SINTEF to Participate in United Nations Climate Change Conference in Egypt

SINTEF will participate in this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference in Egypt. The organization will be represented by Executive Vice President for Sustainability, Nils Røkke, and several other scientists from research areas such as CO2 capture and storage (CCS), offshore wind power, hydrogen, climate change adaptation, digitalization, and biodiversity.

The recent Emissions Gap Report 2022 by the United Nations Environment Programme shows that updated national pledges since COP26 – held in 2021 in Glasgow, UK – make a negligible difference to predicted 2030 emissions and that we are far from the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to well below 2°C.

“It’s time to take action. The climate and nature crisis continues at full speed, even if the world is focused on local disasters. This is not going to solve itself. This is the world’s largest problem, and the general population, much more than the politicians and the decision-makers, is beginning to comprehend the enormity of the crisis,” said Røkke.

The importance of sharing open research

The International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and representatives of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change recently published the “Breakthrough Agenda” report. The report’s message is that closer international collaboration is crucial for achieving a successful energy transition on nature’s terms. The report emphasizes greenhouse gas emission reductions in five sectors: power, road transport, steel, hydrogen, and agriculture. These five sectors are responsible for 60 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

“SINTEF has the expertise and open research we want to share. During COP, we will present topics such as “CO₂ DataShare”, which is an open portal that collects quality-assured data from CO₂ storage projects. This is data that is useful and freely available to anyone who is interested in CO₂ storage,” said Røkke.

Røkke added, “The time is overdue to invest in future-oriented solutions to this crisis, where energy is at the center. These are investments in our collective community, and are more important than acting solely for profit; the risk of “business as usual” is too imminent. Additionally, this is not the time to cut core investments in science and development. This is Code Red for our planet.”

Energy systems with low emissions in Europe and Africa

Senior Research Scientist at SINTEF Ingeborg Graabak researches energy models that can contribute to phasing in more renewable resources in the energy system. She leads a larger EU project called OpenEntrance, which is developing a platform with both models and data for analyzing how to achieve an energy system with extremely low emissions in Europe.

“We’re currently working to transfer the results of this collaboration project to a number of African countries, with the aim of developing knowledge in these countries on sustainable energy systems as well as providing open access to our research results,” said Graabak.

SINTEF will host an open event on this topic during COP.