large focus in powering decarbonisation, while clean hydrogen may emerge as a key renewable solution.
Energy efficiency and renewable alternatives play critical roles in the drive towards net zero. Investments in specific technologies can speed up this effort. Investors should watch emerging developments aimed at lowering emissions, as these will be key to limiting global warming.
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