At the conference organized in Istanbul by Sabancı University Istanbul International Energy and Climate Center (IICEC), which focuses on the current issues of the world and Turkey's energy and climate agenda, the subject of "Business and Sustainable Energy" was discussed in many aspects.
Dr. Birol also pointed out that the demand for coal has decreased completely except for one or two countries and said, “The main reason for this is not the climate factor. The main reason is that it is more national as a domestic resource. "China and India are still building coal plants, but their growth is extremely slow compared to the past," he said.
“Nuclear electricity production will soon reach its highest level”
Dr. Birol noted that more than 2023 percent of all power plants commissioned in the world in 85 will have renewable energy, and that nuclear power plants will also be used again. Stating that most of the electricity in the future will come from renewable energy, Dr. Birol said:
“Nuclear energy is making a comeback all over the world. Japan, where the last accident took place, has started to increase its nuclear power again. Korea and Sweden have the same policy. We can say that there is no country left that opposes nuclear power plants. New power plants are being built in France, Poland, Türkiye and America. “I think world nuclear electricity production will reach its highest level in 2025-2026.”
Dr. Birol also emphasized energy efficiency and stated that he defined energy efficiency as the "first fuel" and that all countries can benefit from this field.
“Europe is in a difficult situation in energy.”
Dr. Fatih Birol evaluated the European energy markets and continued his words as follows;
“The European Union is in a very difficult situation in terms of energy prices, energy security and energy economy. They are experiencing the problem of being too dependent on a country, namely Russia, in terms of energy. European Union countries were getting 65 percent of their oil and 75 percent of their gas from Russia; this is a mistake. The second mistake is that they turned their back on nuclear energy, and the third is that they could not continue the breakthrough in solar energy that they started years ago, at the same pace. They could not follow the strategic policy. Natural gas prices dropped to $5, but in the USA it is below $2. Electricity prices in Europe are almost 3-5 times those of China. If you are an industrialist in Europe and 60-65 percent of your production costs are covered by energy costs, you cannot compete with neither the USA nor China at these prices. Additionally, Europe needs a new industrial master plan, I suggested this. ”
“The panel brought the business world together”
In the panel moderated by Shell Türkiye Country President Ahmet Erdem; Borusan Holding People, Communication and Sustainability Group President Nursel Ölmez Ateş, Business World and Sustainable Development Association (SKD Turkey) High Advisory Board President Ebru Dildar Edin, Baker Hughes Turkey Country Director Filiz Gökler and Enerjisa Enerji Independent Board Member Mehtap Anık Zorbozan were the speakers. took place.
Panel Moderator Shell Turkey Country President Ahmet Erdem stated that there are important opportunities to think, plan and build a sustainable future within important multi-dimensional dynamics and underlined that energy will continue to be one of the most important elements of economic growth and social development.
Erdem emphasized that, in addition to the vital and economic gains of energy, reducing carbon emissions and developing sustainable energy solutions within the energy transformation is very critical for a sustainable future. For the future of sustainable energy in the business world; Stating that critical factors such as technology, innovation and financing should not be ignored, Ahmet Erdem emphasized that decision makers and all stakeholders, as well as the energy sector, should work together to develop sustainable energy solutions and emphasized the importance of collaborations within this framework.
“Energy transformation is now a necessity”
Nursel Ölmez Ateş, Borusan Holding People, Communication and Sustainability Group President, stated in her speech at the panel that energy transformation has become a necessity to achieve global climate targets and said, “Sustainable energy transition has become one of the main agenda items of the business world. In order to comply with international regulations, sectors with high energy intensity have turned to renewable energy solutions. As a business world, we focus on renewable energy investments that will meet our energy needs and support the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, while also projecting energy efficiency solutions. On the other hand, the development and accessibility of new energy technologies also create a multiplier effect, but practices aimed at strengthening infrastructure and technical capacity are also among our priority topics. Access to green financing resources is also a very critical issue for increasing sustainable energy investments. "We follow all these developments closely and take responsibility for sustainable energy transformation," he said.
Another panelist, Ebru Dildar Edin, President of the High Advisory Board of the Business World and Sustainable Development Association, also expressed the following views in her speech; “In addition to the need for a collective effort and a strong will to significantly reduce energy waste and transition energy sources from fossil sources to renewable energy sources, the world needs $2050 trillion in finance by 200 to transition to a low-carbon economy. This means reaching approximately 7 trillion US dollars of green financing annually. The good news is that global investments in the clean energy transition have reached $2022 trillion in 29, an annual growth rate of 1.1%. This figure is currently equivalent to fossil fuel investment, but we believe that as we increase cooperation, these values will increase in favor of nature-friendly investments. Developments such as Turkey's installed solar energy capacity reaching a historical level and the contribution of renewable energy in electricity generation exceeding 51% reveal our country's potential in this field. “We also see that our country needs to implement more projects in renewable energy for its green transformation targets.”
Baker Hughes Turkey Country Director Filiz Gökler started her speech by stating that Baker Hughes is a global energy technology company operating in more than 120 countries with approximately 55.000 employees and continued with the following words;
“Within the scope of combating global climate change and sustainable energy transformation, we are implementing sustainable practices that reduce our operational footprint, while focusing on investing in tomorrow's sustainable energy technologies such as new generation fuel hydrogen, carbon capture, use and storage, geothermal and clean energy.
It is vital to achieve the balance between energy supply, security and sustainability and lead the energy transition by overcoming challenges such as limited financing, inflation, global and regional political instability, geopolitical tensions, supply chain challenges, and deficiencies in policies and regulations.
We believe that energy producers, technology and service providers, energy buyers, policy makers and the entire society in general should work together in the energy transformation journey, in the light of integrated thinking and shared sustainability standards. Let's carry energy into the future together.”
Enerjisa Enerji Independent Board Member Mehtap Anık Zorbozan noted that the future of energy is shaped by the increasing trend towards renewable energy sources, energy efficiency and sustainable energy technologies and said;
“However, these trends pose new risks for countries in the perspectives of affordability, electricity security and resilience of clean energy supply chains. Managing risks and meeting the investment needs of the new period will be on the agenda of the coming period, because to achieve the 2030 carbon targets, renewable energy capacity must be tripled, the pace of energy efficiency improvements must be doubled, electrification must be increased and methane emissions from fossil fuel operations must be reduced. Global energy investment will rise to US$2030 trillion in 3,2; this is approximately above levels forecast for 2023. “For climate finance, both public and private sector resources need to follow an integrated strategy.”
Making a speech at the opening of the conference, Sabancı University IICEC Coordinator Dr. Mehmet Doğan Üçok pointed out that social and economic sustainability should be developed in the field of energy and said, “The concept of sustainable energy; Sustainable energy offers versatile benefits with subheadings such as protecting the environment, supporting environmental sustainability goals, economic benefits, and more efficient use of energy technologies and resources in energy production. "In this context, we see that sustainable energy, as the guarantee of the future, has become an economic and social necessity rather than a choice," he said.
