Delivering a cleaner energy future

from birth each of us start out on a

journey that is driven by choices

today i want to challenge our thought

patterns

we’re going to start out from

understanding the choices we make as

individuals

and how we collectively can make

healthier energy choices

that result in bigger steps towards

delivering a cleaner energy future

my first encounter with energy is a

memorable one as a toddler my mum caught

me eating coal out of our bunker

thankfully mum winged me off coal onto

healthier food choices

in a way this is where we are in the

global energy transition we

are addicted to fossil fuels that

scientific evidence proves as harming

our one and only home planet earth

in our day-to-day lives we all need to

wean ourselves off fossil fuels

and onto healthier energy choices our

daily routines are too often driven by

convenience and not conscious

i live 300 yards from my kids school and

on a rainy day i have two options

car or walk too often i choose

convenience

but now i’m working from home i have

more opportunity to choose conscience

and so we walk to school northern

ireland now has the chance to choose

conscience too

we can now make better choices in a

collective way to generate a scale of

chains that none of us can achieve as

individuals

in my work at sony we manage plan and

operate the electricity grid

we make sure that there’s enough

electricity generated and move that par

around the grid to where it’s needed

including your home

there is already a way to create energy

without harming our planet

renewable electricity using the wind the

sun or the waves it’s possible to

generate electricity in a completely

clean way

if you currently use something that

burns a dirty fuel like your car or your

heating this can be replaced by

something powered by clean electricity

so in our future more people will be

using more electricity for more purposes

than ever before

and most of that power will come from

renewable sources at suny we need to

make the grid strong enough to carry

more power

and flexible enough to cope with the

variability of generation

like wind and solar but we only have

less than a generation

29 years or so to make the changes to

our habits as a global community and

strive for net zero

and this assumes that we all start to

make changes today

five years ago i would have been firmly

in the camp of climate change denial

but a discussion with my friend norman

led me to rethink my thoughts

norman made a choice to invest much of

his life in rural development in kenya

he told me david you need to realize

that in dry parts of kenya the drought

cycle has reduced from five years down

to two

this transformed my thinking it made me

realize that the worst consequences of

climate change will be felt first

by those who have done the least damage

this wake-up call makes me think

consciously about everyday decisions and

whether they impact others

i think this is best articulated in the

guiding principle of a just transition

it is vital that global economy

government business and individuals work

together

to ensure that no one is left behind in

this crisis

i firmly believe that hope starts with

change

as a power engineer i am in an amazing

position where my ideas and decisions

will enable far-reaching change because

what we do together as a society

can achieve so much more collectively

than i can ever do as an individual

i am truly excited to say that the

electricity system is getting ready for

change

and change is coming growing up i was

encouraged to be energy efficient

i remember my dad shouting switch the

lights off

quickly followed by you know you aren’t

paying the electricity bill

in fact this principle is fundamental to

the energy transition

as northern ireland replaces dirty fuels

with highly efficient renewable

electricity

we’ll be able to reduce our need to

produce energy in 2050 by at least half

i mentioned my own taste for coal

earlier sadly coal was the single

biggest producer of the world’s

electricity in 2019

but it was also the year that the

combined output from low carbon

alternatives

just push slightly ahead of coal and

closer to home

coal will be completely faced out of

northern ireland’s fuel mix in 2023

that might not be fast enough for some

but it is a hugely significant milestone

i’m excited to see the start of a

transformational shift to the net zero

power sector

2019 was the year that northern ireland

achieved a new record

40 percent of electricity used from

renewable sources

today this stands at nearly half albeit

in part due to the effect of covert on

electricity use

it’s exciting to be part of a power

sector that is striding ahead of the

global average

as the world weans itself off dirty

fuels however

we can’t become complacent northern

ireland must now

step up and understand how we can

collectively

deliver a net zero power system

electricity today

has quite a low share of energy in our

daily lives regrettably for me

oil is by far my biggest sure as i heat

my home and drive my car

but i believe that i and we need to

start choosing clean energy for more

purposes

by 2050 more than half our energy could

be easily met from electricity

i live on an island and i can tell you

there is an abundance of natural

resources to meet our energy needs

i only need to take you to the north

coast of northern ireland and you will

feel the breathtaking natural energy

from the wind and ocean the power system

must be made ready to tackle the

challenge of transporting these natural

energy sources into our homes as a

planning engineer

i know how to fix the problem but i also

need to help individuals and communities

understand the changes to the grid that

will be needed

collectively we need to be open to new

infrastructure

it is my job to help win the hearts and

minds of northern irish people

but everyone watching this can help me

with this task few people understand how

much heavy lifting the electricity

system can do

to combat climate change but we need

everyone’s support to get this job done

these changes will unlock options that

allow us all to make healthier energy

choices

in our day-to-day lives each of us need

to take responsibility

we need to believe what the scientific

evidence tells us

we need to believe that the individual

change counts

we need to believe that through our

collective efforts and action we

are delivering a cleaner energy future

let’s get this done

our planet can’t wait

you