BUS604: Innovation and Sustainability

In this conversation, Jeroen van der Veer has provided us with valuable insights about the realities and possibilities of our energy future, and the requirements of leadership and management for genuine change. First of all, people are generally unaware of the scale of the global energy system and the fact that it will nearly double by 2050, with serious environmental, economic and geopolitical consequences. The higher abstraction level of the 'three A's' of Acceptable, Available, and Affordable of every form of energy works out differently in different countries. There is a lack of consensus, within countries and at the regional and global level, which makes it impossible to articulate a shared vision. Nuclear energy is a viable interim solution until renewables are commercially viable, but it is generally not acceptable to the public.

The availability of inexpensive fuels in the West is partly because different countries have different cultures, and there is no consensus on the right energy mix for Europe. The shale gas revolution has a great chance to strengthen Europe's strategic position if European states were more proactive in shale gas exploration. A genuine pan-European vision, energy policy, and energy strategy are required, which includes the role of Russia's energy strategy.

Renewable energy sources are largely unaffordable without subsidies at present. Most politicians' short-term horizons lead to a rush to subsidize renewables that are not commercially viable. On this last point, van der Veer proposes a very interesting challenge to us to spend less but achieve more by investing in the research and development of new generations of offshore wind energy, according to the principles of the learning curve. This is a good example of a long-term strategy where an iterative process can lead to a genuinely sustainable and viable solution. For that we need to move beyond the ideas stage.

"We don't have consensus. We have the ideas, but we don't have a common or shared vision, or a shared concept, or a shared strategy. So here we are stuck. Take the example of nuclear - there are huge problems with planning and execution.

"To achieve it you need a common vision. That in the end is leadership. I think leadership is helped by a very strong Energy Commissioner in Brussels with this as the main item on the agenda. And then it will still take some time.

"But the window of opportunity is there. The C02 problem is huge, but if we solve it one day earlier or one day later doesn't make any difference. So we have a very long window. That sometimes works to your disadvantage, because then you go too slowly. You can always delay it for a day, because the window isn't closing - unless you live in Beijing!"