Event: Pathways to Climate Security I

Date of Recording: 01/04/2019 Description: Over the past decade, renewable energy has expanded at breakneck speed, surpassing all expectations. Installed capacity and production from all renewable sources have increased substantially across the globe and some 180 countries have renewable energy targets in one form or another. While few predicted such growth, the fundamental drivers that contributed to this momentum seem to always have been clear: energy security considerations following economic and supply crises, climate change and yes, generous subsidy schemes, particularly in OECD states. Yet, despite this monumental expansion – renewable energy accounted for 70% of net additions to global power capacity in 2017 – global carbon emissions still rose by some 1.5% in the same year. Germany, the oft-heralded poster-child for tackling climate change, has hardly made a dent in reducing its carbon emissions since the announcement of its Energiewende in 2011. Indeed, it is set to spectacularly miss its goals for reducing carbon emissions by the year 2020 despite having tens of billions of Euros annually to increase the share of its renewable energy in power production to currently 38%. Proponents of renewable energy argue that most of the focus up-to-date has been placed on the electricity sector with more needing to be done in the heating, cooling and transport sectors, which are lagging behind the power sector and yet constitute the bulk of global energy demand. Critics, on the other hand, assert that a more balanced approach is necessary to maximize carbon reductions, including a more efficient allocation of capital into other low-carbon energy sources and climate-mitigating technologies. In addition, they claim that there is an inconvenient truth when it comes to “green” solar and wind technologies: they require fossil fuels to build in the first place. Aluminum, steel, concrete, copper - all crucial substrates of PV and wind technologies - require fossil fuels (usually coal) to be burned for production. This energy talk will seek to clarify some of these questions and examine various scenarios regarding the current and future role of renewables in achieving climate security. Speakers: -Professor Dr. Friedbert Pflüger, Director, EUCERS, King’s College London -Mr. Felix Dane, Director UK & Ireland, Konrad Adenauer Foundation -Mr. Peter Mather, Group Regional President, Europe and Head of Country, UK BP -Mr. Thomas Krupke, CEO, Clere AG and former CEO of Solon SE -Dr Frank Umbach, Research Direction, EUCERS, King's College London