Ministers at the Global Hydrogen Summit on Tuesday called for more investment in green hydrogen infrastructure to reduce the price of the low-carbon fuel and support global energy transition efforts.
Green hydrogen, which is produced using renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, is expected to become a critical fuel, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors such as shipping and steel manufacturing.
“We need to increase [the] sphere [of] concrete national strategies [and] we need legal frameworks,” Parviz Shahbazov, Azerbaijan’s Energy Minister, told the event, which was held as part of the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.
“We need large investments in this area. It is also very clear we need competitive production in terms of price."
Despite hydrogen’s growing potential, industry executives and policymakers are concerned about its high cost of production and the absence of a well-established market.
Azerbaijan, which is hosting the Cop29 climate conference this year, is co-operating with the EU to harness offshore wind resources in the Caspian Sea for green hydrogen production, Mr Shahbazov said.
“We have designated green zones in the recently liberated territories where [we will implement] hydrogen production," he said. "This is also one of the important elements in our strategic partnership with the EU."
Azerbaijan and Armenia were embroiled in a prolonged conflict spanning decades over Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku regained control of the region following a swift offensive against Armenian separatists last year.
Azerbaijan, which aims to have renewables account for 30 per cent of its total installed electricity capacity by 2030, plans to export much of its wind energy to Europe via a Caspian-EU green energy corridor.
The country has signed initial agreements with Georgia, Romania and Hungary for a subsea cable under the Black Sea.
Azerbaijan is also seeking to boost energy ties with countries in Central Asia.
“We also have another project under way that connects us with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to establish the green corridor, where green hydrogen plays a vital role,” Mr Shahbazov said.
By 2050, clean hydrogen demand could account for up to 73 per cent to 100 per cent of total hydrogen demand, according to McKinsey.
Green hydrogen is considered crucial to Europe’s future energy security as the continent looks to halt Russian gas imports.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands seeks to become the “hydrogen backbone” of Europe and aims to redistribute green hydrogen transported from the UAE and the Mena region to north-western Europe, said Frederik Wisselink, special energy envoy of the Netherlands' Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy.
“We have tenders in place, together with Germany … before the end of this year to create demand and hopefully to give the fairest price signals to the markets and to bring the costs down,” he said.
In 2021, Germany launched the H2Global Project, employing a "double auction" framework. Under this model, the government procures green fuel from producers and subsequently offers it to industrial consumers at a discounted rate.
“We are going to be the first country in the world to have a large-scale infrastructure ready for … green hydrogen,” Mr Wisselink said.
“We have around 1,000km of pipeline that will be ready in 2030 [and] we will repurpose our existing gas infrastructure to be hydrogen ready."
The Dutch government plans to permanently shut down Europe's largest gasfield, in Groningen, ahead of its previous timetable of 2030. Normal gas production from the field in the Netherlands’ north was stopped last year after years of earthquakes.
Meanwhile, energy-starved Japan is investing heavily in hydrogen to reduce its reliance on fossil-fuel imports.
The country plans to increase the domestic hydrogen supply by 50 per cent of the current level to 3 million tonnes by 2030 and aims to reach 20 million tonnes by 2050.
Japan set up a 2 trillion yen ($13 billion) green innovation fund in 2021 to promote technology for the development of hydrogen.
“Price of hydrogen is relatively high compared to fossil fuels making it [a] difficult energy to select, therefore it is necessary to gradually increase economic rationality of hydrogen while creating an environment for hydrogen can be selected by users,” said Yoshida Nobuhiro, Japan’s vice minister of economy, trade and industry.
“Japan is looking to reduce the cost of hydrogen by utilising the innovation fund to promote the technologies in the hydrogen field."
Company profile
Name: Steppi
Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
Launched: February 2020
Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year
Employees: Five
Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Rain Management
Year started: 2017
Based: Bahrain
Employees: 100-120
Amount raised: $2.5m from BitMex Ventures and Blockwater. Another $6m raised from MEVP, Coinbase, Vision Ventures, CMT, Jimco and DIFC Fintech Fund
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
The figures behind the event
1) More than 300 in-house cleaning crew
2) 165 staff assigned to sanitise public areas throughout the show
3) 1,000 social distancing stickers
4) 809 hand sanitiser dispensers placed throughout the venue
What is an ETF?
An exchange traded fund is a type of investment fund that can be traded quickly and easily, just like stocks and shares. They come with no upfront costs aside from your brokerage's dealing charges and annual fees, which are far lower than on traditional mutual investment funds. Charges are as low as 0.03 per cent on one of the very cheapest (and most popular), Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, with the maximum around 0.75 per cent.
There is no fund manager deciding which stocks and other assets to invest in, instead they passively track their chosen index, country, region or commodity, regardless of whether it goes up or down.
The first ETF was launched as recently as 1993, but the sector boasted $5.78 billion in assets under management at the end of September as inflows hit record highs, according to the latest figures from ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five largest providers BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisers, Deutsche Bank X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
While the best-known track major indices such as MSCI World, the S&P 500 and FTSE 100, you can also invest in specific countries or regions, large, medium or small companies, government bonds, gold, crude oil, cocoa, water, carbon, cattle, corn futures, currency shifts or even a stock market crash.
The five types of long-term residential visas
Obed Suhail of ServiceMarket, an online home services marketplace, outlines the five types of long-term residential visas:
Investors:
A 10-year residency visa can be obtained by investors who invest Dh10 million, out of which 60 per cent should not be in real estate. It can be a public investment through a deposit or in a business. Those who invest Dh5 million or more in property are eligible for a five-year residency visa. The invested amount should be completely owned by the investors, not loaned, and retained for at least three years.
Entrepreneurs:
A five-year multiple entry visa is available to entrepreneurs with a previous project worth Dh0.5m or those with the approval of an accredited business incubator in the UAE.
Specialists
Expats with specialised talents, including doctors, specialists, scientists, inventors, and creative individuals working in the field of culture and art are eligible for a 10-year visa, given that they have a valid employment contract in one of these fields in the country.
Outstanding students:
A five-year visa will be granted to outstanding students who have a grade of 95 per cent or higher in a secondary school, or those who graduate with a GPA of 3.75 from a university.
Retirees:
Expats who are at least 55 years old can obtain a five-year retirement visa if they invest Dh2m in property, have savings of Dh1m or more, or have a monthly income of at least Dh20,000.
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Mountain%20Boy
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PRO BASH
Thursday’s fixtures
6pm: Hyderabad Nawabs v Pakhtoon Warriors
10pm: Lahore Sikandars v Pakhtoon Blasters
Teams
Chennai Knights, Lahore Sikandars, Pakhtoon Blasters, Abu Dhabi Stars, Abu Dhabi Dragons, Pakhtoon Warriors and Hyderabad Nawabs.
Squad rules
All teams consist of 15-player squads that include those contracted in the diamond (3), platinum (2) and gold (2) categories, plus eight free to sign team members.
Tournament rules
The matches are of 25 over-a-side with an 8-over power play in which only two fielders allowed outside the 30-yard circle. Teams play in a single round robin league followed by the semi-finals and final. The league toppers will feature in the semi-final eliminator.
Ad Astra
Director: James Gray
Stars: Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones
Five out of five stars
Abu Dhabi GP schedule
Friday: First practice - 1pm; Second practice - 5pm
Saturday: Final practice - 2pm; Qualifying - 5pm
Sunday: Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (55 laps) - 5.10pm
Results
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David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
Tu%20Jhoothi%20Main%20Makkaar%20
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MATCH INFO
AC Milan v Inter, Sunday, 6pm (UAE), match live on BeIN Sports
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
