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Date: 19-21 October
The European Future Energy Forum is the younger relative of the World Future Energy Summit – the energy ‘Davos’ held annually in Abu Dhabi. This event will stage a global forum of leadership coming together to discuss key issues around sustainable and alternative energy solutions and technologies.
Location: ExCeL, London
Website: www.EuropeanFutureEnergyForum.com
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Source: GovNet
A member of the Comment:Visions team attended the GovNet Communication’s Science and Innovation 2010 Conference at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster, London on 16 June.
The theme of the event was the need to address the way the UK supports its science and technology talent and turning the support into economic growth. Representatives from all over the industry attended the conference—including businesspeople, academics, researchers, and individuals in the public service.
Issues discussed in both panel presentations and seminars included:
David Kennedy, CEO of the Committee on Climate Change addressed the need to use science and innovation to create a low carbon economy. It is completely possible for the UK (and humans in general) to keep the same lifestyle we have now but lower carbon emissions, he said.
Kennedy stressed that people cannot wait for governments to act, citing COP-15 as “disappointing” that a more concrete and aggressive agreement wasn’t reached. However, he did say that the UK is making progress in government with the Climate Change Act of 2008 which created his committee and set a goal of 80 percent reduction in emissions by 2050.
“We need to invest in the right technologies,” Kennedy said, challenging science and technology leaders to work toward the emissions reduction goal and create jobs in the process. According to Kennedy, technologies such as electric and hydrogen cars, nuclear energy, clean coal, carbon capture and storage, and the many renewables need to be fine tuned and made available for mass distribution. He also suggested a need for more research and development in agriculture, as that makes up for a large part of carbon emissions all over the world.
The Committee on Climate Change will be presenting a report to Parliament with suggestions for new policies, such as a mandate for electric car battery charging stations, the phasing out of fossil fuels (for both environmental and security purposes) and more funding for innovation in the environmental science and technology realm.
– Eva Posner
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Recent developments in the gas sector in the US have the potential to change radically the energy situation in Europe. New technology has made unconventional gas resources available at competitive cost.
In North America, this sudden expansion of available gas has contributed to keeping gas prices low, despite ever rising demand. It has also helped the US to pursue its strategic objective of reducing its dependence on gas imports. Furthermore, the boom in unconventional gas in the US has changed the dynamics of markets for liquefied natural gas (LNG), with some supplies originally intended for the US being diverted to other markets including some in Europe.
As some European regions, particularly in Northern Europe, have similar geological structures to ones where unconventional gas has been found in North America, there are hopes that unconventional gas could offer the European Union a huge increase in domestic supplies. Energy companies have been rushing to explore the possibilities in these regions, leading to talk of a new ‘gas rush’.
For countries such as Poland, which are heavily dependent on Russian gas imports and rely on coal for most of their domestic energy production, unconventional gas could open a new chapter in energy policy. It would make domestic energy supply more secure, and reduce CO2 emissions since burning gas emits significantly less CO2 than burning coal.
A boom in unconventional gas would also have considerable implications for the EU’s energy policy. Abundant gas supplies – through increased domestic production or cheaper LNG imports – would make it easier to reach CO2 reduction targets and to electrify transport. It could also lower incentives to invest in some costly infrastructure projects, and make some technologies less attractive.
Sceptics warn of exaggerated enthusiasm, stressing that in a more densely populated continent than the US, public acceptance of projects that are likely to have heavy environmental consequences cannot be taken for granted. Unconventional gas extracted from European territory is not expected to come to market for at least a decade.
This event looked at the potential of unconventional gas to transform the European energy supply situation. It addressed the technological and economic challenges unconventional gas faces as well as the questions of public acceptance.
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Along with solar, wind power is touted as one of the solutions to our energy problem, but wind turbines have their critics. Standing at 100 meters tall and boasting blades that equal the wing span of a Boeing 747, their size can be intimidating and their dependability is in question due to their reliance on a capricious resource. This month on Comment:Visions, we look at wind power and meet Christina Grumstrup Sorensen, a mechanical engineer based in Copenhagen and Senior Vice President of one of Denmark’s leading energy providers.
Sorensen is pragmatic on the visibility issue. She explains: “Obviously you can’t avoid seeing them, they have to be in the landscape as they have to catch the wind. That’s how they produce the energy”. There are other options, such as relocating the turbines to the ocean, but they too have their drawbacks. “If you move them to the sea the impact on the people and on the living areas will be less, but then, of course, you have other issues with birds and fish. But in fact, our initial studies of the wind farms that have been installed for ten years show that the effects that we were most worried about proved to be much less than we anticipated.”
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The internal combustion engine dominated the twentieth century. It changed landscapes, industries, communities; it fundamentally altered the way we lived. However, its drawbacks went hand-in-hand with its benefits and the high environmental cost of motoring remains a matter of intense debate in countries across the world.
Here’s the rub; cars are machines that rely on ever-dwindling resources and create emissions, yet their use is entrenched in our societies; not driving is simply not a viable option. It’s this problem that has lead to the growth of interest in electric cars as potential solution and this month Comment Visions talks to a man who believes it is a very real solution.
Jacques de Selliers is an engineer and the founder of the European Association for Battery Electric Vehicles. While realistic over the limited impact electric vehicles have made in mainstream motoring he argues convincingly that their time will come; largely because it has to.
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With cheap oil supplies dwindling and pressure on to decrease emissions, there are significant question marks over how we’re going to get around in the future. Action needs to be taken soon but in what form should that action come? Are we going to be relying on biofuels, electric and hydrogen or some other form of energy to power our vehicles in years to come? Euronews met with Dr. Oliver Inderwildi of Wadham College in Oxford, lead author of one of the most comprehensive academic studies ever published on transportation.
Dr Inderwildi’s over-riding message is that nothing will change quickly. The current fleet of cars will be on the road until 2025, so any cut in emissions will only be gradual. “There is no silver bullet,” Dr Inderwildi concludes. “We have to get a smooth transition to a new transportation system by using now in the short term more efficient smaller cars, by choosing less carbon intensive modes of transport, like public transportation and railways. That’s what we can do in the short term and at the same time we should give R&D incentives to improve novel technologies like electric cars, green electricity production and fuel cells.”
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The issue: The COP15 conference was widely seen as a setback for the EU. The agreement that was reached fell short of the global deal to replace the Kyoto protocol that the EU had sought.
What lessons should the EU draw from Copenhagen? Can the EU still be a driving force in global climate politics? Should the EU continue to push for a global agreement, or should it consider other options, such as bilateral agreements? Should it even take unilateral action, as advocated by some European stakeholders, and increase its emissions reduction target from 20% to 30% without waiting for the US and China to follow? Is a global deal still possible, and when might it be reached?
These are just some of the questions that Comment:Visions invites you to debate with a panel of senior EU decision-makers and stakeholders.
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The COP15 conference was widely seen as a setback for the EU. The agreement that was reached fell short of the global deal to replace the Kyoto protocol that the EU had sought.
The summit also revealed the limits of EU influence. The EU, which had been instrumental in getting the Kyoto protocol agreed, was unable to shape a deal in Copenhagen, outmanoeuvred by the US and China.
What lessons should the EU draw from Copenhagen? Can the EU still be a driving force in global climate politics? Should the EU continue to push for a global agreement, or should it consider other options, such as bilateral agreements?
These are just some of the questions that Comment:Visions invites you to debate with a panel of senior EU decision-makers and stakeholders.
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The Earth’s atmosphere is the result of billions of years of geological activity and interaction with living organisms. Until recently, the stability of its composition has been something we have taken for granted.
The climate change conference in Copenhagen ended without a binding global agreement on curbing greenhouse gas emissions.
So, if governments cannot agree on measures to mitigate climate change, who then will provide the incentives and initiatives and perhaps more importantly the finances, that are needed? A growing number of leaders are beginning to look to the private sector to provide solutions. With regard to climate change, is it business to the rescue?
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As nations gather to seek an agreement on solving climate change, many are working behind the scenes to create the innovations and protocols that will form the foundation of a new, emission-free society. The fossil fuels that are greatest source of greenhouse gas emissions also provide the majority of the energy that we rely on. Is it possible to create new clean sources of energy and a business environment that will help transform our planet without compromising our way of life?
At the beginning of the year, Euronews began a journey, travelling throughout Europe, seeking out scientists, engineers, researchers and entrepreneurs for their opinions. At the same time, European Voice held regular debates inviting delegates from politics, industry, government and science to take part in finding answers to the burning questions that confront us. Visions of Future Energy is a selection of the opinions expressed in the television programmes.
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