Photo: RNE Singapore The half day seminar which gathered Norwegian, international and local experts examined which role renewable energy and energy efficiency will play in our future energy mix with a view to reducing CO2 emissions.
Ambassador Janne Julsrud stated in her opening speech that the world no longer argues whether climate change is a threat. We know that it is. We can see the coming consequences with our own eyes – melting ice not only in the Arctic, but also in the Himalayas.
According to the IEA, global oil demand will increase by 40% by 2035, because national economies will continue to need energy to grow, to provide jobs, to create welfare, to combat poverty. If no new policies are introduced and if the energy mix remains the same as today, the global average temperature is predicted to increase by around six degrees Celsius by the end of this century. The result will be disastrous.
In order to prevent this, we must cut CO2 emissions considerably. This is certainly not going to be easy. And there is no one single solution to this problems; no silver bullet as it were.
Rather, the world needs a host of simultaneous initiatives aimed at reducing its collective climate footprint. We need to focus on energy efficiency, on renewable energy, on the development of technology which will produce commercially viable, non-polluting transportation fuel, and – since fossil fuels are going to be with us for quite some time as the main source of energy – we need ways of reducing emissions from such activity through carbon capture and storage.
Photo: RNE Singapore
The seminar speakers shared their views with the 150 participants at the seminar not only on the challenges that exist, but also on the possibilities, opportunities and potential solutions to the problems the world faces.
Program for the seminar and copies of the presentations may be found here.