Untangling the green transition, one tech at a time

As a kid, Kiane de Kleijne wasn’t sure what she wanted to become, being fascinated by both science and society. “I realized I wanted to be a problem solver,” she says. As a researcher, she took the most pressing challenge of our time: climate change.

The scientist is a postdoctoral researcher at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), part of the Technology, Innovation, and Society group. She focuses on assessing the climate footprint of emerging technologies that contribute to the green transition. Last year, for instance, she conducted a life-cycle assessment of green hydrogen, concluding that it doesn’t always result in the promised CO₂ reductions.

The awareness and the urge to act on climate change emerged during her studies. “The topics of sustainability and climate change resonated with me, mainly because climate change is disproportionately impacting those who have contributed the least to the problem. It felt so unjust,” the scientist explains.

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Assessing greentech

But what does conducting a life cycle assessment mean? To put it simply, it means tracking every step of a given technology’s life cycle. In the case of green hydrogen, for instance, this also means tracing back to how the renewable energy used to make hydrogen was produced.

Therefore, the emissions associated with the production of windmills or solar panels are also included. Ultimately, by having a clear understanding of the technology, the aim is to target the processes that generate the most emissions and reduce them, thereby providing policymakers with effective tools to address climate change.

The complexity of the green transition

The key to the green transition is to integrate all available technologies in the best way possible. According to Kiane, a good way to connect the dots is to rank the benefits of each technology, even more so in light of its final use.

“To this extent, efficiency is the first rule of thumb. At the same time, it is essential to assess whether technology is reducing emissions sufficiently. In other words, is it helping to reduce emissions by 55% in 2030 and to zero in 2050? A technology that is currently at a lab scale may not be impactful now, but it might be in a few years,” she underlines.

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At the forefront of climate research

A key highlight of Kiane’s young career is her participation in writing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report in 2017 and 2018, which started when she was still a master’s student. Her professor, Heleen de Coninck, who has been involved in IPCC for decades and is vice chair of the Netherlands Scientific Climate Council, was the one who first drew her in. Kiane also collaborated in the following edition of the assessment.

At the time, Kiane helped De Coninck in editing her chapter of the report and coordinated with the other chapters. From creating graphs to integrating comments and endless nights referencing, it was a valuable learning experience for her.

Kiane at work during a IPCC session - © IPCC

“What impressed me the most was the motivation of all these scientists, as well as the heart and passion they invested in their work,” she recalls. And there is more. As the IPCC report was requested by countries that are part of the organization, those who worked on it had an additional motivation. “Showing them what the difference between a 1.5 and 2°C temperature increase would entail was a drive to prompt them to act.”

2024 was the warmest year on record. Moreover, it was the first year when the global mean surface temperature was 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. “In 2018, I was optimistic about limiting global warming to 1.5°C. Now I can’t be as hopeful as, on a global scale, we are yet to make a dent in cutting emissions. This does not mean things aren’t happening. For example, European countries are reducing their emissions, but we must accelerate this effort.”

Choices for the green transition

Economic competitiveness has been one of the hottest topics in Europe in the past few months. How can the need to foster a competitive, possibly growing, economy and the need to transition to a greener society coexist? This aspect is also part of Kiane’s research.

“In the Netherlands, the production of green hydrogen to power energy-intensive industries is not convenient; it might make no sense to keep them. They are, in fact, built on top of a natural gas supply. At the same time, I am aware of the importance of such industries from a strategic standpoint. There has to be a balance.”

Nevertheless, Kiane sees the green transition more as a social problem rather than a technological one. “There is much more to do on the aspects of governance, financing, and behavior. It is much more a problem of decisions and undertaking the transition in a way that brings everyone on board,” she adds. Regarding this, the researcher deemed people’s involvement as key.

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Togetherness

Since American President Donald Trump took office again, geopolitical tensions have escalated. Among the executive orders signed by the White House occupant on his inauguration day, there was also the US withdrawal from the Paris agreement on climate change. These recent geopolitical developments worry the postdoctoral researcher.

“The climate transition calls for cooperation and a shared sense of purpose to distribute the benefits and burdens that come with it. Although the whole world may not cooperate, I still hope that significant parts of it will continue to work together and even strengthen their partnerships,” she underlines.

This same togetherness is also ever present in Kiane’s position. “It comes in when supervising students, because learning happens together. Even more so when conducting research, as it involves working closely with people. Taking the next steps towards making the world a better place, and doing so jointly with others, is what I like most about my job.”