Keynote Speakers
Prof Ross Garnaut AC
Ross is an Emeritus Professor in Economics at The Australian National University and an Emeritus Professor in Business and Economics at the University of Melbourne. Over the past fifty years, he has had many senior roles in business and as a policy advisor and diplomat. Ross was the senior economic policy official in Papua New Guinea’s Department of Finance in the years straddling Independence in 1975, principal economic adviser to Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke from 1983 to1985, and Australian Ambassador to China from 1985 to 1988. He was awarded a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 2017 for work on climate change and energy, and an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1993 for services to education and international relations.
He is the author of numerous publications in scholarly journals on international economics, public finance and economic development, particularly in relation to East Asia and the Southwest Pacific. His recent books include Superpower Transformation: Making Australia’s zero-carbon future, Black Inc (2022), Superpower: Australia’s low carbon opportunity, Black Inc. (2019) and RESET: Restoring Australia after the Pandemic Recession (2021).
Ross is a Distinguished Fellow of the Australian Economic Society, Distinguished Life Member of the Australian Agricultural and Resources Economics Society, Fellow of the Australia Academy of Social Sciences and Honorary Professor of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Ross is Director at ZEN Energy.
Prof Martin Green
University of NSW
Martin Green is Scientia Professor at the University of New South Wales, Sydney and Director of the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics, involving several other Australian Universities and research groups. His group's contributions to photovoltaics include inventing the PERC cell, now the main commercial solar cell, and holding the record for silicon cell efficiency for 30 of the last 37 years, described as a “Top Ten” Milestones in solar photovoltaics history. Major international awards include the 1999 Australia Prize, the 2002 Right Livelihood Award, also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize, and the 2018 Global Energy Prize presented in Moscow.
Abstract
Over the last decade, the cost of photovoltaic solar energy conversion has dropped very dramatically with photovoltaics now providing the lowest cost option for electricity generation in many parts of the world. Several recent studies have detailed how the technology can provide a path to an essentially zero carbon energy future by 2050 without the undesirable cost trade-offs once thought necessary.
The developments leading to these cost reductions will be described as well as improvements in the pipeline that are leading to an era of “insanely cheap” solar power, within the coming decade.
Prof Bill Hare
Climate Analytics
Bill Hare is a climate scientist with 30+ years’ experience in climate change science, impacts and policy. He is the CEO of Climate Analytics, Adjunct Professor at Murdoch University and visiting scientist at Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. He was a Lead Author for the the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report, for which the IPCC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. He also led the influential World Bank ‘Turn Down the Heat’ reports series in 2013-2014, and is one of the leaders of the Climate Action Tracker. He has recently been appointed to the UN Secretary General´s high level expert group on non-state actors net zero commitments.
Prof Peter Newman AO
Curtin University, WA
Peter Newman is the Professor of Sustainability at Curtin University. He has written 16 books and over 300 papers. His books include ‘The End of Automobile Dependence’ (2015), ‘Green Urbanism in Asia’ (2013) and 'Sustainability and Cities: Overcoming Automobile Dependence' which was launched in the White House in 1999. Peter was a Fulbright Senior Scholar at the University of Virginia Charlottesville and was on the IPCC for their 5th Assessment Report. In 2014 he was awarded an Order of Australia for his contributions to urban design and sustainable transport. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Technological and Engineering Sciences Australia. Peter has worked in local government as an elected councillor, in state government as an advisor to three Premiers and in the Australian Government on the Board of Infrastructure Australia.
Abstract
The Climate Action 100+ website covers the finance companies and banks committed to providing Net Zero funding of projects only. Its cover photo is a waterfall. The situation we find ourselves in is that renewable energy is now the cheapest form of power that the world has ever seen. Thus enormous progress has been made in implementing the Paris Agreement – in Nationally Agreed Commitments – but in reality the implementation of the commitments is very complex in cities, regions, sectors, communities and institutions. It is like we are going over the waterfall after slowly moving down the river and speeding up until we were in the maelstrom of change. All the rule books and manuals for how to do power, transport and industry do not have a net zero section. Thus we know the peaceful Net Zero River is stretched out ahead but right now it is chaotic, exciting and full of risks. This paper will try and show how we can navigate the maelstrom based on some guidelines from IPCC and other recent international reports. It will stress the benefits of localised applications of solar, smart systems and storage using electric transport, as these are happening rapidly in Perth and its regions.
Mr Rainer Hinrichs-Rahlwes
Rainer Hinrichs-Rahlwes is a renewable energy expert with more than 20 years of professional and honorary experience. He is working for a fully Renewables based energy system. He is a Vice-President of the European Renewable Energies Federation (EREF), after having served as the association’s President from 2010 to 2014. He is representing EREF as a Steering Committee Member of the Global Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21).
Rainer is also a Board Member of the German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE) and the Chairman of BEE’s European and international affairs Committee. He is representing both EREF and BEE at the Global100%Renewables platform.
Representing EREF or BEE, or as a senior expert, Rainer is closely working with international institutions or association, such as the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), e.g. representing EREF in IRENA’s Coalition for Action and as a co-chair or the “Towards-100%-Renewable-Energy” Working Group, or with the International Energy Agency (IEA), e.g. as a member of the Renewable Industry Advisory Board (RIAB).
Rainer is working with the World Renewable Energy Network (WREC/WREN) as the Head of the Policy Committee and as an Advisor to the WREN Council.
From 1998 to 2005, he was a Director General at the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). On behalf of the Ministry, he was a co-chair of the International Steering Committee (ISC) preparing the 1st International Renewable Energy Conference (IREC), the renewables 2004 conference in Bonn, Germany. The ISC was later transformed to become REN21. Until 1998 he held several senior positions as a civil servant and as a parliamentary advisor in the German Federal State of Lower Saxony.
Abstract
The European Green Deal is the lighthouse and key strategy for the European Union (EU) to become climate neutral by 2050. The Green Deal will be implemented by a number of new or amended directives, regulations, and strategic elements. A “European Climate Law” entered into force in 2021, which increases the EU’s GHG-reduction target from minus 40% to at least minus 55% by 2030. To achieve this target the European Commission (EC) published a Fit-for-55 package with proposals for enabling legislation and accompanying policies in July 2021. This package includes an amended Renewable Energies Directive, an amended Energy Efficiency Directive, a revised Emissions Trading Scheme, a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and a handful of additional communications. Some of these proposals have already been discussed and politically agreed between the European Parliament and the European Council (i.e. the EU Member States). Major elements such as the revision of the Renewable Energies Directive are expected to be politically agreed by end of 2022, including a higher 2030 target for the share of renewables in GFEC. The EC also presented revised Environmental and Energy State Aid Guidelines and a Green Taxonomy to facilitate sustainable investment.
I shall analyse and assess the status of the legislative process regarding these directives and regulations. I shall assess them on the background of REPowerEU, an new package presented in March and May 2022 as a consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the resulting necessity to speed up the transformation towards renewable energy and more domestic energy sources to significantly and quickly reduce import dependencies. And of course, evaluation is also provided against the background of the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
In a final chapter, I shall provide conclusions and recommendations for successfully implementing the Green Deal and REPowerEU as a major driver for reaching net zero emissions well before 2050.
Keywords
European Green Deal, REPowerEU, Paris Agreement, Renewable Energy, Policy Framework
Please note:
I plan to present an up-to-date analysis of the status of the European Green Deal and REPowerEU as of late 2022, and I will try to also assess it on the background of the renewed ambitions of the Biden Administration in the US, and probably also the new Australian government. The Paper is therefore well suited as a keynote speech.
Prof Ali Sayigh
Director General WREN, UK
UK Citizen, Graduated from London University, & Imperial College, BSC.AWP, DIC, PhD, C Eng. in 1966. He is Fellow of the Institute of Energy, and Fellow of the Institution of Engineering & Technology, Chartered Engineer, Chairman of Iraq Energy Institute.
Prof Sayigh taught in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Reading University and University of Hertfordshire From 1966 – 2004. He was Head of Energy Department at Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) and Expert in renewable energy at AOPEC, Kuwait from 1981-1985.
He started working in solar energy in September 1969. In 1972, he established “The Journal of Engineering Sciences” in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and in 1984 he established International Journal for Solar and Wind Technology, as an Editor-in-Chief. This has changed its name in 1990 to Journal of Renewable Energy. He is editor of several International journal published in Morocco, Iran, Bangladesh, Nigeria and India. He established WREN and the World Renewable Energy Congress in 1990. Member of various societies related to climate change and renewable energy.
He was consultants to many national and international organizations, among them, the British Council, ISESCO, UNESCO, UNDP, ESCWA, & UNIDO. He run conferences in 42 different countries, published more than 600 papers and associated in 35 books. He supervised more than 80 M Sc. and 35 PhD students. He is editor-in-chief of famous Renewable Energy Magazine, RE and the year, since 2000.
He is the Editor-in-chief of Comprehensive Renewable Energy coordinating 154 top scientists, engineers and researchers’ contribution in eight volumes published in 2012 by Elsevier which won 2013 PROSE award in USA. He is the founder of Med Green Forum and in 2016 he established peer review international open access journal called “Renewable Energy and Environmental Sustainability” which will be published by EDP publisher in Paris in English.
Abstract
Climate Change Solution and Present Progress in Renewable Energy
The Climate Change crisis is worsening daily. We must start today and not tomorrow limiting CO2 emission globally. The Antarctic is melting with alarming speed and causing sea water levels to rise by 24 inches in the Southern Hemisphere.
Central Australia is experiencing its worst ever drought and forest fires causing immense damage; on 55 days in 2019 temperatures rose to 48°C while the ground temperature reached 62°C. Vast tracts of land have been burned with loss of life, homes, produce and wildlife. Yet government reaction was skeptical of the Climate Change connection. At the same time Europe and England have had extreme rainfall and serious extensive flooding.
Nowadays many countries have started to take Climate Change extremely seriously and put together plans to reduce or stop the use of coal and other fossil fuels. Most countries have pledged to stop using fossil fuels by 2030. The transport industry accounts for the major part of air pollution through the use of motor vehicles, ships and air transport. In this paper it is demonstrated that motor car usage contributes more than 3500 million metric tons of CO2 each year.
The paper will summarize the progress of renewable energy globally with examples. Renewable Energy is now a major source of generating electricity worldwide. In UK on 18 December 2020, wind energy alone supplied more than 40% of the Kingdom electricity. It is clean, abundant and low cost.