The Future of Energy
Sustainable energy is a global issue. In this wide-ranging interview on the future of energy with the former CEO of Royal Dutch Shell, he argues that a shared international vision is needed to bring governments and industry together to manage innovation processes and make renewable energy commercially viable. Read this chapter to learn how visionary leadership can bring forth genuine innovations in energy sources and systems.
Why is it difficult to reach consensus at the international level? What roles do global sustainability frameworks and international organizations play in helping to shape policies?
Acceptable, Available, Affordable
"Why is it so difficult to reach consensus at the international level? The answer is that individual countries differ in perspectives on three criteria: I call them the three A's - the acceptability of different energy sources (such as nuclear energy); the availability of energy in their own territory; and affordability.
"First, is this form of energy acceptable? These are very often environmental concerns. Think about C02 emissions and coal. Think about nuclear energy and nuclear waste. Think about space: the huge windmill next to your house. All that has to do with the word acceptable.
"Second, is it available? The easy one is solar energy, which is only available in daylight. Gas may or may not be in the ground. This question includes the very interesting debates surrounding shale gas. And within availability you have a sub-category of questions: maybe it is available but not in your own country. That is typically the Middle East. If you use it in the United States, it raises all kinds of geopolitical questions. So is it available under your own feet, or in your own neighborhood, or not?
"Third, is it affordable? This is simply the price: can people pay for it? In this way you can describe every form of energy, including renewable energy.
"Now you can see why people don't have the same vision, because the three A's work out differently according to country and region. For example, if you have a lot of gas, you will be more relaxed about other forms of energy. If you have a lot of sun in the middle of Algeria then you may prefer that.
"It was probably initially a political choice, but the French developed second-generation nuclear energy and they think it is acceptable. They built many of those nuclear power stations themselves. So far so good and that is the French perception.
"So you balance those three A's all the time, which is basically a political decision based on national thinking".