Hill+Knowlton Strategies

You can’t escape the media’s preoccupation with energy at the moment, if it’s not new trans-continental pipelines, it’s wind farms, solar, Carbon Capture Storage and our ‘old friends’ coal and nuclear. On a daily basis we’re presented with a full gamut of energy solutions that will power our ever busy lives.

Energy is even dominating media coverage of the World Cup – from the hot air blasted out by the eardrum splitting and nausea-inducing Vuvuzela to the huge power surges during the half-time of England matches. The Bangladeshi government has even allegedly asked factories to stop production during the evenings to save electricity so that their football-mad countrymen can tune into the World Cup.

Renewables are also playing a part in this World Cup. Some Ghanaians are using solar energy to power their World Cup coverage and a new wind farm has been launched to provide energy for the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Port Elizabeth. More is expected of London in 2012. A key indicator of whether we are able to move to a low-carbon future is our capacity to produce renewable energy for major sporting events as well as for industry and private households.

So as I write this with the next England match only hours away when millions of televisions and radios will be switched on and fridges rammed with six-packs of beer, I’d be interested to know how much energy is used directly or indirectly as a result of the World Cup. Do these figures exist?

Yesterday I met leading energy blogger Nick Grealy over a coffee to discuss all matters energy as well as the shale gas phenomenon. Nick writes a blog called appropriately, ‘No Hot Air’. Interestingly, Nick has blogged about shale gas, perhaps more than anyone else – certainly in the UK at least. According to Nick, shale gas is an energy source where the ‘reality outstrips the hype’. It’s clear that shale gas companies in the States as well as the global energy majors are investing vast amounts in Europe in what they perceive as a game changer as well as what Nick terms a ‘bridge fuel’ for future. Hugely interesting.

On another note, this week Masdar (Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company) launched Shams 1, a huge solar power project. Shams 1, which is being set up together with Total and Abengoa Solar, will be the world’s largest, concentrated solar power plant and the first of its kind in the Middle East.

Shams 1 will contribute towards Abu Dhabi’s 2030 vision and also to the ambitious target of achieving 7 per cent of its power generation capacity from renewables by the year 2020. I spent time working with Masdar on the World Future Energy Summit back in January and have seen their vision from close up. It’s great to see the progress being made in the emirate.