Clean Energy Options for the Future

While the transition to a cleaner energy sector is underway in Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs), there are still many challenges that need to be overcome from demand, energy, chemical, and technological perspectives. The composition of the Pacific region makes it highly compatible with the movement towards small-scale, decentralized, and on-demand production of chemicals (for direct use as well as acting as an energy storage vector). Power-to-X, being the conversion of electricity into a range of different chemicals and fuels, has immense potential to offset reliance on imports, fossil fuels, as well as decrease transportation requirements. The emerging Power-to-X technologies have potential to address many of the struggles in transforming to a renewable sector. This chapter examines the transition to clean energy generation technologies, focusing on those emerging technologies which are close-to-market level implementation and have the potential to transform the Pacific region. The prospects and limitations, including the diversity of the region from both a generation and storage perspective, as well as the chemical demand, and its reliance on fossil fuel-based derivatives and imports are discussed.