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