Economy

FT renewables summit in London to discuss industry’s development

Published

11 years ago

October 21, 2013

Blue & Green Tomorrow

Politicians, business leaders and investors will gather in London on Tuesday to discuss the future of the renewable energy industry, at a conference hosted by the Financial Times.

The FT Global Renewable Energy Summit, held at the Millennium Hotel in London, seeks to discover how the renewables marketplace is evolving, while looking at what is needed to improve clean energy deployment globally.

Speakers include Anthony Hobley, president of trade association the Climate Market and Investment Association (CIMA); Øystein Løseth, president and CEO of wind power firm Vattenfall; and Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE minister of state and CEO of cleantech giant Masdar. UK energy minister Greg Barker is also set to give a talk.

Blue & Green Tomorrow, a media partner at the event, caught up with another speaker – Sumant Sinha, founder-chairman and CEO of ReNew Power Ventures – to get his thoughts on the future of the industry.

What are the consequences of failing to make the most of the world’s renewable potential?

The consequence can be boiled down to a number: 2C. That’s the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) ceiling to the maximum increase in temperature to the global average temperature in the preindustrial era.

There is a significant consensus amongst the scientific community globally that a 2C rise in global temperatures would have significantly adverse climatic, social and economic consequences, such as submergence of habitats, food-insecurity and health hazards.

Renewable energy is designed to avoid such a rise in temperatures. So to the extent that we fail to make the most of the world’s renewable potential, we shall also fail in attaining the 2C goal.

What will the renewable energy sector look like in 10 years’ time?

In the future the renewable energy sector would have transformed the energy sector as we know it. There would be much more prevalent use of solar energy on a distributed basis, storage of renewable energy would have solved the intermittency problem, and most future energy capacity additions would be planned on the basis of renewable energy.

Describe your primary drivers for investing in, developing or simply working in the field of renewable energy.

There is of course the societal impact of working in a sector that is good for our future generations and that takes humanity on a more sustainable path of development.

Beyond that is the excitement of building a business for the future which can create tremendous social and economic value.

Tickets are on sale at £995 + VAT. Blue & Green Tomorrow readers can quote FTB&G when registering online to receive a 20% discount. See here for information on how to book your place.