Romain Pison, a decarbonization, energy, and transportation specialist, is paving his way in the energy industry with a strong determination to adopt feasible climate adaptation-related initiatives
Climate change may seriously affect our ability to produce enough food in a world with a growing human population. Research says that changes in the climate are one major reason behind crop fluctuation and the number of crops grown per hectare. The poorest people continue to be affected by unstable and high food prices, which are further exacerbated by the energy crisis and unpredictable weather.
Rising food prices not only result in social unrest but also economic hardship and political turmoil, especially among the poor. No continent is left untouched by the effects of climate change and the recent energy price crisis, which was made worse by extreme weather. In such adverse situations, Romain Pison, a decarbonization, energy, and transportation specialist, is paving his way in the energy industry with a strong determination to adopt feasible climate adaptation-related initiatives.
He has over 15 years of experience in green programme innovation, infrastructure, transportation, and energy in the public and commercial sectors. Pison has worked closely on multi-billion-dollar infrastructure projects with engineering firms and major consultancies across more than 30 markets.
“I have seen the entire supply chain in agribusiness from various angles and stakeholders,” says Pison, who has been implementing workable solutions like refrigeration and pasteurization systems, dryers, and storage in rural areas of Cameroon. Through his scientific approach, Romain helps farmers get out of the vicious circle of poverty, a grave situation that cannot just rely on the given transport conditions.
“Diversification of income sources through a reinforced agribusiness sector is a key parameter,” says Romain. On that note, he suggests that agro-based regions facing undercapitalization programmes support the development of a community-owned and run food industry in order to increase the market value of agricultural products.
Speaking from his expertise, Romain comments that a developed agricultural sector is a prerequisite for future increased economic development, political stability, and poverty reduction. He suggests that regional value chain analysis, which promotes agrisystem efficiency from suppliers to consumers, is the one crucial strategy that addresses all issues. To ensure a timely response in agricultural environments, Pison adds that these chains should be supported by meteorological information and early warning systems.
However, he emphasizes making these chains sustainable by forging a link between agriculture and stand-alone electricity systems, shared regional infrastructure, and regional markets located at the interface of agricultural land and stressed areas along cross-national corridors. Romain continues to champion climate change adaptation practices through the smart use of technologies and making this world a healthy place to live in.
“Hydrogen Mobility needs to be leveraged to complement Electric Mobility,” says Decarbonisation Expert Romain Pison.
As the demand for transport supply increases, and our Paris Agreement alignment to reduce our carbon footprint constraints our input, there is a need to find new and green alternative for both freight and passenger transport, leveraging both electric and hydrogen fueled vehicles. The transportation industry is one of the key contributor to emissions and climate change and is therefore under a high pressure to decarbonize. Legal incentives, as well as regulatory changes, combined with a customer’s increased demand for green solutions, are all bolstering the transport industry to adapt, evolve, and disrupt the status quo with new solutions.
In urban and short distance passenger transport, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are quickly increasing their market share, especially in captive fleets (taxis, car sharing, site-based fleets). In short-haul freight, electric buses, trucks and vans are already reaching total cost of ownership (TCO) parity, which certainly helps simplify the transition for fleets. The combined effect of the fast progress of technologies, the battery cost curves, and the investment in charging infrastructure, are all helping the transitions.
“The situation is quite different for long-haul trucking”, says Romain Pison. Longer distances, less predictable routes, and higher payloads have made this sector harder to follow the electric mobility uptake. “There is still lots of analysis to be done to compare the sweet spot for hydrogen vs BEV. I believe that long-haul trucking should explore hydrogen-powered fuel especially on key trade and freight routes such as the Scan-Med Corridor”, says Pison. Hydrogen allows for faster refueling and greater range, and can also increase payload capacity.
“The production of hydrogen is also changing rapidly”, notes Romain Pison, “with electrolyzer costs that have declined by over 50 percent in the past 5 years”. Green hydrogen, sources from renewable energy, also benefit from the massive cost reduction of renewable electricity, with recent solar PV power purchasing agreements (PPAs) signed for under $20 per MWh. Rapid technology changes allow electrolyzer companies quote a green hydrogen production total cost of below $3.50 per kg.
One of the challenge remains the renewable energy production capacity to feed the demand for green hydrogen. “This is why we need to be very selective on the use-case for hydrogen in transport”, explains Pison. When setting net-zero and climate action plans, there is first a need to look at the overall carbon budget and pathways in line with the Paris Agreement. “True decarbonisation is not about following the newest technologies”, notes Romain Pison, “but rather about looking at energy efficiency across the entire transport supply chain, from our energy production, the transport modes and technologies we use, and our energy consumption itself”.
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