The world commemorates the 2nd International Day of Clean Energy this 26th day of January 2025 with SEforAll calling on all of us to ‘take a moment and reflect on what it takes to create a more inclusive and sustainable future’.
As I take a moment to reflect on what this day means, it also hits me that many are the times we assume clean energy to imply renewable energy. So how about we start with the basics of what is clean vs renewable? I have probably defined that already in a previous blog post, or maybe not. Depending on who you ask, there exists an underlying assumption that all renewable energy is clean, but not all clean energy is renewable.
On the other some people would argue that all renewable energy is not clean, because we must consider not only the source of the energy (renewable or non-renewable), but also how exactly that energy is produced or generated if we are thinking about electricity. The minerals that go into the manufacture of components that constitute the materials from which resource is tapped, for example are some of the issues which must be considered. However, without being too analytical, it might be safe to define renewable energy as that which is replenishable. In other words, it can never run out. Whereas a clean source of energy means contributing little to zero greenhouse gas emissions.
One of the interesting research projects I will be engaged in this year is the Just Energy Transition Topic. With time, maybe or maybe not, I will share some insights off that discourse. I believe that transitional pathways are one way to dissect through the energy landscape and (re)define ‘clean’ comprehensively. For something to qualify as clean, it must also be just from a process analysis perspective which is often subjective depending on who is doing the analysis. Additionally, aspects like life cycle assessments need also be done to conclusively agree on what is clean or not. So again, not a subject of today’s opinion.
As we celebrate the 2025 International Day Clean Energy, we are reminded of the global call to shift to clean energies or net zero industrialization pathways. This is all part of a bigger global ambition – the Paris climate accord. But are we really working towards that accord? Or is everyone out to make and get a slice of their own cake? Earlier this month, the World Meteorological Organization confirmed that 2024 was the warmest year on record, compared to pre-industrial times.
The global warming average shot to 1.55oC surpassing the 1.5oC set in the Paris agreement.
WMO further indicates that the past 10 years have been the warmest on record. From where I sit, this can only be interpreted to imply that we are doing very badly as a planet! And the situation will likely get far much worse in the coming years, so we might as well brace for greater shocks.
The energy sector being one of the major contributors of GHG, given its multi- lever role in driving economies, it might be argued that a full transition to clean energies is the solution to the greatest climate crisis of our times and hopefully reverse the current warming trend curve. But what if it doesn’t, considering that this is just one part of a big, wicked puzzle? Should we give up and erode the gains already made? Absolutely not! So, what then? Good question. One that I am afraid I cannot answer but only say that for now, the task at hand is to go clean and green the best way we know how. This Mission 300 Africa summit happening in Tanzania beginning tomorrow, is one way to find out what is planned, provide insights or constructive criticism on what we feel can and should be done differently. If you ask me, we humans are by design (or default) created to talk too much and act less– if only we could slash and re-direct the bigger chunk of resources used in the former towards execution – the world might just be a better place for all of us, or so I think.
Until the next post, happy International Day of Clean Energy!
