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