{"id":73111,"date":"2020-07-14T09:08:58","date_gmt":"2020-07-14T07:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fundacionnaturgy.org\/christophe-brognaux-bcg-energy-efficiency-must-be-a-priority-for-addressing-the-climate-change-challenge\/"},"modified":"2020-07-14T09:08:58","modified_gmt":"2020-07-14T07:08:58","slug":"christophe-brognaux-bcg-energy-efficiency-must-be-a-priority-for-addressing-the-climate-change-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fundacionnaturgy.org\/en\/christophe-brognaux-bcg-energy-efficiency-must-be-a-priority-for-addressing-the-climate-change-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Christophe Brognaux (BCG): \u201cEnergy efficiency must be a priority for addressing the climate change challenge\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Today, the managing director and senior partner of Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and global head of the generation, renewables and utilities sectors, Christophe Brognaux<\/strong>, and the specialist in economic policy and found of the consultancy QED Economics, Eva Valle<\/strong>, took part in the fourth edition of the Energy Prospectives conferences organised by the Naturgy Foundation and IESE Business School, which were opened by the chairman of Naturgy, Francisco Reyn\u00e9s<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Naturgy, we are tackling the energy transition with commitment and realism in all investment decisions,\u201d said Reyn\u00e9s. \u201cThe great challenge of the industry is to undergo a realistic energy transition,\u201d and that is why \u201cwe need regulatory and legal stability\u201d. \u201cA transition can be a fairly long process and there must be clear rules of play,\u201d continued Reyn\u00e9s.<\/p>\n

In the situation following the pandemic, \u201cin which both industries and individuals must play an active role in recovery, the energy transition can and must drive this recuperation,\u201d Reyn\u00e9s maintained. That is why, alongside the State, \u201ccompanies must play their part with investment and employment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hydrogen, energy of the future<\/strong><\/p>\n

In his speech, Brognaux<\/strong> affirmed that \u201cif we want to address climate challenge, we need all sorts of technology, but if I had to prioritise, I would focus on energy efficiency, an area in which we are not currently doing enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

The senior partner of BCG also seemed convinced that \u201chydrogen will be the clean synthetic energy of the future.\u201d \u201cWe need it for transport, industry and to balance the electricity system,\u201d he said, adding that \u201cIf Europe has green hydrogen infrastructure, it will be competitive, but the journey will be long and risky.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brognaux continued: \u201cIn the last 10 years, the costs of different energy technologies has dropped: wind power decreased by 40%, offshore wind power by 75%, solar by 80%, and energy storage in batteries by 70%.\u201d<\/p>\n

The expert stated that we already have technological solutions to reduce the environmental impact of the energy sector and industrial activities through energy efficiency and by replacing fuels; of agriculture by efficiently using land and fertilisers; of transport thanks to electrification, more efficient engines and new fuels; and of construction through energy efficiency.<\/p>\n

With regard to new policies and regulations, he said that \u201cdemanding standards will be set for the different products and construction, recycling will be obligatory, and cross-border CO2<\/sub> tariffs will be retained, but we will also have assistance and collaboration from government bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brognaux recalled that in order to address the energy transition, increased investments with a long-term return will remain essential, and conditions must be created to enable these investments, \u201cin particular stability in policies and long-term regulations\u201d, to ensure they are not an obstacle.<\/p>\n

In light of this scenario, he called companies to action. \u201cThey must stay one step ahead of the growing importance of sustainability, carry out an exhaustive review of the assets, keep an eye out for new business opportunities and prepare for inevitable uncertainty.\u201d \u201cThose who are at the vanguard will prosper,\u201d claimed Brognaux.<\/p>\n

Evolution of the Spanish electricity market in the next decade<\/strong><\/p>\n

Valle<\/strong> spoke about the outlook for the Spanish electricity market over the next 10 years. \u201cThe generation mix and the evolution of prices in the wholesale electricity market will depend on the new climate commitments made by Spain regarding the penetration of renewables, greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency and interconnection, as well as CO2<\/sub> and gas prices, and technological evolution.\u201d In this respect, she noted that Spain has made some \u201cambitious commitments, far above the Commission\u2019s calculations for Spain\u201d.<\/p>\n

In this scenario, Valle stated that \u201crenewable energy, particularly solar and wind power, will replace other sources of power generation,\u201d following the closure of nuclear power plants and the residual role of coal. \u201cConsidering that 70% of power will be generated using renewable sources in 2030, and with a more conservative scenario in terms of electricity demand and the development of storage and interconnections, surpluses of renewable energy generated will be much higher.\u201d Valle also believes that the \u201cmain obstacles for the installation of renewables will be network access points and land acquisitions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moreover, she thinks that, during this whole period, combined cycle gas plants will play a key role in supporting the system.\u00a0 \u201cGas will cease to be the main generation source in the first half of the decade. From 2026, the closure of nuclear power plants and the increase of interconnection with France will lead to a recovery of its use in generation,\u201d explained Valle.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the dean of IESE, Franz Heukamp, recalled that the world of energy is \u201cvery complex, interesting and relevant, and has a very important economic component for both countries and individuals,\u201d hence the importance of this type of discussion organised by the Naturgy Foundation together with IESE Business School.<\/p>\n

The chairman of the Naturgy Foundation, Rafael Villaseca<\/strong>, who closed the conference, called for \u201csustainable energy companies\u201d in light of the \u201cenormous challenge of competition and profitability" posed by the energy transition.<\/p>\n

Energy Prospectives is a series of conversations that brings together figures of recognised international standing due to their experience, vision and knowledge of the energy sector, as well as business leaders, regulators, executives and academics. This initiative is one the Naturgy Foundation's activities related to energy and the environment. Through serious and in-depth discussions, the main aim is to promote the rational use of energy resources and encourage sustainable development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, the global head of energy at Boston Consulting Group appeared hopeful of the possibility of achieving the emissions reduction targets, and called for the business world to adapt and for government bodies to collaborate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1454,"featured_media":73095,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[700],"tags":[944,725,711],"content-type":[],"acf":[],"post_class":["post-73111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy-and-the-environment","tag-energy-and-the-environment","tag-energy-efficiency","tag-seminars-en","wordpress-sticky"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fundacionnaturgy.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73111"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fundacionnaturgy.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fundacionnaturgy.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fundacionnaturgy.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1454"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fundacionnaturgy.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fundacionnaturgy.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fundacionnaturgy.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fundacionnaturgy.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fundacionnaturgy.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fundacionnaturgy.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73111"},{"taxonomy":"content-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fundacionnaturgy.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-type?post=73111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}