Rae Kwon Chung, Steven Griffiths and Thomas Blees, the Global Energy Prize International Award Committee members, gave a lecture on the actual global energy issues within the framework of the Energy of Knowledge program at National Research University MPEI on June 6, 2018.
A series of their speeches was devoted to the search for optimal solutions to the decarbonization and digitization of the global energy system.
As of today, the need of the energy system decarbonization is widely discussed by the global community, especially after entering into force the Paris climate agreement. Rae Kwon Chung (South Korea), UN Secretary-General`s High-level Expert and Leaders Panel (HELP) on water and disasters, Adviser to the Chair, presented the topic “Econometric modelling for deep de-carbonization”. Professor Chung is convinced that the stable CO2 emission will both lead to a reduction of the harmful impact on the environment and stimulate economic growth. Pros of deep decarbonization will be visible not in the short run, but in the long run, it can open up great business opportunities. According to the expert’s forecast, approximately USD 860 bln of net additional funds are planned to be raised annually in the sphere of RE. In addition, in order to reach the Paris climate agreement targets, strong policy actions have to be set. In this sense, the implementation of a carbon tax can be a valuable policy option, demonstrating benefits of the energy consumption structure’s transformation. However, firstly it’s essential to overcome fear that such tax would harm the economy and business spheres. The carbon tax can actually drive economic growth, job creation while contributing to the transition to new energy sources.
According to the forecast of the International Renewable Energy Agency IRENA, approximately 26 million job places will be opened by 2050 in the RES sphere and 65% of the world’s electricity will be produced using renewable energy sources by 2050. Moreover, by the same year 70% of produced cars will be electro mobiles. The share of fossil fuel use will be reduced by three times by 2050, compared to today’s figures. And investments in renewable energy will triple. Reducing the industrial use of fossil sources and the transition to a green economy are becoming key factors in the global energy order.
Another basis of the new energy system, according to experts, will be the digitalization in the energy sphere. The Impact of the 4th Industrial Revolution on the Power Sector considered Steven Griffiths (UAE), Senior Vice President for Research and Development at Khalifa University of Science and Technology. According to the expert, we will witness how digital and physical worlds will converge in the future, and this will give a boost to the 4th industrial revolution, where the use of artificial intelligence, blockchain, robotics technology and technologies of augmented reality in the energy sphere will come to the forefront. The energy sector will benefit from such changes. Advanced technologies can reduce operating costs, improve energy efficiencies and eliminate network outages. According to Griffiths, the industrial revolution will enable Russia to operate nuclear power plants safely. In general, digitalization will have a telling impact on the global energy system both now and in the future.
In his turn, President of the Scientific Council on Global Initiatives (SCGI), an international consultant in the field of energy sphere, Thomas Blees (USA) shared his opinion with students on cutting-edge technologies, which he believes will prevail in the energy sector in the coming decades. The expert is convinced that the nuclear energy will be the key method of generating electricity around the world in the next decades. In his opinion, it is the nuclear energy, which is the “green” solution for the existing energy problems in the world. Nuclear power with its small “carbon footprint” can be a key solution to the problem of decarbonization. The speaker also considered what nuclear technologies are being built and used by Russia, and how they will fit into the future energy system.
In addition, besides reports’ presentation, the Global Energy Prize International Award Committee members showcased their forecasts of technological development of Russia’s fuel and energy complex in the context of world trends until 2030.
The “Nadezhnaya Smena” foundation is developing a similar forecast on the same topic. The solution development takes place in the format of competition among the teams of specialized universities and industry companies. As a result, 39 teams will present their ideas at the Russian Energy Week International Forum within the framework of the youth day. Thus, the Global Energy Association’s experts assisted the participants of the competition to provide a comprehensive overview of global trends in the fuel and energy sector.
It is worth pointing out that in addition to the students of MPEI, students of leading technical universities from 30 regions of Russia and the CIS countries could join the lecture via a video call, specially organized for not only following the lecture in real time but for engagement in discussion as well.
At the end of the lecture, a Q&A session was held, and the author of the most interesting question, according to the speakers, received a gift from the Global Energy Association: a book published on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the Global Energy Prize. The book is called “The Global Energy Prize: tribute to those who changed the world”. The heroes of this book are energy scientists: physicists, chemists, engineers, geologists, designers. All of them made breakthrough discoveries or developments in nuclear power engineering, heat engineering, semiconductors and development of non-traditional or renewable resources and were awarded the Global Energy Prize. They are people of a global level of tasks that they managed to solve.
