In advance of the Dubai COP28 climate talks later this year, one would need to be a veritable hermit not to have noticed the rage that “Generation Z” has expressed at Big Oil shareholder meetings regarding their recalcitrance in refusing to honor previous promises to allocate resources to research and development for sustainable energy acquisition.
Shell, TotalEnergies, and BP have all been on the receiving end recently of this anger, of which it does not take a visionary to see that the Greta Thunbergs of the world will soon transform this frustration into ecoterrorist-like proportions unless the world’s most prominent energy companies soon see the light (pun intended).
So–in light of the fact that the world’s wealthiest CEOs will no doubt continue to act devoid of any moral basis unless virtually forced at gunpoint to do so–what can countries do as sovereign entities to bring about such needed change in light of the irreversible climate change that mankind has already set in motion?
The Sultanate of Oman is a shining example of what a nation dependent upon and profiting off fossil fuels can accomplish when it sets its mind to the relatively novel revelation that environmental sustainability and economic development are not mutually exclusive of each other.
One of the benchmarks of the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation is to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius in advance of the year 2016. As reported originally by Al Jazeera, Oman is indeed a prime example of one such nation that it setting the bar high with its domestic energy transition vision, and in clear alignment with its international climate commitments.
The country’s oil and gas sectors do actually account for over half of its income from exports. Natural gas by itself accounts for 95% of its electricity generation indeed, while iron, steel, aluminum, petrochemicals, and refining also contribute their fair share to the national emissions footprint.
However, Oman has wisely been preparing for change. Last year, for example, it set a 2050 objective of zero net emissions. It eschews short-term gain from stalling for long-term vision, as it sees establishing a path to net zero as an opportunity for it to create economic value, improve industrial competitiveness, and attract investment to help diversify and strengthen its economy.
Furthermore, the nation is endowed with an enviable supply of natural resources which provide opportunities to take advantage of solar and wind power, not to mention tidal energy and geothermal potential.
Oman has already laid the groundwork for achieving these ambitions by, in part, establishing an independent entity to oversee its hydrogen strategy, an important step which exemplifies the country’s intent to provide investors and stakeholders the security they demand to support the burgeoning sector in the first place.
Experts project that if the strategy is implemented in a timely manner to completion, renewable hydrogen production could at some point exceed the size of Oman’s current liquefied natural gas exports.
The task is challenging, though, as the nation anticipates that cumulative investments would need to reach $140 billion USD through 2050 to achieve the initial target, which are set to use only about 30% of the land earmarked as high potential for solar and wind power capture.
Therefore, the country’s Ministry of Energy and Minerals has teamed up with the International Energy Agency (IEA) to comprehensively examine the potential and the obstacles relating to ramping up hydrogen production from renewable electricity. Oman already has the upper hand in this area because existing infrastructure such as transport networks, industrial ports, and gas storage facilities can be directly utilized or retrofitted to support a hydrogen initiative.
In addition, the workforce is already well-versed in areas relating to chemical, temperature, and fluid engineering, fuel handling and distribution, and health/safety expertise. According to the IEA, Oman is on track to become the world’s sixth largest hydrogen exporter by 2030.
As Morocco could easily be considered the leader of the march toward green energy technology and sustainable development in North Africa, so could Oman in the Gulf region. The two nations exhibit striking similarities, not the least of which are the desire for and the natural resources with which to commit to meaningful climate change mitigation policies.