from the ground Up

The World Future Energy Summit has come to an end, and today I heard from, notably, Vinod Khosla from Khosla Ventures, Henry Derwent of the International Emissions Trading Scheme, and last but not least, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Here are some soundbites from the press conference with Mr Blair, on which he was quizzed on issues ranging from renewable energy to the Middle East conflict.

(I have only included the renewable energy questions and answers in the session with Mr Blair)

On nuclear power:

“In this region, it’s got a role to play. I think worldwide, my view is  there will be a renaissance of nuclear power, we need nuclear power stations to be built in Europe. And for all sorts of reasons, not least reducing co2 emissions, nuclear will be part of the future.

I think if you look toward what China and India is doing, nuclear is a major part of what they’re trying to achieve. There’s a whole new generation of technology that is being used by nuclear power industry. However, we are going to make up for what is a skill gap in the nuclear industry.”

On Masdar city:

“I think this show case is a good idea, it shows what can be done. If it’s a city that is experimenting and sharing new technologies that could be applied elsewhere, I think that’s great.

The purpose of such a city is never to be just a one off, not a place that people come to, it’s supposed to be leading by example and i think in that sense masdar has done a great job. it’s very creative and imaginative idea, if they can do this as one of the oil capitals of the world, that will be a tremendous, persuasive power.”

On the climate challenge:

“When you look at scale and challenge of climate change, it requires a re-engineering of  our economies to get anywhere near the targets the world needs. Renewables  have to be a major part of it, that’s why I think if you are not keen on nuclear, you have to put it on the agenda, otherwise with the massive expansion of growth, in China and India, how on earth are we going to reduce emissions by 50% by 2050, unless we dramatically change the way our economy works, both micro and macro.”

On whether politicians will act in current economic crisis:

“It’s a good point, but the answer to that is, as part of the investment that governments are going to make anyway, why not invest in the energy of the future. Secondly, let’s not forget a few months ago, the price of oil was very high.. now that the price of oil has come down, let’s not forget about reducing our dependence on  carbon… There’s good short-term and long-term reasons for making the investment in reducing co2 emissions, as part of the present policy.

And one final reason, which is extremely important, people can debate the science , and I’m not an expert, but all I know is that all the major scientific advisors for the British govt, all of them, say climate change is a serious problem, and will have a devastating effect if it’s not abated. Now, if you are a responsible policy maker, you cannot ignore that.  And yes its true, unfortunately that’s the problem with governments, that the problems can all come at once, but the fact that there’s an economic crisis doesn’t mean climate change has disappeared, so we got no option but to carry on dealing with it… and there are reasons for investors why it’s a sound idea to do it.”