Register now! Decarbonising European industry and steel in the global context

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Options and Strategies from recent research. Supported by results from the INNOPATHS Programme.

Event Information

  • Date: 8 July
  • Time: 9:00 – 11:30 (BST)
  • Registration: Register here

About the event

The climate goals agreed in the Paris Agreement, and the need for ‘net zero’ emissions to stabilise the atmosphere, cannot be achieved without decarbonising energy-intensive industry.  At the same time, in the UK and EU, many of these sectors, (first and foremost, the steel sector which accounts for over 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions), are struggling in a fiercely competitive, international business environment. In July, the EU will announce its proposals for decarbonising European industry, including a border carbon adjustment.

This webinar, a final outreach event of the major INNOPATHS research programme, will present results of substantial research on the potential and strategies for decarbonising energy intensive industries in Europe. It will also offer a detailed look at scenarios for steel, including the role of recycling and rapidly growing initiatives by some continental steel producers to develop novel, hydrogen-based steel production, and offer insights into the forthcoming EU “Fit for 55” package. A concluding panel will debate the prospects and strategies for the industry in the UK and EU.

Agenda

09:00 – Welcome from the Chair
Michael Grubb, Professor of Energy and Climate Change, UCL

Opening Address: the Clean Energy Ministerial’s Industrial Deep Decarbonisation Initiative
Dan Dorner Head of Clean Energy Ministerial Secretariat, Paris

Industry decarbonisation overview from the Horizon 2020 project, INNOPATHS
09:30 – Introduction to INNOPATHS, ‘Innovation Pathways, Strategies and Policies for the Low-Carbon Transition in Europe’
Paul Ekins, Professor of Resources and Environment Policy, UCL

09:35 – The CO2 reduction potential for the European industry via direct electrification
Silvia Madeddu, PIK Germany

10:00 – Insight from INNOPATHS case studies
Paul Ekins, Professor of Resources and Environment Policy, UCL

10:15 – Q&A

The Steel Industry

10:30 – The European outlook for steel – current initiatives and prospects for deep decarbonisation
Lars J. Nilsson, Professor of Environmental and Energy Systems, Lund University

10:50 – Panel Discussion, chaired by Michael Grubb

  • EU policy – pricing and CBAM proposals – Milan Elkerbout, CEPS Energy, Resources and Climate Change Unit
  • The role of circular economy – Matthew Winning, Research Fellow, UCL
  • Respondent – Silvia Maddedu, PIK Germany

11:10 – Q&A

11:25 – Closing remarks from the chair

Find out more…

Professor Paul Ekins presents at COP23 side event in Bonn

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On 11 November, Professor Paul Ekins, Project Co-ordinator of INNOPATHS, was invited to speak at a COP23 side event session titled ‘Low Carbon Europe 2050 – The vision and beyond’.

The EU is set to reduce GHG emissions by 80-95% by 2050 and plans to bring a new long-term climate strategy on the table in 2018. Professor Ekins’ talk was part of a session which covered insights from ongoing H2020 and other research on low carbon transitions, ranging from the essential elements and scenarios to exploring future strategies and governance frameworks.

Three other short introductory presentations were given by Jürgen Kropp (PIK) on EUCalc as an analytical tool and experiences from policy interaction, Lars J. Nilsson (Lund University) on low-carbon Europe, and Guido Knoche (UBA) on the role of science and research. These introductory presentations led to an interactive scholarly debate between a panel and the audience on ways forward and the role of science in shaping policy and governance frameworks.

The panel discussed mitigation options and pathways, key opportunities, barriers and lock-ins, policy and governance implications seen from research, and the roles and responsibilities in science-policy interaction and co-design.

The event was organised by the German Federal Environment Agency and Lund University and co-organised by University College London, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Ecologic Institute, Fraunhofer Institute for System and Innovation Analysis.

For an overview of the event, please click here.

INNOPATHS workshop on the ‘Dynamics of low-carbon energy finance’

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On 21 September, Utrecht University School of Economics (U.S.E.) hosted the workshop “Dynamics of low-carbon energy finance” as part of the EU commission sponsored Horizon 2020 project INNOPATHS.

In three consecutive sessions, 18 participants from the financial sector, international organisations and academia discussed the financial implications of a low-carbon transition of the European Economy until 2050.

Future energy scenarios and corresponding technology mixes have differential implications for the sources of finance. Especially energy efficiency projects pose challenges to banks and other institutional investors. But also renewable power projects still face technology operation risks and political risks. In addition to debt-providers, the energy transition requires risk-bearing capacity. In this regard state investment banks that prove the investment case are crucial for financing innovative energy technologies.

Read the summary here

 

All-Partner Meeting and Sectoral Stakeholder Workshops

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On 2-4 May 2017, The Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC) hosted the First INNOPATHS All-Partner Meeting, as well as a series of six stakeholders’ workshops, designed to examine the low-carbon innovation systems of the following key sectors: agriculture, buildings, energy, industry, transport and ICT (information and communication technologies).

The Agenda of the meeting included one and a half day of partners’ meeting, in which the project participants discussed the progress to date, intellectual direction and practical steps for the coming year. This was then followed by the Stakeholders’ workshop which were organised with the aim of fostering dialogue between researchers and key stakeholders representing a range of perspectives.

During the workshops, INNOPATHS researchers presented a framework for the analysis of the low-carbon innovation systems for the six sectors described above, in four exemplar Member States (Germany, Italy, Poland and the UK) as well as at the EU-wide level. The Stakeholders then provided feedback on the proposed framework, highlighting possible shortcomings and potential improvements of relevance to their sector, and initiating discussion.

The INNOPATHS project has been designed to capitalise on the interaction between researchers and stakeholders to advance research and knowledge on the feasibility, effectiveness and cost efficiency of future low-carbon pathways, and to build a shared vision for the EU energy transition.

A summary of the workshops is available here