News from Dubai. New pace for the day.
Before we start.
Hectic days, part 1. Getting used to the metro, but not the temperature. One local colleague confirmed that these days have been indeed more humid. And another one mentioned that the United Arab Emirates has been seeding clouds for rain. We checked and it is indeed true. And already for several years, with nearly 300 cloud seeding missions annually as part of their efforts to enhance rainfall, according to this thorough article written by Miles Buckeridge for the portal “What’s On” a few weeks ago. We also recommend that you visit their National Center of Meteorology website, as it includes several recent videos of floods and rain in the desert, if you scroll down this page. Don’t miss these fantastic images. Something really amazing.
Hectic days, part 2. Maybe partially because of the (slow) adaptation to the several-hours-time-zone-difference, efforts have out of normal, of curating daily COP28 contents, editing and writing to you, then technically managing the portal. Obviously, this may lead to mishaps. Some of you might have seen that an article about hydrogen was unintendedly posted during the day at www.carboncreditmarkets.com. In the meantime that was corrected and the article will be back after COP28.
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The day.
Can you imagine how many stages there are around? Only at the Blue Zone there are about 100 different buildings, some with two floors, some with several stages per floor. So, in that scenario this morning, looking for a panel - but feeling lost - we came across John Kerry once again. Glad to see him talking now about “Accelerating Zero Emission Maritime Shipping Through Corporate Demand”, specially because that was one of the topics that we also had chosen for later that day, as you will read below.
And while we were leaving that building, we saw two organisations of - we would say - “future vision”: The Rockefeller Foundation and OPEC. We took the following publications (maybe there are online versions at the website) to read when flying back home:
OPEC Bulletin 04/19 Special Edition - OPEC: energy, climate change and sustainable development
OPEC Bulletin 9-10/23 World Oil Outlook 2023 - ‘All-peoples, all-fuels, all-technologies’ approach to a sustainable energy future
World Oil Outlook 2045 - Executive Summary 2023
We eventually arrived (late) at the panel we were looking for: “Raising the bar: Delivering high-integrity carbon removals for the voluntary carbon market”. Panelists: Mr. Tatsuro Watanabe (Mitsui OSK Lines https://www.mol.co.jp/en/), Angela Hepworth (Drax Group https://www.drax.com), Tommy Ricketts (BeZero https://bezerocarbon.com) and Amy Merill (ICVCM https://icvcm.org), all moderated by Gabrielle Walker (CUR8 https://cur8.earth and Re-Think Removals https://rethinkingremovals.org).
Amy was talking when we arrived, about integrity “before, during and after”. By the way, second time we hear Amy in just a few days (check our post “COP28 Diary, 2nd December”)
And about carbon removal, the following:
“What’s different about integrity when you talk about removals ?” (Tommy)
Huge carbon removal technological projects in United States. Need government support. (Angela)
Engineering carbon capture has the highest CAPEX. Indeed may need support. At the end, its “carbon capture”, regardless of engineering or natural (Amy)
“As the types of carbon removal are so different, durability varies a lot”. (Gabrielle)
“Fast removals should be rewarded” (Tatsuro)
🤔
Then the next panel “Current Status, challenges, and opportunities from decarbonizing aviation and maritime sectors”. Panelists were Haldane Dodd (Air Transport Action Group https://atag.org), Camille Bourgeon (International Maritime Organisation https://www.imo.org), Michael Rossell (Airports Council International https://aci.aero) and Ali Shehab (DNV https://www.dnv.com), moderated by Nora Nezamuddin (KAPSARC https://www.kapsarc.org)
Here we go:
Aviation e-fuels: already 7 certified and 8 on the way. (Haldane)
Shipping: first step would be enhancing efficiency of existing fleet. New solutions not only sustainable but also safe. Opportunity: “Shipping companies will not produce their fuels”. “Visited a ship in Dubai yesterday, to see how to burn ammonia as a fuel”. (Camille)
Airports: regulation uncertainty. Airports taking different paths: Los Angeles leading operational actions, Heathrow, charging to subsidize SAF. For SAF being technically purer then traditional fuel, infrastructure need to change. Eventual usage of hydrogen will require an important change of ancillary operations such as security and fire brigade.(Michael)
At the end, Nora recommended these publications. As you will see, certain emphasis of a Saudi Arabian perspective.
Before we close the day.
Besides attending these panels, it was a day full of interactions, both with some good old acquaintances and also with several new contacts. Besides, we meet more people that are already globally following our work. And appreciating our https://www.carboncreditmarkets.com/en posts. Happyness 😊 .
People and paparazzi
We are wondering where the celebrities are, except John Kerry. Besides that, as already indicated. Great networking day.
Our key takeaways
Action.
There are a lot of significant movements. From seeding rain on the desert (and actually raining), forecasting oil production in 2045 (and presenting at COP28), advocating the various forms of carbon capture (to a point that someone says that what’s matters is the actual capture), and preparing ships and airports for the new fuels around (examples of Los Angeles and Heathrow).
