Why molecules matter: The unseen backbone of a clean energy future

Despite the exponential growth of green electricity and battery storage, molecules are required for a functional energy system; but we must cut the emissions associated with them, Frank Wouters tells OGN

- ABDULAZIZ KHATTAK

MOLECULES dominate our energy system. We use both molecules and electrons as the energy carriers that make the world go round, as well as us go around the world.

Due to rampant climate change, however, mankind must urgently reduce emissions, primarily from the combustion of hydrocarbon molecules in engines, power plants, homes and factories.

“In response to this need, over the last couple of decades, we have developed cost-effective technologies that harness energy that is abundant on our planet, namely sunlight, wind, water, biomass and heat from the earth's core, resulting in a changing energy mix that is slowly tipping toward clean energy,” Frank Wouters, Chairman Advisory Board, Dii Desert Energy, tells OGN energy magazine.

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena), annual renewable energy capacity additions have outpaced hydrocarbon or nuclear power capacity additions for more than ten years. In 2024, more than 90 per cent of new capacity was renewable.

This meteoric rise of renewables has made it a fundamental aspect of the energy transition, fueling increased electricity demand, which grew twice as fast as total energy demand in 2024, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Some people dream of an all-electric future, where everything we do or operate is powered by electricity.

This electricity would be endless and clean, generated by solar panels and wind turbines, stored in batteries and pumped hydro systems, and transported through wires, some even spanning the entire earth.

As lovely as that dream is, the reality is that most global energy scenarios suggest that by 2050, approximately 50 per cent of final energy consumption will be electricity, with the remaining 50 per cent still relying on molecules.

The main reason is that bulk transport and storage of molecules is much cheaper than transporting and storing electrons.