One of the most prominent and well-attended
exhibition spaces was of course, Masdar, the host and
the development hub for new energy technologies
to drive the commercialization and adoption
of technologies in sustainable energy, carbon
management and water conservation. The stateof-the-art stand was complimented by interactive
displays which informed the user of the cutting edge
technology being employed in the development of
the world’s first carbon neutral city.
Chinese Solar panel manufacturers were out in force
trying to drum up business, particularly in lucrative
markets such as Spain and Germany, the latter’s
solar feed-in-tariff arrangements and tax structures
providing a keen incentive.
Copenhagen
The Cop 15 Summit failed to live up to the hopes
and aspirations of many. Finalising diplomatic
agreement on exact, legally binding carbon targets
proved elusive. It is now up to national governments
to take the reigns themselves and bring each nation
into line with what they anticipate will be the levels
agreed in Mexico at Cop 16.
The World Furture Energy Summit, the first major
international green energy gathering after the
Copenhagen debacle got down to serious business on
the second day by addressing the fallout in a plenary
session entitled, “What now after Copenhagen?”
Nobel laureate and chairman of the United Nation’s
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
Indian scientist, Rajendra Kumar Pachauri joined
Ditlev Angel, CEO of Vestas, the world’s largest
manufacturer of wind turbines for a post-session
press conference.
When asked how much it would cost to achieve the
aims of Cop 15, Pachauri replied,
“It is a good and pertinent question. So far, the only
estimate that we have is that it will cost just less than
3% of global GDP up to 2030. The reality is it will
actually be much less if you take into account the
core benefits such as improved health as a result of
improved air quality, energy security and agricultural
production.”
When asked if the lack of a binding agreement in
Cop 15 had adversely effected the green energy
investment climate, Pachauri pointed out that
“countries like South Korea and China are going
ahead irrespective”, and it will be sooner rather
than later that we will have a booming green energy
investment environment.
57