From Molecules to Electrons Moving Past Polarization in Energy

[Music]

we live in times of unprecedented energy

demand

demand for energy is continuing to grow

at a phenomenal rate

but the threat of human-caused climate

change is forcing us to explore new ways

of producing the energy we and the

developing world need

the resulting narrative from this

tension is one that pits renewables

against fossil fuels

demanding that we choose a side i

believe that this narrative is false

unproductive and unnecessarily polarized

instead we need to think of it for what

it is it’s a transition

a transition from burning molecules as

an energy source like wood

coal oil and gas and transmitting

and producing clean electrons via

renewables

like wind and solar but like all

beneficial transitions

it will not and cannot occur overnight

only with proper support from molecules

can we transition to clean electrons

i was raised in calgary alberta canada’s

energy capital

i’ve been interested and have worked in

renew in energy my entire life

if you need proof check out the image of

me playing a computer game called oil

baron

as a child it’s also proof that i’ve

always had a tremendous sense of fashion

growing up in calgary at the doorstep of

the canadian rockies

gave me an appreciation for nature and

i’ve been interested in

environmental issues for my entire life

i earned a degree from in computer

science from the university of toronto

and i started my career

in oil and gas and technology my first

entrepreneurial venture was an oil and

gas technology company that i started at

the age of 24

that amongst other things helped oil and

gas companies manage and report their

greenhouse gas emissions

this gave me great insight into the

environmental liabilities that oil and

gas companies were starting to grapple

with

at a really early stage

i had a successful exit from my software

company at the age of 30

and i knew that the next venture i

wanted to do was something that was both

an exciting business challenge and one

that could leave a positive

lasting impact on the environment so

with no prior experience in power

generation

i started greengate power with my own

money 13 years ago

with the goal of developing large-scale

renewable energy projects right here in

the heart of oil country

my home province alberta canada it’s

been quite the challenge and adventure

so far

if i knew then how hard it was going to

be at times i may not have actually

embarked on this journey

in the first place but sometimes

ignorance is bliss

but we have been successful here are two

of the projects that we’ve developed

the one on the left with the largest

wind energy project in canada when it

was completed in 2014

the one on the right is expected to be

the largest solar energy project in

canada

when it’s completed hopefully in 2022.

these two projects represent well over a

billion dollars of investment

and car can provide clean power to more

than 200 000 homes

successfully developing renewable energy

projects in the heart of oil country

has given me a unique perspective on

this issue and one that may surprise

some of you

so let’s do a vision exercise

close your eyes picture the year 2030

and our energy system you know what are

the vehicles that we drive

how do we heat our buildings what do our

buildings look like

and let’s make this a realistic vision

not your ideal vision it’s important to

have an ideal vision

but let’s make this one realistic look

around

now open your eyes are there more

electric vehicles on the road than there

are today in your vision

are there still gasoline-powered

vehicles on the road in your vision

are there more buildings with solar

panels than there are today

are we still burning fossil fuels to

heat our homes

i’ve asked these questions to multiple

audiences in the past

and most answer yes to all four

questions now that points to a future

that’s much cleaner than it is today

but one in which fossil fuels still

matter in other words

molecules still matter

the modern world as we know it today is

thanks to abundance of energy

that’s provided to us by fossil fuels as

this image of

my hometown calgary alberta shows from

the cars we drive

to the way we heat our buildings to the

way we power our lights

most of our energy today still comes

from fossil fuels

in other words molecules

but there is a transition underway from

fossil fuels to renewables

molecules to clean electrons but it will

take time

this chart from bloomberg is focused on

electricity it shows that most of our

electricity today comes from fossil

fuels

and that even in the future a

significant amount of

our electricity will still come from

fossil fuels

now the speed of this transition has

been something that’s been hotly debated

i believe that this transition will

occur even more quickly than in the

chart

but it still seems that fossil fuels

will remain part of our energy system

for quite some time

and we can’t simply shut off the taps

too far fossil fuel resources

for the sake of addressing climate

change first off it’s not technically

feasible today renewables

can’t produce energy for us seven days a

week

24 hours a day renewables produced when

the sun’s shining

or the wind is blowing but what do you

do when those conditions don’t exist

that’s where fossil fuels still play a

role

and fundamentally it’s all about

economics if you take climate change

climate change is obviously an

environmental issue but if you really

really boil it down

it’s also an economic issue what’s the

cost of dealing with uh

climate refugees what’s the cost of

dealing with these climate catastrophes

that happen

ultimately there’s an economic cost

associated with climate change

but it’s also an economic cost to simply

shut down portions of our economy

for the sake of addressing climate

change it’s and it’s unjust to the

individuals and families

whose livelihoods uh depend on it

now being from calgary i’d like to make

a quick plug for the canadian oil and

gas sector i believe that while the

world continues to use oil and gas

it should be canadian oil and gas the

canadian oil and gas industry

is vital to our national economy

our oil and gas in canada is among the

most responsibly produced in the world

and opposition to development of

canadian oil

does not benefit the environment all it

does is erodes canada’s share of the

global oil market

and moves that oil production to

countries that are not as safe don’t

have the same environmental record don’t

have the same human rights record

and are often outright hostile to

canadian interests so i just think it

makes no sense

for canadians to be opposing development

of oil and gas in canada

while the world is still using oil and

gas i believe that the transition is

something that’s going to take time but

we need to find the right measured

approach

to get us to where we all need to be

that said there’s no doubt in my mind

that the age of renewables has arrived

and in the coming decade will see

profound changes to the way we produce

and consume our energy

ultimately our energy system is moving

from burning molecules to creating clean

electrons

from renewable sources like wind and

solar in order to produce the energy

that we need to power

our modern world as i see it there are

three legs of the stool when it comes to

the new energy

new clean energy system first off

generation of the electricity itself

from renewables

now this is the part of the part of the

stool that’s the farthest along

but it’s still limited by the

intermittency we can produce energy when

the sun is shining or the wind’s blowing

but we what do we do when those

conditions don’t exist

now that problems in the pro process of

being solved

which i’ll get into in a second there’s

also electrification of the

transportation sector so taking those

clean electrons generated from

renewables and transmitting them

directly into the batteries

of the vehicles that we drive and if you

need proof

that electric vehicles are going to be

very much in our future

tesla a company that only produces

electric vehicles is now the most

valuable automotive company in the world

recently surpassing toyota the third leg

of the stool and i think this is the key

enabler of a whole scale transition to

renewables and that’s utility scale

battery storage

the challenge that exists with

electricity today is it can’t be stored

in large quantities

what battery storage allows us to do is

store the energy from

days where we have excess sun or days

that we have excess wind

and use that same energy that stored

energy to

deliver renewable electricity seven days

a week

24 hours a day in fact it’s an entirely

new paradigm i

liken it to the analog versus digital

analogy

traditionally we’ve produced electricity

mechanically by burning molecules

burning wood or gas to heat a home

burning gasoline or diesel to move

our vehicles burning coal or gas to

produce electricity essentially an

analog system

but the combination of solar and

batteries in particular

is entirely different we’re producing

and storing energy

with no moving parts essentially a

digital system

and with that system it allows for

unprecedented

cost reductions and efficiency

improvements very similar to computers

in 1969 we sent humans to the moon with

a computer

that would have filled this entire

theater but today

we all carry in the palm of our hands a

computer that’s more powerful

than what sent humans to the moon i

believe that the same

type of cost reductions and efficiency

improvements are possible in solar and

batteries and the implications of that

are

quite profound and global capital is

rushing into

renewables this chart is focused on

current and forecasted

investment in electricity generation

globally as you can see

by the blue shaded area wind and solar

already attracting the most investment

for

new power generation but their share of

the future uh market is only going to

grow as you can see

that shaded area grows over that blue

shaded area grows over time

this is due to the fact that renewable

energy is a great investment

delivers a great long-term steady return

for

investors but investors are also

increasingly interested in

environment social and governance

metrics

essentially investing to earn a return

but also doing good

in the world in the process

another reason why capital is flowing

into renewables is because the cost of

renewable energy continues to come down

at a phenomenal rate

for example the cost of solar panels has

dropped by more than 90 percent over the

last

decade and costs continue to come down

this chart shows the countries of the

world where renewables are currently the

lowest cost source of new power

generation

these countries represent two-thirds of

the global population

and over the coming decade we expect

that renewables

will be the lowest cost source of power

generation across the globe

so to conclude the near future is

not one of electrons only or molecules

only

it’s a changing mix the future will be

much cleaner than it is today

but there will still be a role for

fossil fuels a renewable future is made

possible in large part by leveraging the

wealth that has been provided

to us by the fossil fuel industry

however make no

make no mistake the age of renewables

has arrived and the coming decade will

see profound changes

to the way we produce and consume our

energy

for those that desire a clean energy

future and protest

oil and gas development i think it’s

important to remember that our current

prosperity

health and technological advances were

made possible

as a result of the energy that comes

from fossil fuels

recognize that oil and gas will continue

to have an important role to play in our

energy system for the foreseeable future

and we must remember that there are

individuals and families that are

affected by job losses in the oil and

gas sector

and those individuals and families need

to be treated fairly

in this transition for those working in

the oil and gas

industry and denying the tremendous

advances in renewables

i think it’s important to be aware of

global trends and embrace the future

otherwise we run the risk of being left

behind recognize that renewables are now

extremely low cost

and the age of renewables has arrived

i believe it’s really important for us

to move past the polarization

ultimately i think we’re much better off

working together

let’s work together to ensure that the

future is clean and prosperous for all

thank you